Written on October 17th, 2008 at 05:10 am by Darren Rowse
How to Increase Subscribers and Reader Engagement
Last week I decided to find some quality Australian blogs to subscribe to. I used a newly compiled list of Australian Marketing Blogs that Julian Cole put together as the basis for my search.
I was excited by the quality of some of the blogs on that list - but it struck me as I surfed through the list that there were three frustrations that I had with quite a few of the blogs on the list (definitely not all of them, but enough for me to notice).
None of these problems are issues that just Australian bloggers or Marketing bloggers face - I see them every day around the web (although I did find it ironic that a list of ‘Marketing’ blogs would have some of these problems).
1. Hidden Subscription Options
I was on a mission to subscribe to great blogs - but one disappointing thing that I noticed was that quite a few of the bloggers didn’t make this easy for me simply because they ‘hid’ their subscription methods way down the page (and a couple didn’t even show them at all). Most browsers these days give those who use them the ability to subscribe by clicking the RSS icon in their address bar - but many web users don’t know that they can do this (or are using old browsers).
If one of your goals as a blogger is to grow your readership then one great way to capture first time readers is to get them to subscribe (whether that be to an RSS feed, an RSS to Email service or a newsletter. If you hide or obscure these options you’re not likely to get the conversions.
My own approach with getting subscribers is to place these subscription options prominently in a sidebar and then under posts on single post pages (usually below the fold). This means that whether a new reader is above or below the fold they are invited to subscribe.
Further Reading - 11 Ways to Get New RSS Subscribers for your Blog
2. No Way to Contact the Blogger
There were a number of blogs on the list that I was really impressed with - so much so that I wanted to contact the blogger and congratulate them on their blogs. The only problem was that on a couple of occasions I found it difficult to find any way to contact the blogger other than to leave a public comment.
I understand some bloggers desires to have privacy or to cut down the admin of their blogs by keeping themselves difficult to contact but in doing so you not only filter the loonies approaches but also legitimate opportunities, potential partnerships etc
Contact options don’t necessarily have to be giving out your email address - you could have a contact form, give Twitter details, have an IM option or give other social networking profiles (the key is to give ones that you actually check).
Further Reading - Why Your Blog’s Readers Should be Able to Contact You
3. No About Page
This one is probably more my personal preference and less essential than the first two points - but when I find a blog that I’m interested in one of the first things that I like to do to help me decide whether to subscribe to it is to search for more information about the blog and who writes it.
Some kind of an ‘About Page’ is a great way to satisfy and draw in curious potential readers (like me) and to deepen the connection with them.
Your About page is a wonderful opportunity to make a connection with new people to your blog, to sell yourself and give reasons why people should read you.
You can of course do this in other ways (an intro in your sidebar perhaps) but a page dedicated to sharing your information in this way can really work well.
Further Reading - Add an About Page to Your Blog, How to Write Your “About Me” Page and Conduct an About Page Audit
Tags: , Blog Design, finding readers, RSS
63 Responses to “How to Increase Subscribers and Reader Engagement”
Saurabh
October 17th, 2008 12:22 am
I have three of them on my blog!
I have “Subscribe” gadget, “Contact and About” page mix. So I am getting readers. Am I not?
Louis Liem
October 17th, 2008 12:29 am
Not updating frequent enough can be #4 (note to myself :) )
Roy Scribner
October 17th, 2008 12:40 am
I wrote about some of the plugins I use to address these issues, this morning. I really like how Thesis Theme puts a subscribe button and link in the top-right corner of the page, too.
AMiRU
October 17th, 2008 12:49 am
Well, putting the subscribe block is definitely important to gain more subscriber but I’m not sure if the About page is so important, still I do have an about page to introduce myself a bit.
Nice tips Darren.
Jean Gogolin
October 17th, 2008 12:59 am
I’ve been mystified since I started blogging that many of my associates and friends can’t figure out how to subscribe to my blog. I have a link to it under my email signature, but when they visit they don’t know what to do. I have a prominent RSS option and a very prominent way to subscribe via email. These are very bright people, many in corporate communications, so it’s puzzling. (And no, I don’t think they’re making excuses; they’re genuinely puzzled.)
I’ve been wondering whether I should do a post on how to subscribe, but haven’t done it because it would seem silly to savvy bloggers.
Any thoughts?
Ryan McLean
October 17th, 2008 1:01 am
I have all three of these on my blog. My subscription is as high as it can get on the page almost, I have a great contact form and an about me page also….
I even have my own ebook which I released today called “Make Money Commenting”.
Sarah H.
October 17th, 2008 1:25 am
Three great points! Thanks for the reminder. I currently have those features on my blog, but I want to make sure they are easy to find and use.
Adam Singer
October 17th, 2008 1:26 am
All great tips Darren - agreed on the contact info, it is lacking on so many blogs. Make it simple and clear!
Potato Chef
October 17th, 2008 1:28 am
I have a rss subscribtion button at the top of my blog. But in reality I am not too concerned about subscribers.
The type of blog I have normally does not get many subscribers. Readers find their way to my site based on need. If they “Google” sweet potato pie recipe, then they will find me when they need me.
Jeff
October 17th, 2008 1:30 am
Completely agree Darren. I recently saw a spike off stumbleupon and my subscriber conversion wasn’t what I had hoped. I recently decided that I need to make the subscribe link in my sidebar more prominent. I also have one at the end of single post pages, as well as contact and about pages, though they could use some work. I’ll probably add a contact form to the contact page rather than just having an email there.
Jeff
2Lincolns.com
Mike Panic
October 17th, 2008 1:30 am
I actually wrote an article last year called How do I get in contact with you out of the same frustration. As a blogger, I often want to contact the author of a site with similar content to let them know they may be interested in something I just published along the same lines without leaving comment spam. As a reader, sometimes I have something to say directly to the author that might not make sense to leave as a comment on one particular page.
My other frustration is when bloggers have a Contact page with comments enabled instead of a true contact form or email.
Grant Griffiths
October 17th, 2008 2:00 am
The issues you mention are what I call must have critical components of a Blog. If someone is serious about blogging and wants to build a relationship with their readers, these items have to be there.
In fact, I try to put links to those items in a number of places on my blog and those we do for clients. The key is to not make them think about it if they want to find you, subscribe to you or contact you.
Mitch
October 17th, 2008 2:02 am
Darren, I read your Blog all the time and follow you on twitter, thanks for all of the free and insightful posts and really setting the bar for all bloggers, in any event you are spot on with the about page, it’s my most viewed page overall and the one I view of others most, no picute no subscrption in most cases..
Rajaie AlKorani
October 17th, 2008 2:04 am
Thank god I’ve got all of the above!
Angel Cuala
October 17th, 2008 2:07 am
Hhhmmm….I also have those three so I think I am the right track. In fact, I have a “cute and attractive” icons for email and RSS subscribers.
My About me page (Who is Father Blogger?) also seem to be attractive and in fact, I received a lot of visitors there.
But I would also like to add that I have a “Subscription and Contact me” sentence in every end of my post, and I think it is also helping me.
Thanks for the reminders, though!
Adam - Creadiv.com
October 17th, 2008 2:08 am
Darren,
I have all three of these implement on my blog as well, but still am not seeing the growth that i would like. I don’t know if you got my previous email, but after 1 month of consistent posting, I actually lost subscribers.
I was wondering if you had ever experience that phenomena and why you thought it may have happened.
Adam
PS I have turned things around now and am getting some good results but i would still like to hear your opinion on it.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Computer Guy
October 17th, 2008 2:09 am
These are great points and definitely essential, but I don’t think that having these things will guarantee any kind of increased subscription or engagement.
Andi
October 17th, 2008 2:09 am
I would like to add that a “Share This Page With A Friend” emailing device goes a long way to getting more subscribers. When I am impressed with a post, I want to share it with specific friends, and many bloggers do not have a way to do that on-site. If I could email directly from the site, I would be much more likely to actually take the time to do that - and friend’s recommendations are worth their weight in gold!
Chris Morin
October 17th, 2008 2:12 am
Thanks for these tips Darren! After looking at my Blog I realized I had two out of three…. There are WAYS to contact me but probably none of them obvious in the way they need to be.
Off to work on it! :)
Thomas
October 17th, 2008 2:18 am
I have all of this and more. I used to have my phone number also, but I got too many prank calls. Why hasn’t my readership gone up or even stayed the same?
http://www.tomslatin.com/about-tom/
Lots of folks comment on my “About Me” page, but usually nothing else. :(
B. Durant
October 17th, 2008 2:29 am
In addition to those things I like to see that I am able to comment if I want to. I come across so many blogs that commenting is completely turned off. That in and of itself is enough to make me not go back or at least go back fairly rarely.
Pamela Slim
October 17th, 2008 2:59 am
I completely agree with you on the contact and about pages. There have been times when I spent 10 minutes searching for an email address or phone number and gave up in frustration.
And my pet peeve for the About page is I like to see a picture! It really helps to put a face to a name, and great writing.
For people who are blogging for fun, this doesn’t apply, but for those who are using a blog as a way to further their platform and business, I think it is nuts not to have very clear contact and “about” information.
Wayne John
October 17th, 2008 3:00 am
Thankfully I have all three. The biggest issue I find is simply keeping up with all the emails, contacts, blog posts, commenting, finding new pockets of users, and maintaining a full time job at the same time.
Phew!
Michael, Go Success Now
October 17th, 2008 3:06 am
Hi Darren,
These are the main components to a blog for sure.
I am writing about Personal Development. I am trying to write every week at least 3-4 posts, because I am full time worker for a company and it takes to much time to update my blog every day.
How do you increase reader’s engagement to your blog when your blog is not updated with new posts every day? Do you need to be a full-time involved to have more subscribers except these 3 points?
Bad Credit
October 17th, 2008 3:07 am
Well needed tip in time for my blog. I have installed a plug in..
Ryan Healy
October 17th, 2008 4:01 am
Great suggestions. Just this weekend I installed a new plug-in that encourages people who leave comments to subscribe — not to the comments, but to my primary email list.
The plug-in is called Action Comments by Robert Plank. I highly recommend it. Already, my subscriber count is increasing faster than normal.
Colin Klinkert
October 17th, 2008 4:04 am
Darren,
Im Aussie, promise to endeavor to write good content and have all the points listed above easily accessible from my $2.5k design.
Thanks for checking out my blog
Louise Barnes-Johnston
October 17th, 2008 4:28 am
I agree with Pamela about the need for a picture on the About Us page. Until I started blogging (only over the last 15 months) I hadn’t appreciated that the personalisation of a website or blog can make such a huge difference to visitors. A photo and some personal blurb means that a relationship has been started. The author is sharing and inviting conversation.
Your other points are valid too Darren, but the About Us resonates the most with me.
Debbie
October 17th, 2008 4:50 am
I appreciate your practical blogging tips. I did a spot check of my blog and I believe I have those three covered. I do agree with you because there are times when I’d love to send a personal email to a blogger to thank them and was unable to do so.
Wayne Tully
October 17th, 2008 5:00 am
This is great subscriber based discussions, I only have one sign up through rss subscriber feeds, but taking into account the browser based subscription icon that is featured on most internet browsers.
Having taken on board your advice here, I’ll have a subscriber feed link at the bottom of each blog post now!
IDoBlogs
October 17th, 2008 5:25 am
@Wayne John, I’m with you there! I’ve started using Alltop.com to find news on seo, blogging, and design a lot faster - gives me a digest of the top feeds in each category. And forget remembering to visit forums unless they happen to have a feed available. I’m helping someone moderate a dead forum and their design company says forum feeds aren’t part of their offerings.?!?
Tom - StandOutBlogger.com
October 17th, 2008 6:34 am
I have all 3 :D
I hate visiting a blog, wanting to subscribe but not being able to find out how!
Debo Hobo
October 17th, 2008 6:49 am
I have all three of these items on my blog. I need to figure out ow to stop my contact form from getting spammed.
Frank
October 17th, 2008 8:00 am
Great summary post of all the information that is regularly shared here.
On our niche blog (on hiking) we have a contact email address and really enjoy the communication we have with our readers. In fact, earlier this year I hiked the Overland Track in Tasmania with one of my American readers. We had a ball!!!
The story is here: http://frankinoz.blogspot.com/2008/05/overland-track-tasmania-what-scenery.html
Christopher Ross
October 17th, 2008 8:53 am
I think it’s also really important for people to be able to subscribe a number of different ways. I offer both email as well as Feedburner to make sure people can chose the way that is right for them.
dev
October 17th, 2008 9:27 am
Great tips, that 3 really important
jhay
October 17th, 2008 9:46 am
Hmm..I suppose now is the right time to audit my About page.
Neeshes
October 17th, 2008 10:30 am
I visit the “About” page on almost every new blog I read. I want to know ,why should I be reading stuff from this person. What’s their expertise? What do they do different? Or are they just another make money online blog that’s churning out the same old stuff.
izzat
October 17th, 2008 11:02 am
must have great content, people dont want fill up their inbox with junk.. content is so important as been “bold” by you in many of post.. rss and great content still is my problem.
BloggerTests
October 17th, 2008 11:47 am
I would add - great, almost “reference-like”, content that users won’t want to miss. Even if they feel like they can’t read the posts every day, they don’t want to miss anything. That was my experience with ProBlogger… it’s a content full of facts and substance, not someone’s theoretical views on how to succeed in life.
Social Media Marketing Blog
October 17th, 2008 12:33 pm
no doubt, all these 3 are very important and all blogs must have them .
Grant
October 17th, 2008 1:49 pm
Darren, WHY IS PROBLOGGER NOT LISTED ON THAT LIST OF MARKETING BLOGS???
I just spent an hour surfing through them all and while there are some great blogs on there there is some complete garbage that barely fits into what I’d classify as ‘marketing’. I thought you were on the AdAge Power 150 list (a list of global marketing blogs). Why wouldn’t your fellow bloggers in Australia put you on their list?
You write about issues of marketing every 2nd day - more than a lot of the blogs that were included. There are blogs about SEO, copywriting, web design, online advertising, social media, branding - last time I checked you have covered all of these issues.
Kok Choon
October 17th, 2008 2:19 pm
Same here, I try to access those blogs and subscribe to the feed, some are no where to be found, some are broken link and the worst part is I have no way to contact them…
I hope they saw this post and correct them soon, their readers and visitors will jump high!
Kimota
October 17th, 2008 2:41 pm
Oh, Darren, you’re speaking my language!
I was really happy for my blog CopyWrite to be named #6 on this list of marketing bloggers, but I was also dismayed that i was #6. Ie; why is my blog doing so well when some very experienced marketers are way behind me? What does that say about Aussie blogging?
And then you name three things my blog does that some others don’t. Coincidence? You decide.
I discussed my concerns here…
http://www.jonathancrossfield.com/blog/2008/10/learning-from-the-top-50-aussie-marketing-blogs.html
As for why ProBlogger didn’t make the list (along with Skellie), the people behind the list decided to exclude blogs that are specifically about blogging and not the wider world of marketing. there was even a vote on the Ad Pioneers blog to determine whether readers thought ProBlogger should be included.
I think we know what makes a good marketing blog. We know ProBlogger is one of the best. I don’t need a list to tell me that.
Darren Rowse
October 17th, 2008 3:53 pm
Grant - I interacted with Julian about the construction of his list and am comfortable for him to define his boundaries as he wishes. I of course would have liked to be included (as the list has been published twice now in mainstream media and I do feel it covers marketing in different ways) but Julian has decided to only include blogs whose primary topic is marketing (although you’re right that many of the blogs in the list cover their own sub topics within that niche). In the end it is Julian’s list and it is his right to define it as he has.
I’m just happy Aussie bloggers are getting together, celebrating one another and getting attention in the media.
Kimota - thanks for the comment - will check out your post!
Passionate Father
October 17th, 2008 4:14 pm
I have the first and the third, but I am not sure if MyBlogLog in my About Me page would do the trick for the second. I am not comfortable about leaving my email address but I do want to be contacted some other way.
Is anyone using MyBlogLog? A friend introduced it to me lately and I am impressed at how it is able to put into one widget all links to Facebook, Multiply, etc.
Go take a look. Thanks in advance!
Marvin
Steel garages sheds
October 17th, 2008 4:22 pm
I haven’t thought in this way. But m not going to repeat my mistake further…..Thank you….
Ben
October 17th, 2008 7:53 pm
Boy, I’m glad I’m not the only one that gets frustrated trying to locate those items on other people’s blogs. I’ve been doing some surfing in my niche and I would say that about 50 - 60% of most blogs are missing at least one of those items.
Personally, not having contact information is just a slap in the readers face and even if they have great content, I don’t visit it again.
Darren, maybe you need to drop in to different blog niches and leave these tips to help educate those who need it.
Gio
October 17th, 2008 11:47 pm
I have just noticed that on my blog I have no rss feed but I have an rss feed for my main site because I add new articles. I’m wondering whether I should have two rss feeds. I guess I should.
axel g
October 18th, 2008 12:01 am
Hey Darren!
I’ve noticed it myself. Some bloggers tend to give high priority to their privacy. In my opinion it’s nice with a photo of the blogger on the about page - this way it feels more personal…
revenue
October 18th, 2008 1:09 am
Maybe they feel more confidence by using nickname or some unique avatar ( like i did ) , we can not blame this kind of people as long as they show good attitude around it’s fine with me :)
Nathan Hangen
October 18th, 2008 1:19 am
I keep my RSS Buttons at the top, and use an about me page with retaggr card and twitter information. I try to do this in as many places as possible.
CoolProducts
October 18th, 2008 2:41 am
It’s hard to think that any blogger who is serious about their work and wants to be successful could overlook what I feel are simple things.
Vintage Mommy
October 18th, 2008 7:05 am
I had this experience just today! I wanted to subscribe to one blog and contact the writer of another, but no go . . . so frustrating!
As a naturally curious - some would say nosy - person, I thought writing an About page needed to be job one.
Double
October 18th, 2008 11:15 pm
Hidden subscriptions options and no way to contact blogger sounds like my website and I will be fixing. Thanks for the tips.
The Worst of Perth
October 19th, 2008 2:09 pm
It can be frustrating if there is no contact, because often I want to write something that is not relevant to a particular post, but still want to contact.
It is interesting that so many people still do not get how to do the rss feed. Even though it is supposed to be simple, it really isn’t that friendly if you come to try it for the first time. Clicking on the feed link often just opens a page of html, which is baffling to a first timer.
Darren Cronian
October 20th, 2008 12:53 am
I enjoy reading posts like this because it makes me realise that I am on the right path, and it also helps identify areas where I need to improve.
Surender
October 20th, 2008 2:58 am
I have tried many time to contact few bloggers But they didn’t reply.
But they should avoid things like.They should contact to blog readers.
Daniel Richard
October 20th, 2008 3:24 am
Oh my goodness. I missed out on both the Contact and About pages on my blog. Ah! Thanks for pointing them out.
atlanta wedding photographer
October 20th, 2008 2:54 pm
I think your right about pressing the issue of being contacted. Most people who read blogs and having questions feel that they are writing to the author or at least feel that they are. Blogs are suppose to be bloggers ideas along with interaction from the community. The more you make it harder for the community to get in touch with you the harder it is for the community to want to hear what you have to say.
Christopher Ross
October 22nd, 2008 11:30 pm
Well said! I think it’s important that all bloggers display their RSS or Email feed links clearly. Also, you should have mentioned the need for a privacy page.
Steven-Sanders
October 24th, 2008 6:28 am
This is exactly why there are those of us who help others with their blogs.
There are many people who just don’t have a clue. And it’s understandable. You didn’t know how to read until someone taught you.
Same thing for new bloggers.
mr.eims @ health aware
December 2nd, 2008 9:40 am
Thanks..
before this I only aware of number 1 only, never thought of another 2.. Will add them to my blogs later.. :)
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