Confessions of a Six Figure Professional Blogger

6 Tips For Converting Blog Visitors To Subscribers

February 4, 2009 | Blogging, Feature

Bloggers like numbers. Big numbers. Yes, we want a lot of traffic. But, we also want the usual status indicators: (1) Big RSS count, (2) Big Email List, etc. So, how do you go about converting a random visitor to your blog into a subscriber who will continue to come back?

Here are some simple tips that you should probably execute.

rss 1. Unify Your Mailing List and RSS Feed

As I’ve said a million times, you should be building up a mailing list for your blog. Now, the best way to leverage all resources here is to use a service which allows your email subscribers to also receive your latest posts from your RSS feed.

The simple fact is that there are still a LOT of people out there who don’t know what to do with an RSS feed. But, they know how to work with email. So, get them onto your list and they become a subscriber anyway.

I am a big fan of Aweber. It isn’t a free service, but they rock. But, as an added bonus, they report back your subscriber account to Feedburner. So, if you have a blog broadcast set up for Aweber, every new email signup will also count as an RSS subscriber. Cool, huh?

2. Make the RSS icon nice and big.

That orange RSS icon is the universal symbol for the RSS feed. Use it and make it noticeable on your blog. Put it above the fold.

3. Ask Them to Subscribe Beneath Each Post

At the bottom of every post, you can provide a link to subscribe to your site, either via RSS or your mailing list. In Wordpress, you can do this by editing your single.php file in your theme.

4. Use Social Proof

A lot of bloggers like to display their RSS subscriber account on their blog. The reason they do this is to offer social proof. If the number is large, then others will see that big number and think “Hey, all those people like this blog, it must be worth it.”. It is classic marketing.

A word of caution: Don’t display your RSS count if the number is low. The cut off is a subject of debate, but a small number will have the negative effect.

The choice is your’s. As of now, I’m not displaying it on this site out of choice. It is more of a real estate conservation thing on this site. Eventually, I will probably include the count in order to comply with current norms. Currently, I have 1,104 RSS subscribers on this blog.

5. Incentivize

This is a LOT easier to do if using a mailing list rather than just your RSS feed, however the idea is to give your visitors an ethical bribe. You will notice that I offer a free report on this blog when somebody signs up for the mailing list. That would be one example.

6. Make It Worth Their Time

Honestly, this one shouldn’t be last on the list because it really is the most important. You could employ every tactic in the book to convert your visitors into subscribers, but if your content sucks they just won’t respond. So, your priority should be in making your blog something that somebody is going to actually WANT to subscribe to. Make them say WOW.

Update often and provide value that makes them want to come back again. If you’ve accomplished that, then it just greases your visitor and pushes them down the slope into being a subscriber.

If you have any tips you’d like to share with the community, please post your comment below.

If you enjoyed this article, you might also like...

  1. List Building Tips For Bloggers
  2. Why Bloggers Should Start a Mailing List
  3. 7 Ways To Blog Your Way To A Thousand Visitors
  4. Search For Email Mailing List Solution
  5. How To Deal With Sites That Steal Your Blog Content

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  • I love rss better than email. It is a good idea to leverge both ways. That way you are sure to get a subscriber. Good article. Thanks
  • Thomas
    My problem has been getting visitors. Pinging my blog has helped, I have been using tools such as BlogBuzzer.com
  • Tell people what RSS is, if your visitors are not used to these things.
  • I love awebber, it's the best way I have found to sync your RSS feed and mailing list.
  • I also believe the best way to keep make more people subscribe is to create interesting, helpful content which can get people addicted to your site.
  • And Ricardo -- ultimately, I do think it always has to come down to insightful, interesting, read-able, helpful, intelligent content that offers something for its readers.
  • Thanks much for the thought and response! I was figuring that would be the case. 500 on average if you're not blogging about online marketing might be alright too -- niche blogs.
  • Alex: Feedburner does offer email service, yes, but I don't like it. Too limiting and you can't use it for email marketing later.

    Matty: I would say minimum 100. But, it also depends on your market. For example, I wouldn't display a chicklet on this blog for 100 readers because - honestly - if I'm a pro-blogger you'd think I have more than 100 readers! Having only 100 wouldn't be too good (and yes, I have way more than 100). But, in more niche markets, smaller numbers don't matter too much. In my particular case, I'd wait until I have 1,000. And, actually, I have over 1,000 now and I still haven't posted it. So, who knows. :)
  • Funny, my icon is really high (as you can see, above the fold) and I don't have very many subscribers...
  • @Matty: you bring up a good point. In the end, if you're content is less than stellar, well, it's easy to unsubscribe. I read a lot of blogs and have checked out and subscribed to several newsletters. I'm quick to unsubscribe if the content is less than good (and I've unsubscribed from many).

    Re: Point B. I guess it depends on the type of blog maybe (the niche)? Maybe. For example, some of my Real Estate colleagues sign up for feedburner but don't install the count chicklet until they break 100. Some people don't reveal it until they break at least 100. Others wait till they break 500 and/or 1,000.
  • A) It definitely, in the end, is all about interesting content, regardless of what tactics you use to convert readers to subscribers
    and
    B) What would you use as a threshold below which number you would not reveal your total RSS subscribers?
  • Alex
    Doesn't feedburner also offer an email list?
  • Roman
    I have been on the internet for many years. What I have noticed is that the RSS logo is getting bigger and bigger. And being put on more valuable webpage real estate.

    It must be because the importance if it is growing. I am sure that it is only a matter of time till someone uses up all their banner space with a huge RSS feed link.
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