6 Tips For Converting Blog Visitors To Subscribers

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.

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.