17 Reasons Why Readers Subscribe To Your Blog
I’ve read a lot of posts on how to get people to subscribe to your blog. Most if not all of those posts focus on three basic premises; make it easy for readers to subscribe, promote your feed to attract more subscribers, and finally, create great content to seal the deal converting blog visitors to blog subscribers.
That is good advice. But, it’s advice from a single perspective. They answer the question of how to increase blog subscribers from an inside-to-outside perspective. In other words they all attempt to answer the fundamental question of "How do I get you to do something I want you to do?" Instead try asking yourself "Why would I subscribe to this blog" which poses the question from an outside-to-inside perspective. It is a question from a potential subscribers perspective.
Looking at it from an outside-to-inside perspective, the readers perspective, I came up with 17 reasons why a reader might be motivated to subscribe to your blog’s RSS feed. A reader’s motivations to subscribe to your blog seem to fall into one of four basic categories; what can I learn from you, what can I get from you, who you are or what you represent.
- You are an A-list blogger in my niche. (What you represent)
- You have great content. (What I can learn from you.)
- Your content is not so great but you have a great community. (Who you are.)
- You are entertaining. (Who you are.)
- For General, Social Media or Strategic Networking purposes. (What I can get from you. / Who you are.)
- You use DoFollow, and I want to know when you publish a post on a topic area of my blog so I can comment. (What I can get from you.)
- You promoted my content so I want to return the favor and need to know when you have published something I am willing to promote. (What I can get from you.)
- You have a product that I want to follow. (What you represent.)
- You are a competitor and I want to keep up to date with what you are doing. (What I can get from you.)
- I read and liked something you wrote in a forum. (What I can learn from you. / What you represent.)
- I read and liked a comment you left on another blog. (What I can learn from you. / What you represent.)
- You bribed me with potential contest winnings. (What can I get from you.)
- You are a friend and I want to follow what you are doing. (What you are..)
- A potential or current advertiser monitoring what you are publishing. (What you represent.)
- A scraper that wants to steal your content. (What can I get from you.)
- You were recommended by another blogger. (Who you are.)
- You Blog about a cause I feel strongly about. (What you represent.)
Building RSS subscribers isn’t just about content, or promoting your blog or its RSS feed. Attracting blog subscribers is about understanding your readers motivations. If you cannot understand a reader’s motivations you will not connect with them. If you cannot connect with your readers, it does not matter where you put your RSS badges or how often you solicit your readers to subscribe. They won’t do it. Understand their motivations and craft your message to meet their expectations and you will increase your blog subscriptions.
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Great post. Looking at things from your customer (or visitor’s) point of view is the best way to relate to them in sales and marketing. Bringing that concept to blogging is great advice.
There are more miscellaneous factors that contribute to the decision of a visitor to subscribe, but only one makes them stay: good content.
Yes, good content is the primary factor for people returning to your site. I recently went on a cleaning spree. I removed over 200 feeds from my RSS. While I was deciding which blogs to keep, I thought about why I had originally subscribed. Which is how I developed the premise of for this post. There were a few feeds that had great content, but not in my area of interest. I was trying to reduce the time I spent reading RSS feeds every morning. I removed several big names. Not because they had bad content but because the incentive was not there to keep them.
The incentive for me to stay subscribed went beyond good content. I needed to feel as if I could some how get more from the relationship. For instance, if the only reason I originally subscribed to a blog was because it was “recommended by another blogger” and it did have good content, but maybe just outside my current sphere of interest, but the blogger was not responsive to readers or not approachable for networking, then I probably unsubscribed.
So, absolutely, good content is a must, but understanding your readers ulterior motives and actively fulfilling those motives are just as important as good content.