It is safe to say that network traffic is the lifeblood of websites. What’s the purpose of creating and advertising a website when no one ever comes to visit right? A popular way of getting some network traffic or site visits is by use of the RSS feed. An RSS feed is basically a stream (more or less live feed) of updates or changes in your website. Of course an RSS feed would be useless if your website has few to no visitors to begin with but once it has taken off, an RSS feed is a great way of keeping people in touch or giving them updates in your site automatically. It is important to remember that RSS feeds work by having someone actually subscribing to your feed; this means that the website or your website to be specific has to pique the interest of your visitors.
Here’s a look at getting more RSS subscribers. There’s always the very simple solution of making content clear and relevant but we’ll tackle more into the intricacies of RSS feed subscription. Quality content is always the number one priority as it will be the primary factor that draws in visitors.
Quick Tips
A simple way to attract subscribers is placement. By default, RSS feeds usually appear at the upper right-hand corner of the site. Most people are used to this location and instinctively look up to search for the feed; therefore it is best to either keep the button there or move it somewhere which will still attract attention. If you do decide to move the location of the feed, make sure it is attractive to potential subscribers. Try and make use of custom RSS icons. Always make sure that the RSS button does not look out of place or destroys the look of the website. Make sure to integrate the feed icon with the design type of the website. Lastly, you can always place the RSS feed beside or below the logo or banner of the website. That way, visitors will always see the RSS feed button.
Other places on the website that might be a good place to put the RSS feed button is either at the sidebar (if the website has one) or below posts. Sidebars are usually getting updated from time to time by having a chatbox or a changelog and so people tend to instinctively look there as well. Situation the RSS button below posts ensures that blog posters will always take notice of the feed when they publish something. And as mentioned earlier, it is sometimes good to make these RSS buttons look nice and catchy like integrating images into them.
You can also try using many methods in RSS feed promotion. The same way that moving the feed subscription button to another part of the website, making a feed that has different additional features sometimes catches peoples’ attention. Adding a ticker for the number of subscribers to the feed or simply putting a little flash animation with the feed subscription button integrated into it can be enough to catch visitors and turn them into subscribers.
You can also boost the number of subscribers in your RSS feed by allowing more guest blogs into your site. This should ideally be blogs that are within your niche but it can make do with a similar or related niche. By doing so, this allows for a wider variety of people to come and look at your feeds and at the same time, RSS followers of the guest blogger can also be drawn in to your website. In relation to this, a very good way to get more subscribers is to simply increase network traffic. Having guest bloggers post can do that; the same can be said with the use of advertising on other similar niche websites or blogsites. Probably the best way to drive this to your site is to go SEO and make your website more visible. Linking to your site increases network traffic and this can be achieved by many ways. This includes link building, guest blogging, sharing blog posts, or even forum discussions.
Keep the blog (and by extension, the RSS feed) active. Always post something on the blog, no one wants to have an inactive or barely active RSS feed. This defeats the purpose of a feed altogether. It is ideal to post blogs everyday because it generates traffic and helps with the site visibility with SEO. If there is already a steady followers group of the site, you can set dates at which blog posts will be published to keep a heads up.
