Testing elements to increase your RSS subscribers
Here’s a tip that helped me to increase the conversion of readers to RSS subscribers by almost 3 times. I use the Subscribe Remind plugin by Trevor Fitzgerald as an article footer to remind my readers to subscribe to my RSS feed, in case they aren’t already subscribed. The plugin, in it’s original form, adds a very simple link to the bottom of each article that says something along the lines of, “If you like this, subscribe to my RSS feed!”
I actually modified mine when I installed it to read, “Entrepreneurs and bloggers might like to subscribe to my RSS feed.” Some of my oldest readers may remember seeing this little blurb follow every one of my posts.
Now, my writing attracts lots of StumbleUpon traffic… over 70% of my visitors are referred by StumbleUpon, so I assume that many of them are first time visitors. With my old “Subscribe Reminder”, I was averaging 1 new RSS subscriber for every 300 or so visitors.
About three weeks ago, I modified the plugin by hand again, replacing the “Entrepreneurs and bloggers…” bit with a strong image that stands out much more from the other article footer elements. You can see the new image at the bottom of this article. The message is virtually the same… Subscribe. But the new visual element seems to convert new visitors to subscribers at a much faster rate. I currently gain 1 new RSS subscriber for every 105 visitors (on average).
If you’re interested in increasing the critical metrics of your blog, it’s a good idea to be doing these kinds of tests from time to time to see which methods produce stronger results. For example, today I decided to offer a free ebook as an incentive to generate more newsletter subscribers. Will this help me increase the depth of my subscriber list? A-list marketers think so… offering a free bonus is a proven way to get people off the fence and take action.
If you could increase your RSS subscription rate by three times or more, would it be worth it to test a couple of different placements or formats of your subscription options? Have you got a bonus to offer that’s relevant to your target audience, and that you can use to incentivize them to offer you permission to contact them by email? These are two good questions that you might think about answering if you want to accelerate the growth of your blogging business.
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Chris Bloczynski dot Com is a blog about entrepreneurship and internet marketing. It's targeted towards ebusiness owners and bloggers, with an emphasis on principles such as attitude, mentorship, tools to streamline your business, and tactics for marketing and growth.
Ha! I was just trying to figure out ways to increase my RSS subscribers, after just having checked mine and seeing that it went down by 20%. Then, your new post popped up in my reader!
Great timing!
Glad to be of service, my friend.
CHRIS: I like what you’ve done with the “subscribe to this feed” box. It’s very eye-catching.
I also offer a few free eBooks on my site but I like what you’ve done with adding the eBook to the sidebar. It’s high up enough so it gets some decent visibility.
Good post.
Chris,
Absolutely fantastic! I really like how you edited the plugin. If you don’t mind, I will use you as a case study to show the potential of the plugin.
Trevor
[…] Chris Bloczynski made it into a very nice looking graphic at the bottom of each of his posts. […]
[…] Testing Elements to Increase Your RSS Subscribers by Chris at ChrisBloczynski.com. […]
You might like to try the almost brand new plugin Socialize Me! which works a bit link Landing Sites but checks the referrer and displays a message pointing visitors from Digg, SU, del.icio.us etc to your profile on those sites specifically. It’s very neat. You could modify the actual displayed message and include a line about RSS feeds etc too.
http://www.blahblahtech.com/2008/01/wordpress-plugin-socialize-me.html
db
What a great idea! I wonder if it’s alright for people to take this image and use it on thier own sites? I’m guessing not but I thought it can’t hurt to ask right?
Very timely! I just posted an item about the Feedburner myth, the ups and downs, the highs and lows of feedcounts, and the long-term trends
http://www.sciencetext.com/the-feedburner-myth.html
db
@ David - Thanks for the link to your article! I enjoyed it.
@ Jen - I don’t mind… I emailed you the image just now.
Chris, same request as Jen…when you have a moment could you email me the native art file? It looks great!
Hi Chris,
I’ve been doing google searches for this very topic for far too long and finally found this post. Yeah!
I’m loving the subscribe image at the end of your posts, and have been wanting one for myself for my two blogs.
I’ve carefully read Travis’ instruction on how to add the remind me plugin, but I’m clueless about wordpress coding.
Would you possibly be able to provide detailed instruction on how exactly you went about adding your image link to the end of each post, linking to your RSS feed? P.S. I’m most interested in applying this plugin/image to a NON-Feedburner feed. Help please?
Hello !
this is great, but my level is not high enough to make it by myself.
Is it still possible to get the sources to upload (and if you’ve time to send it by mail)? It would be very kind of you.
Thx in advance.
fred
u just give me an idea chris.. thanks..
Chris,
I also love how you’ve visually adapted this plug-in. I have it on my blog but would also really appreciate step-by-step code instructions as to where to actally insert the image tag, how to create the background colour and border etc - I’m new to coding as well. Kind Regards, Lesley
yes, can you show me how to edit the php file to add this/or another image?
many thanks, CharmingHostess
Dude! I’ve been lookin for something like this! I need to get me some of that action! I’ll look at the plugin and hack it up a bit
Looks good, exactly what I wanted, just need to mess with an image to use.