Tag-Archive for » rss reader «

Feb

Photo Credit: Photopia

No offense to my loyal RSS readers, but it’s time others know that claims of having thousands of RSS readers is a farce.

Today’s Lesson

Often, on big name blogs they will post or brag that they have 15,000 +/- RSS readers. No, they don’t. They have that many subscribers to their blog.

Subscribing to a blog and reading the posts is two different things.

Case in point. I subscribe to approximately 40 blogs. Do I read them all? No!

Why did I subscribe?

1) I have a handful of blogs I subscribe to that I read and comment on religiously.

2) I subscribe to my “New Blogger Of The Week” blogs, so I can follow their progress.

3) If I like an article on a particular blog, I will often use RSS as a “bookmark” so I can go back later and read the post.

4) I subscribe to a couple of the big named blogs, but do not read every post they write. I scan the titles, and read what interests me.

5) I often forget to unsubscribe to blogs that lost my interest, but on their site, I am still being counted.

Why others subscribe or want high numbers

1) Some, will use RSS full feeds to plagiarize a whole post. This, however, should not stop you from providing full feeds to your loyal readers.

2) Some will use your post as the grand schema for a post of their own by putting a slight twist to it….not plagiarism, but sometimes they walk a fine line.

3) Others will subscribe so they can say, for example, “I subscribe to John Chow’s blog”…an ego thing? Or following the “herd”? Peer Pressure?

4) Big name bloggers have been known to have contests to “get the most subscribers”. This gets them a big number in their “RSS Reader” box”… a boost to their ego, but not necessarily any more actual readers to their blog.

5) Advertisers apparently love to advertise on sites with large RSS “numbers”, and, for those high numbers, the author will often receive more money. Should we tell them the truth?

And, lastly, RSS feed numbers can also be manually manipulated.

So the next time you see a blog claiming they have 10,000+ RSS readers, remember this post. And for goodness sake, (did I just say that?), don’t ever let those numbers intimidate you and make think you’re not doing a good job with your blog.

Although you may not understand all there is to know about RSS feeds, I highly recommend installing a feed on your site. Many will only read blogs via a feed. Install one and learn the details later.

For those who are confused about RSS feeds, I highly recommend an article written by Hunter, where he explains this subject in great detail. His article is titled:Using RSS To Manage Information Flow

Today’s Assignment

Do you have a RSS feed on your site?

If so, have you tested it to make sure it works?

Why do you subscribe or unsubscribe to blogs?

Do you use full or partial feeds?

Category: Archives, Blogging Lessons, Increase Traffic Tags: Blogs, feed reader, rss reader 24 Comments

Jan

0 to 30 Seconds – Can You Answer My Question

Barbara Swafford

To continue my readership building series, I am doing a test.

Can I provide a reader with an answer, to their search string, within 30 seconds of entering my site?

Today’s Lesson

Since blog statistics provide tons of information, I check my blog’s stats on a regular basis.

If I check my AWStats (visit duration) or Google Analytics (length of visit), I can see how long a visitor stayed on my site.

I know that online searchers are on a mission. They don’t want to waste time.

My stats prove that.

I have, what I believe, is a high percentage(66% +/-) of <30 seconds (under 30 seconds), or <30s. visitors.

This tells me, one of five things:

1) Someone may have clicked on my site (by accident, or they didn't like it), only to click off

2) Someone clicked on my site, found the answer they were looking for, in less than 30 seconds, and left

3) Someone clicked on my site, didn't find their answer, in under 30 seconds, and left

4) One of my regular visitors stopped by, but didn't have time to read my new post(s), and will come back later.

5) Or, a new visitor clicked on my site, liked it, was in a hurry, subscribed to the RSS feed, or bookmarked it, and became a loyal reader.

Ideally, for clicks under 30 seconds, I hope I am either providing readers with what they are looking for, or inspire them to subscribe/bookmark my site, and visit often.

To test this <30 second theory, I am using some of the search strings that were used to find my blog. I will enter my blog via the search engine, set a timer, and see if I can get the search string question answered, in under 30 seconds.

To some degree, I will have failed as a blogger, if I am not giving some of those <30 second readers what they are looking for.

Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing, if we were able to help the <30 second reader, or if we converted them to a RSS reader.

We do know that some visitors will not be impressed with out site at first glance...no matter what. They will just leave.

Since we can't please all of the people all of the time, we can concentrate on pleasing some of the people, some of the time.

My hope is that my blogs provide answers to the all visitors who enter with a question.

For those visitors who enjoy exploring my site and reading more, and/or take time to comment, I say a big thank you!

Today’s Assignment

Have you checked your “visit duration – length of visit” statistics?

What are they telling you?

Can you find an answer on your blog in under 30 seconds?

Category: Archives, Blogging Lessons, Increase Traffic, Stats, Writing Tips Tags: Blogs, google, rss reader 6 Comments

Sep

KISS Your Blog

Barbara Swafford

You have a blog. Now, what about the design, or theme of your blog? It can be an daunting task…finding the theme that matches your content.

Having changed my themes (I have two blogs), at least a half dozen times, I am reverting back to KISS.

Keep It Simple, Stupid!

As I wrote in my previous article, Without________, Your Blog Is Nothing, my readers aren’t coming to my site to see if I have photos of Bald Brittany, or Google skyscraper ads. And…..my readers don’t care what the name of my blog is. As detailed in that post, there are a lot of things readers really don’t care about.

Then……think about this….if someone subscribes to your blog, or blog comments, via a (full) feed, they don’t even “see” your site (unless they choose to click on the link). They have subscribed to a blog to read what you wrote. Sad, but true, all that time you spend tweaking your theme, may be all for naught, to your RSS readers.

Hence, I have decided to KISS, with regard to both this and my Observation Mountain.com blog.

I’ve changed both of the themes, to a minimalist format, by using three column layouts, and scattering only a few ads throughout the pages.

I believe I am now giving my visitors, what they want. Good content, in a format that supports it.

Ironically, this has taken me full circle. The author of my first theme, and the author of my current themes is the great Brian Gardner. Thank you Brian, for your fabulous, classy designs.