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13 Tips to Maintaining an RSS Feed Subscriber Base
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Sharon Housley July 25, 2007
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You have an RSS feed and you have worked hard
to get the word out. According to your logs you have subscribers! Now
the hard part: how to retain the subscribers to your RSS feed. Follow
these simple steps to insure that your subscriber base will grow.
1. Original Content A
consistent stream of original content will do well to earn subscribers
loyalty. The best RSS feeds provide content that is compelling and
unique. Do not rehash existing content, look for a unique angle or spin
if you wish to cover something that is hot in the blogosphere.
2. Quality Over Frequency A
posts quality is far more important than a post's frequency. Readers
will tire of rambling or nonsensical posts that contain no real value.
Time is precious and there are plenty of feeds and blogs, in order to
retain readers provide quality not quantity.
3. Get it Right Syndication
has the power to do damage; misquoting or just plain getting it wrong
can affect your reputation and perpetuate incorrect information. Be
sure to verify all your RSS feed and blogs information prior to
posting.
4. Literate Blog posts are not instant messages:
you should always use proper grammar, correct spelling and punctuation.
Your posts are a reflection of your knowledge; content presentation
matters and will affect how you are viewed.
5. Griping Do
not constantly gripe, no one likes a whiner. If you are going to
complain it is not enough to point out problems, you should offer a
suggestion for improvement or specifics on how to solve a problem.
6. Balance Titles
of RSS Feed Items and Headlines of blog posts should relate to the
contents of the actual post. There is nothing worse than just tempting
readers with information and not following through. Use catchy titles
but be sure to follow it with related content. In your actual posts,
strike a balance be sure to provide enough information without
overwhelming readers.
7. Focus Regardless of your RSS
feeds focus' stay on topic! Your feed or blog posts will generally
revolve around a specific theme, don't stray too far or you might lose
readers. If your RSS feed has a specific theme, stay true to that
theme.
8. Length Matters Not too long, not too short it is
a difficult balance, but your post length does matter! If a post is
excessively long consider breaking it up or partitioning it into easy
to digest paragraphs or break it up into multiple posts. Post length
should be consistent throughout your blog and feed. Try not to vary it
too much.
9. Credibility As a publisher, you want to be
viewed as a credible source. Posting or reposting inaccurate
information will reduce if not nullify any credibility that you have.
Provide credentials when offering an opinion and be sure any factual
information is accurate before posting.
10. Link Include
links to any related information in the description field of your RSS
feed, this is a great way to supplement content. Outgoing links will
also often result in links back to your blog or website.
11. Consistency It
is important to remain consistent, try not to vary too much in your
daily posts. Stay true to your formula for content if it is working .
12. Listen to Your Audience Readers
will often communicate what they like and what they dislike about your
content. It is important that you stay in tune with what your
subscribers like and don't like and make the appropriate
accommodations.
13. Advertisements Do not clutter your RSS
feed with advertisements. If you choose to include advertisements in
your RSS feed be sure to strike a balance between advertisements and
quality content.
Starting an RSS feed or is not difficult to
attract readers, it is however difficult to retain readers. By
following a few simple unwritten rules you will find your subscriber
base swell. |
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