12 Ways To Grow RSS Readers

RSS is a web technology that lets people subscribe and get updates in their readers. Increasing RSS subscribers can be an easy task provided you have quality content and take steps to bring visitors to your blog. Besides, adding RSS facility can help your visitors to read a new post on your blog easily. Here are some simple ways to grow RSS readers:

1. Remind Them: Remind your readers again and again that they can subscribe . Place an RSS icon at the top of the sidebar, below posts, in header etc. In short, make sure RSS icon is visible above the fold and can't be missed.
2. Ask for Subscribing: People do not subscribe by themselves, so ask them to subscribe. After posts, add a line saying 'You can stay updated by Subscribing to Our Feeds.'
3. Provide E-Mail Subscription: Many people do not subscribe because they do not know what RSS is, think it costs money (like a magazine subscriptio) or some just do not like the idea. So, add the E-Mail option and tell people about it.
4. Start a Series: Post series are always a good method to engage readers. If you start a series and people are interested, tell them that they can stay updated on the topic by subscribing.
5. Drive More Traffic: Biggest cause bloggers do not get RSS subscribers is because they little traffic. Every visitor does not subscribe to feed, so first make the RSS icon visible and then work on driving traffic. The more visitors the greater the opportunity to get a new subscriber.
6. Add Subscription Box to Landing Pages: Making Landing pages and leaving them as URL in guest posts and comments is a good practice. Make sure you have a good welcome message on landing page and add a E-Mail subscription box on the page.
7. Add Subscription Option on "Thank You" Page: WordPress users can use Comment Redirect plugin to redirect visitors to a custom page after they leave their first comment. This can improve your subscriber stats as engaged users are more likely to subscribe.
8. Send Personal E-Mails: One thing WordPress does well is that it collects reader's e-mail addresses. You can use a plugin like Thank Me Later (not so personal) to send automatic mails to commenters or send them personal e-mails about their comment.
   Personal Mails always have more effect on Readers. Even though they take up more time, they pay off well for every second spent.
9. Do not Worry about New Subscribers: It may seem weird but this is one thing you should learn. Do not always worry about new readers. Focus on your existing readership. They will surely give you some "Word of Mouth" advertising.
10. Promote it on Social Sites: It's very easy, and you only need to have an account on the site to promote your blog/RSS. Do not spam it, however, since it will give your blog a negative impact. As an example, on BlogCatalog. You might want to start a discussion, and post a link to your article as a reference. Don't forget to read tip #2 first.
11. Write an article about current issues: Usually, it's best to find this on a forum. As long as it's not outside your blog's track, you can simply write about it, and promote your article on the forum where you first found the topic. You should finish your article fast, and have it read before the attention on the issue ends.
12. Burn your RSS into Feedburner: If you burn your RSS into Feedburner, people will be more enticed to subscribe. Technically speaking, Feedburner will let you gain more control, and this shows your seriousness to manage your RSS. When your RSS readers grow, so will your blog readers. This is inevitable, so do your best to promote your RSS. There are also readers that prefer email subscription as opposed as RSS one, this is perfectly fine too. Either way, this '12 ways to grow rss readers' can also be used as '12 ways to grow email subscriptions'.

Then, can you add more to this list? Which ones work the best for you?