Tag: rss feeds

Does Your Blog Have a Subscribe Button?

Posted on by Vanessa Wood

You put all that work into your blog, you want an audience, but have you given your readers a way to get notice of your updates? When a blog reader can click a subscribe button and choose to receive your next post that’s called SUBSCRIBING.

The big blogs all have easy subscribe options.

CBS News (yes, it uses RSS like a WordPress blog) gives readers several options to get the latest news stories (circled in green). Like CBS News on Facebook and you’ll get updates in your Facebook account. Not a Facebook user you can get updates in Twitter or Google+.  Like videos better than reading the news?– then you can subscribe in YouTube and watch news stories. The important lesson from CBS is that they are mainstream and so are their readers, so they give them mainstream options for following the latest news.

Subscribe Buttons on Blog

MTV has a follow button. It opens up a box that gives readers 6 options to read their latest entertainment news stories. They deliver their stories to the top “readers”: Google, Yahoo, Netvibes, Bloglines, Newsgator, and Windows Live.  See those black and gray buttons at the top of their page? MTV also has a Facebook page, Twitter account, and Google+. If you don’t want to follow MTV in a reader, you can get their latest news by following them on your favorite social networking site.

 

Check out your blog. Is it missing a way for people to subscribe? Give your readers at least one way to get your future posts via RSS feed and at lease one way to get updates on a social networking site. Today’s the day to reach more readers by getting this done.

Learn How to Receive Social Media: How I Get My Feeds and News

Posted on by Vanessa Wood

Often when I ask someone interested in Social Media how they read blogs or news feeds, I’m told that they don’t subscribe to any blogs or news feeds. If you aren’t subscribing to Social Media, how can you expect your customers to embrace your blog or other media?

With so many new media websites and options of how to use them, it’s hard to tell you what everyone is doing. Different people have different Social Media styles. Some go directly to a website to read blog entries, some subscribe to email updates, other use readers like on Google, Yahoo, AOL, or applications on their handheld devices. There are so many variations… I can only tell you what one person does…. ME!

I’m a Google Girl. I love all things Google, so that’s how I approach my media. I’ve set my browser (Internet Explorer) to open my HOME PAGE as iGoogle.

iGoogle for me is “command central”. I can see the latest messages on my Gmail account and have a shortcut to my Google Bookmarks. I’ve got a Twitter gadget so I can read the latest tweets from the people and businesses I follow. I’ve got a Facebook gadget so I can keep up with updates to my friends’ status. I also have a box that shows my Google Reader where I follow several blogs and news feeds.

I’m very disciplined (or maybe a creature of habit). Every morning I sit down before the work day begins and read through the latest Tweets, blog posts, and news items. This a bit like the business professional who breaks open the Wall Street Journal before making the first phone call or tackling the day’s email. When other people are watching the 6 o’clock news on TV, I’m also checking in to see how the day ended.

I don’t create my blog content when reading my “news”. When I’m looking at iGoogle, I’m involved in what other’s have posted. I’m their audience. So, this is when I make comments on their blog posts, forward links to their blog entries to my friends on Facebook, and retweet interesting Twitter posts.

I spend no more than half an hour if I find something really interesting, otherwise I spend less time. The BBC news feed helps me stay informed of world events, so I don’t feel compelled to watch TV news which is a time saver.

You want people to read your blog, friend you on Facebook and follow you on Twitter. You want to make an impact. Here’s my Social Media challenge for you – how will you read your Social Media?