help with blog sign-up

Gregg Bell · 08-13-2014, 11:23 PM

I was listening to a webinar about increasing traffic to your blog and it made me realize how antiquated my blog is. The speaker stressed the importance of getting an email sign-up over an RSS feed. (I don't even know what an RSS feed is.) On my blog I have a mailchimp email sign-up to be notified when my next novel is released. On the bottom there's this:

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

I have no idea what that is either.

I saw someone else's blog with a signup thing. I'm assuming it's an RSS thing because it says nothing about email. I've circled some things to ask about and wonder if any of you could guide me as how to do this stuff. (see screenshot)

Thanks.

eschwartz · 08-13-2014, 11:55 PM

-- RSS/atom feed. This is an XML file containing references to various new content. You can bookmark it in Firefox and it will create a dropdown bookmark which dynamically reloads and shows a list of the latest news to get added to the feed. Many dedicated programs/smartphone apps are available that will create organized lists in a similar manner which pull content to you.

The thing about feeds is that you have to check them in an RSS reader, which people are less likely to do than checking their email.

Interestingly, if you click on a MobileRead member's name next to their post, you get a few options, one of which is to "Track Posts by ____ via RSS". Here's yours

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/mem...d.php?u=196655

Firefox (and I think Internet Explorer) allow you to subscribe as a Live Bookmark. Chrome does not.

More about RSS.

Penforhire · 08-14-2014, 01:59 PM

I used Feedburner in the past to allow readers to 'e-mail subscribe' to my Wordpress blog. That was before they were acquired by Google so there might be a better choice now. Wordpress had a clear instruction in their help files on how to set up the "Get an e-mail subscription to this blog through Feedburner" link on my blog and it worked great.

Jessica Lares · 08-14-2014, 04:12 PM

Lots of people use Facebook Like boxes. If you make a page for your blog, Facebook will give you the embed code which you can easily paste into a widget space on your blog. I'd recommend it over the Blogger version.

I use Feedburner too. You set it up over there, and then reroute it on WordPress with a plugin.

Atom is the same thing as RSS feed. Depending on what blog software you're using they all say something different, but all of the modern feed readers know how to handle it.

Gregg Bell · 08-14-2014, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eschwartz

-- RSS/atom feed. This is an XML file containing references to various new content. You can bookmark it in Firefox and it will create a dropdown bookmark which dynamically reloads and shows a list of the latest news to get added to the feed. Many dedicated programs/smartphone apps are available that will create organized lists in a similar manner which pull content to you.

The thing about feeds is that you have to check them in an RSS reader, which people are less likely to do than checking their email.

Interestingly, if you click on a MobileRead member's name next to their post, you get a few options, one of which is to "Track Posts by ____ via RSS". Here's yours

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/mem...d.php?u=196655

Firefox (and I think Internet Explorer) allow you to subscribe as a Live Bookmark. Chrome does not.

More about RSS.

Thanks eschwartz. Yeah, this one article I read made it sound like email subscription beat RSS feed hands down.

And that RSS link was really good. Explained it really well. Thanks.

My Atom/RSS feed is working. I was going to test it with an my own email address, but before I did I wanted to ask you if you could suggest a RSS reader (see screenshot) that would be a good one?

Seems Blogger (which is what I have) has a pretty streamlined process for adding the email thing. Which is nice.

Thanks.

Gregg Bell · 08-14-2014, 10:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Penforhire

I used Feedburner in the past to allow readers to 'e-mail subscribe' to my Wordpress blog. That was before they were acquired by Google so there might be a better choice now. Wordpress had a clear instruction in their help files on how to set up the "Get an e-mail subscription to this blog through Feedburner" link on my blog and it worked great.

Thanks Penforhire. Seems I lucked out because my blog is on Blogger and I guess Blogger really makes it easy to do the email thing. (Seems Google is buying everything. Could MR be next?) Thanks.

Gregg Bell · 08-14-2014, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

Lots of people use Facebook Like boxes. If you make a page for your blog, Facebook will give you the embed code which you can easily paste into a widget space on your blog. I'd recommend it over the Blogger version.

I use Feedburner too. You set it up over there, and then reroute it on WordPress with a plugin.

Atom is the same thing as RSS feed. Depending on what blog software you're using they all say something different, but all of the modern feed readers know how to handle it.

Thanks Jessica. I've got a FB button (for "likes") on my blog page. Is that what you're referring to or is it some kind of email sign-up thing?

I'm on Blogger so the Feedburner thing should work okay.

And thanks for the explanation about Atom. (I'm slowly climbing out of the stone ages.)

Thanks.

eschwartz · 08-14-2014, 10:50 PM

The only feed I use is a Live Bookmark in Firefox, so I can quickly check the latest news on the Archlinux General News feed -- Arch Linux specifically requires manual configuration from time to time during system updates and I don't want to FUBAR everything.

tl;dr I don't use feeds, so someone else would probably know better.

I have heard good things about Feedly -- it seems to be popular..

Gregg Bell · 08-15-2014, 12:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eschwartz

The only feed I use is a Live Bookmark in Firefox, so I can quickly check the latest news on the Archlinux General News feed -- Arch Linux specifically requires manual configuration from time to time during system updates and I don't want to FUBAR everything.

tl;dr I don't use feeds, so someone else would probably know better.

I have heard good things about Feedly -- it seems to be popular..

Thanks Boss.

Jessica Lares · 08-15-2014, 01:13 AM

The Like Box is this:
https://developers.facebook.com/docs...-box-for-pages

You create a Facebook Page, maybe update it every time you post a new blog post, want to advertise a new book, etc, and those updates show up on people's Facebook feeds and they can like/share/comment from there.

Newsletters are definitely a lot more successful than the RSS feeds, but you also want to focus on social media. If you find it overwhelming to post something and remember to post it to Facebook, there are multiple services that will do the work for you - Check the RSS feed for updates every hour or so, and then post when you do add something.

Gregg Bell · 08-15-2014, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jessica Lares

The Like Box is this:
https://developers.facebook.com/docs...-box-for-pages

You create a Facebook Page, maybe update it every time you post a new blog post, want to advertise a new book, etc, and those updates show up on people's Facebook feeds and they can like/share/comment from there.

Newsletters are definitely a lot more successful than the RSS feeds, but you also want to focus on social media. If you find it overwhelming to post something and remember to post it to Facebook, there are multiple services that will do the work for you - Check the RSS feed for updates every hour or so, and then post when you do add something.

Thanks Jessica. And thanks for the link. I'm still not sure how the like box works but I will investigate it and see if I can figure it out. And I post regularly on Twitter, FB and Google+ so it's not overwhelming, but I would be curious if you had examples of who those services are that do the work for you.

A newsletter. So you would need a separate email sign-up for that, right?

Dazrin · 08-17-2014, 11:54 AM

Some people, like me, won't sign up for email or will use a "junk mail" account which is rarely checked, so make sure you have an option for both an RSS feed (I use Feedly, but there are lots of options) as well as the email list.

I have a busy enough inbox that I don't like to use it. I also like anonymity. I have no problems with a busy feed though.

Gregg Bell · 08-17-2014, 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dazrin

Some people, like me, won't sign up for email or will use a "junk mail" account which is rarely checked, so make sure you have an option for both an RSS feed (I use Feedly, but there are lots of options) as well as the email list.

I have a busy enough inbox that I don't like to use it. I also like anonymity. I have no problems with a busy feed though.

Good point, Dazrin. I never thought of it that way. Give them the option. Thanks for the input.

08-13-2014, 11:23 PM	#1
Gregg Bell Gregg Bell Posts: 2,266 Karma: 3917598 Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Itasca, Illinois Device: Kindle Touch 7, Sony PRS300, Fire HD8 Tablet	help with blog sign-up I was listening to a webinar about increasing traffic to your blog and it made me realize how antiquated my blog is. The speaker stressed the importance of getting an email sign-up over an RSS feed. (I don't even know what an RSS feed is.) On my blog I have a mailchimp email sign-up to be notified when my next novel is released. On the bottom there's this: Subscribe to: Posts (Atom) I have no idea what that is either. I saw someone else's blog with a signup thing. I'm assuming it's an RSS thing because it says nothing about email. I've circled some things to ask about and wonder if any of you could guide me as how to do this stuff. (see screenshot) Thanks. Attached Thumbnails

08-14-2014, 10:50 PM	#8
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,421 Karma: 85400180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	The only feed I use is a Live Bookmark in Firefox, so I can quickly check the latest news on the Archlinux General News feed -- Arch Linux specifically requires manual configuration from time to time during system updates and I don't want to FUBAR everything. tl;dr I don't use feeds, so someone else would probably know better. I have heard good things about Feedly -- it seems to be popular.. Last edited by eschwartz; 08-14-2014 at 11:06 PM.

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08-13-2014, 11:55 PM	#2
eschwartz Ex-Helpdesk Junkie Posts: 19,421 Karma: 85400180 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: The Beaten Path, USA, Roundworld, This Side of Infinity Device: Kindle Touch fw5.3.7 (Wifi only)	-- RSS/atom feed. This is an XML file containing references to various new content. You can bookmark it in Firefox and it will create a dropdown bookmark which dynamically reloads and shows a list of the latest news to get added to the feed. Many dedicated programs/smartphone apps are available that will create organized lists in a similar manner which pull content to you. The thing about feeds is that you have to check them in an RSS reader, which people are less likely to do than checking their email. Interestingly, if you click on a MobileRead member's name next to their post, you get a few options, one of which is to "Track Posts by ____ via RSS". Here's yours https://www.mobileread.com/forums/mem...d.php?u=196655 Firefox (and I think Internet Explorer) allow you to subscribe as a Live Bookmark. Chrome does not. More about RSS.

08-14-2014, 01:59 PM	#3
Penforhire Wizard Posts: 2,230 Karma: 7145404 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Southern California Device: Kindle Voyage & iPhone 7+	I used Feedburner in the past to allow readers to 'e-mail subscribe' to my Wordpress blog. That was before they were acquired by Google so there might be a better choice now. Wordpress had a clear instruction in their help files on how to set up the "Get an e-mail subscription to this blog through Feedburner" link on my blog and it worked great.

08-14-2014, 04:12 PM	#4
Jessica Lares Wizard Posts: 2,240 Karma: 5759170 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Near Dallas, Texas, USA Device: iPad Mini, iPod Touch (5th gen)	Lots of people use Facebook Like boxes. If you make a page for your blog, Facebook will give you the embed code which you can easily paste into a widget space on your blog. I'd recommend it over the Blogger version. I use Feedburner too. You set it up over there, and then reroute it on WordPress with a plugin. Atom is the same thing as RSS feed. Depending on what blog software you're using they all say something different, but all of the modern feed readers know how to handle it.

08-15-2014, 01:13 AM	#10
Jessica Lares Wizard Posts: 2,240 Karma: 5759170 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Near Dallas, Texas, USA Device: iPad Mini, iPod Touch (5th gen)	The Like Box is this: https://developers.facebook.com/docs...-box-for-pages You create a Facebook Page, maybe update it every time you post a new blog post, want to advertise a new book, etc, and those updates show up on people's Facebook feeds and they can like/share/comment from there. Newsletters are definitely a lot more successful than the RSS feeds, but you also want to focus on social media. If you find it overwhelming to post something and remember to post it to Facebook, there are multiple services that will do the work for you - Check the RSS feed for updates every hour or so, and then post when you do add something.

08-17-2014, 11:54 AM	#12
Dazrin Wizard Posts: 2,724 Karma: 75825105 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: PDXish Device: Kindle Voyage, various Android devices	Some people, like me, won't sign up for email or will use a "junk mail" account which is rarely checked, so make sure you have an option for both an RSS feed (I use Feedly, but there are lots of options) as well as the email list. I have a busy enough inbox that I don't like to use it. I also like anonymity. I have no problems with a busy feed though.

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