Improve the RSS experience of your blog readers
- Introduce people to RSS readers in an accessible way and link to such an explainer on your /feeds page. Both cases shouldn’t assume people know or understand the term. When introducing people you know to RSS readers, don’t assume how or what they read and consume on the Web. The concept of an agnostic feed reader can be hard to understand or appreciate at first so make sure you understand the person’s habits and needs before suggesting anything. Only then do you see that glimmer in their eyes when lightning strikes. I had one such moment yesterday when I introduced someone to RSS readers, only after listening to her reading workflow, and you could see when it clicks.
- Subscribing to RSS feeds remains an inconsistent experience even if you know about this amazing technology. Offer direct subscription links for various popular feed readers on your blog’s /feeds page.
- Include the link to such a page in your blog’s persistent header or footer menu for discoverability. If you have social media icons or links, an RSS page link should be there too. Also include said link in your newsletter form and footer so people always have a subscription choice. Doing this is good for you too for when someone wants to unsubscribe from your post emails specifically but stay followed otherwise.
- Add a footer menu to your blog’s RSS feeds so that people can visit your About page, contact you, or explore your blog after they’re done reading a post. Don’t make them jump through unintuitive clicks for the basics. The reading and interacting experience should be as if people have come to visit your blog directly. I’ve thus added the following footer menu to the RSS feeds of both my space blog and personal blog.
- If you post on your blog about multiple things, or if you post frequently, everyone would not be interested in everything you share. Offer an RSS feed of the most important or the most publicly relevant post type you publish so readers can choose the slice of your thoughts they like best. As such, I offer a feed specifically for Moon Monday since that’s my flagship writing.
- If you move blogging platforms, always ensure you redirect the old feed URL to the new one, including URL variations and links of category feeds and such.
- Thank your readers for using the best, most ethical reading technology on the Internet. 🤓
