10 Proven Ways to Get More Subscribers for Your Blog
Once you’ve built your perfect website, and have created a content calendar for your blog, you need to plan for growing your audience and getting even more blog readers.
One of the top ways to grow blog readership is to create an opt-in option for visitors to subscribe to blog emails or a newsletter. Find out how to get started, and best practices for growing your blog subscriber list.
1. Include Pop-Up Forms and Opt-In Forms
According to HubSpot, opt-in forms increase blog subscription rates based on where they’re placed on a website. Opt-in forms provide readers with an opportunity to subscribe to your blog in a very easy way that’s not invasive or complicated. As they’re scrolling through content on your website, you can have notifications pop up that give users the opportunity to provide you with their email addresses so that you can contact them in the future with more helpful content. Or, you can have opt-in forms located on static website pages and sidebars.
Usually, users will see a button that says “subscribe” in the pop up or opt-in forms. Once they click on the button, they provide their email addresses, and those addresses are automatically added to your subscriber list. It only takes a few minutes to create such opt-in forms and pop-ups and distribute them, as long as you have the right tools. Here’s a comprehensive list of tools you can use published by KissMetrics.
2. Use Dedicated Subscription Landing Pages
HubSpot also discovered that having a dedicated landing page helps when asking blog readers and prospects to become subscribers. In fact, according to their highlighted case studies, dedicated landing pages resulted in 38.6% higher conversion rates. So, if you include a “subscribe now” link in your newsletter or email signature or a “subscribe” button in your blog posts, be sure it redirects your readers to a specific landing page where they can subscribe to your blog.
3. Promote Free and Valuable Giveaways and Offers
One of the best ways to gain more subscribers is to offer something to them for free when they subscribe, such as a free e-book or webinar registration, a discount on their first order, or other incentives. You can also offer to put their name into a sweepstakes or contest you’re running. Just remember to offer something your target audience will find valuable. And ensure they know that they’re subscribing to something and what exactly they’re subscribing to if you want to keep them on your subscriber list long-term. For instance, don’t just say, “Enter your email to get a free e-book”, if you intend to email them weekly once you receive their email address. Instead clearly state, “Gain free access to e-book when you subscribe to our weekly newsletter.” Otherwise, your subscribers will just unsubscribe later when they start receiving a bunch of emails from you that they didn’t know were coming. And, you’ll annoy them and potentially lose them as a subscriber forever.
4. Create Unique Content with a Unique Voice on a Consistent Basis
If you want to gain more subscribers, give them something to look forward to on a rolling basis. And, make sure your content stands out from the crowd online. For instance, if you work for a digital marketing agency, you might want to create blog posts for marketing tips and trends as soon as you hear about them. Or, you may want to have a column where you review top digital marketing tools or conduct and share interviews with top digital marketers in various industries once a month. When digital marketers know you’re going to publish a post once a week or month that they can use for their own practices, they’re more likely to subscribe and share your content with others. If you only sporadically share blog posts that aren’t interesting, engaging, or useful, it will be difficult to build a subscriber base that will follow you.
5. Share Well-Organized and Simple Content
More and more, Internet users are reading blog content on their smartphones and mobile devices. If it’s difficult for them to read or understand, they will abandon your blog within a few seconds. To gain more subscribers, usability is key. Keep your content well-organized and easy to scan or view on mobile devices as well as on desktop screens. Use headers and sub-headers, optimize your blog content for search engines so that it’s easy to find, and keep it simple. Don’t forget to make sure your blog content is easy to share and view on social media sites too. The easier it is to share and view your blog content across devices and platforms, the more subscribers you’ll gain over time.
6. Learn the Art of Guest Blogging
Posting blog content on a well-established blog or website as a guest is a great way to showcase your thought-leadership and expertise, and to grow your own audience, as it will generate more traffic back to your own blog. For example, if you sell organic food products, you may want to share a guest blog post on a website that shares healthy recipes with their subscriber base. Then, they’ll search your website for the products they need to prepare their healthy recipes and will come across your blog content about topics related to organic food.
7. Engage in Different Types of Networking
Use in-person and online networking to gain more subscribers to your blog. For instance, if you’re at a networking event and people ask you to tell them about what you do, you can refer them to your blog if they want more details. Or, if they have a question about something you wrote a blog post on, then tell them where they can find your post.
Online, you should use social networks and forums to promote your blog content to gain subscribers. On social networks, you can share ads about your blog for a nominal fee, as well as promote your most recent blog posts to gain subscribers. And, in online forums, you can share links to your blog when you’re responding to posted questions. Just remember to be helpful and not salesy when promoting your blog or sharing your blog posts.
8. Form Cross-Promotional Deals and Long-Term Partnerships
Take your guest blogging to the next level by creating cross-promotional deals with entities that publish or share your blog posts. Find affiliates and sponsors that you can swap blog content and ads with on an ongoing basis as you’re networking. Be sure they share content and/or offer products or services that are related to what you cover on your blog, and that they aren’t direct competitors. For example, if your blog is geared toward sports fanatics, then you can form a partnership with businesses that create and sell sports gear. They can share links to your blog on their e-commerce website, and you can share some of their ads on your blog page. Just remember that ads should offer real value to your readers and shouldn’t be included if they aren’t related to your blog content or if there are so many of them that your readers become distracted or annoyed.
9. Insert Clear and Enticing Call-to-Action Buttons
To gain more subscribers on an ongoing basis, include clear and enticing call-to-action buttons that are linked to landing pages and opt-in forms. You can also include them at the end or in the middle of your blog posts themselves when it’s appropriate. For instance, instead of including “Subscribe Now” on a button, include, “Get Free Weekly Marketing Tips.”
10. Listen to Your Current Subscribers
Take tips from your current subscribers to figure out how to attract new subscribers. Read their comments and requests at the end of your blog posts and on social media, as well as emails they send you. Make note of topics they want covered, questions they have, where they want to read and share your blog content, and more. Always be accessible and responsive if you want to continually improve your blog content for a growing audience.
If you’re interested in growing the audience for your blog and gaining more subscribers, keep these ten tips in mind.