Subscribing to Blogs: What’s the Difference?
What’s the difference in subscribing? (via email or otherwise) What’s the best option to use?
I’ve seen:
Subscribe (via email) delivered by Feedburner.
Subscribe (via email) powered by Mailchimp
Subscribe (via email)
Subscribe (When someone clicks on your RSS icon)Tyhada
Okay, there are two main sections in your list: subscribing via RSS and subscribing via e-mail.
Subscribing via RSS
If you subscribe to a blog through RSS, it means you follow the blog through an RSS reader. An RSS reader is an application that keeps track of all the latest posts you’re subscribing to. When you want to read new posts, you visit your RSS reader and you can see a list of all the latest posts.
There are many different RSS reader sites out there. These are all different applications that do the same thing. They just have slightly different interfaces, styles, or features.
- There was Google Reader, but it recently closed down.
- Feedly
- Bloglovin’
- FeedDemon
- And many more…
For more information on RSS feeds, check out my post on what the heck is RSS?.
Subscribing via E-Mail
When you subscribe to a blog via e-mail, it means you get a new e-mail sent to your account whenever there is a new blog post published. Just like there are many different RSS readers for subscribing to blogs, there are many different e-mail delivery systems. The difference here is that while YOU, the reader, can choose your own RSS reader, you cannot choose your own e-mail delivery system. The e-mail system is chosen by the person who owns the blog.
The blogger can choose to have their e-mails sent out through FeedBurner (free), MailChimp (free up to a certain point, then paid), or Jetpack (free). There are many other options as well, but those three methods are probably the most popular.
The blogger has to choose the method they want, set up their account, and connect it to their blog. Then they can add a signup form to their website, where their readers can sign up to receive e-mail updates through that service. Then whenever they make a new blog post, the reader will get an e-mail sent to their e-mail account with the blog post.
What’s the best option?
As a BLOGGER, you should offer both options. That just means:
- Have your RSS feed link readily available. For WordPress users, that URL is http://www.yoursite.com/feed
- Pick an e-mail subscription service, set up your account, and add a signup form to your sidebar.
As a READER, there is no best subscription method. It comes down to personal preference 100%. If you subscribe to a ton of blogs, then you probably don’t want a ton of e-mails in your inbox every day, so RSS might be better for organizational purposes!
But ultimately, everyone has a different method that they like. I personally prefer e-mail subscriptions for my favourite blogs. 🙂
Getting involved in the blogging community
I’ve been blogging for almost a year now, and I have yet to really get into the blogosphere. And suggestions on how to make some new bloggy friends?
There are several great ways to get involved in the blogging community:
1. Get on Twitter!
You will make a lot of great friends on Twitter. I personally have a hard time being chatty on Twitter because I’m just not that social unless people approach me first… but I’ve heard that it’s a fabulous way to make friends, and I have actually met a few people on Twitter despite my anti-social-ness.
2. Comment EVERYWHERE!
This method is one of the best, I think. The best way to meet new bloggers is to follow them. Find blogs that you love and comment there OFTEN. Then the bloggers will notice you and hopefully reply to your comments and you can get to know each other. Maybe they’ll even stop by your blog too!
3. Participate in Memes
This is the best option if you’re having a hard time finding other blogs in the first place. Participating in memes like Stacking the Shelves, Top Ten Tuesday, and Waiting on Wednesday, will help expose you to more blogs. You can click on blogs on the Linky lists to visit them. I promise you will find SO many new blogs that way (probably too many!). It’s a great way for you to find blogs to comment on and subscribe to, and as I said before, the more you comment on the more people you’ll meet!
Yes, I have met so many people on Twitter, pretty much all my bloggy friends were made like that 😀
As for commenting, I totally agree, I try to do it as frequently as possible and boosh! More friends!
Lovely post, Ashley! <33
I have met the best people during memes. And commenting of course. I have a rule, if someone comments on my blog, I always comment on theirs is they have one. That’s how friendships are made.
I agree with you – if you want to be involved you cannot wait for people to come and find you. The best way simply is to go and comment on blogs to start interactions with other bloggers. Also, Meme’s are a perfect way to get your name out there:)
Great Post! This is definitely something that had me stumped at first!
And although I’m not highly active on twitter, I do love it for the book news, and just plain fun book stuff! I see you twiiter handle is @NoseGraze! If you would like to follow mine it is @StacyHgg!
Yay RSS! I always get tripped up with my Feedburner option through RSS, but my WordPress account offers the option to “Follow” and then they’ll receive email updates through that. Great post 🙂
I’m not really sure if I want to participate in memes. I could see the advantages of them, but I don’t really know if I want my blog to have memes.
As for Twitter, I’m like you too. I don’t really have any interesting things happening much in my life, so I don’t really post status updates much. I just use it mostly to talk to people.
All in all, I think the best way to get friends is to comment on people’s blogs. No other way works as good as that.
As for email subscriptions, what do you use, Ashley?
Yeah that’s fair enough about memes. You shouldn’t join them just to meet new people, you should only do them if they actually interest you. Like, I participate in Waiting on Wednesday and Stacking the Shelves because I actually like those memes and want to share new books on my blog. But if they don’t interest you then you shouldn’t do them! Joining memes just to get new followers is kind of lame!
What do I use on Nose Graze for e-mail subscriptions? I use a plugin called MyMail. 🙂
I just posted a commenting mini-challenge for Bloggiesta this weekend. I think writing valuable, engaging comments is key in networking with other bloggers and getting to know them better. I love memes too for finding new to me blogs. Twittering is hard sometimes for me to socialize on. maybe i have just too many people I am following. I am much better at commenting. Thanks for the info!
As well as the excellent suggestions already mentioned, I’d also recommend joining in on events! Like a readathon, or a massive giveaway thing, or a reading challenge! Going to real-life book events (book signings, festivals, conventions, etc.) can be fun, too, especially if you can arrange to meet other bloggers there.
I just discovered your blog (via Twitter!) and I’m loving it. I’ve already surfed through several of your BBBs and I’m finding them really helpful. My blog is going on 2 weeks old now, and though I’ve figured out a bit on my own, there is still so much to learn. Thanks for this really wonderful feature.
I’m so glad it’s helpful to you! 😀 Thanks for stopping by!
I’m not sure if my comment came through, as I didn’t see it appear in the feed – so I apologize if I’m double posting. I just had to say how much I love this blog, which I just discovered today (via Twitter!) and have already spent so much time on. My blog is just about 2 weeks old now and your tips are so great. I’ve figured out some of them already (the hard way) but I look forward to doing a few other things the easy way. Thanks for a great feature!