Five Reasons Why Subscribing to RSS Feeds Is Worth Your While
Author: Jim | Filed under: Blogging 101
In the blogging world, webmasters thrive on their fan base, their RSS subscribers. As unfair as it might be, today’s blogs are judged almost entirely through the amount of subscribers they have registered to read their content every day. Sure, website traffic is important… but if you don’t have the numbers to back things up, you probably aren’t running a successful website.
Take a look over to the side of Jimvesting dot com for a perfect example. You look at the subscriber number as a sort of “validation” for the popularity of my blog. There have been quite a few bloggers that have fudged the subscriber count in the hopes of seeming more popular, and most of the time it works. But why should you subscribe to an RSS feed? Where’s the incentive? To better explain this, I’ve put together what I feel to be the top five reasons you should subscribe to RSS feeds.
1. Learn Useful Information About Things You Like
Obviously, the reason that you read blogs is to learn something new about a topic you find interesting… unless there’s something I don’t know. Blogs have become popular essentially because of the fact that they are easier to read than long newspaper articles, and typically get right to the punch. Assuming you would like this information anyway, why wouldn’t you subscribe to an RSS feed to stay notified when your favorite websites update? For the same reasons that you would typically rather get a corporate earnings call summary through Yahoo than read through the entire conference’s transcript… you should subscribe to RSS feeds.
2. Streamlined and Organized Information
Since the development of RSS readers like Google’s RSS Reader (which I use) and BlogLines, it’s easier than ever to subscribe in one click to a blog and instantly get their information in your reader each morning. I subscribe to every blog I can because all I need to do is click subscribe, and the feed will begin to show up in my Google Reader every time I decide to read. You don’t get nagged about reading (though you could if you chose to), it’s just there for your reference, just like a bookmark. Everything is streamlined, automatically updated, and easy to understand.
3. Faster and Easier Than Visiting Websites
Although I am not going to advocate this wholeheartedly, the truth is that using RSS is a lot easier and faster than going around to all of your favorite websites and reading them that way. Some RSS readers even allow you to comment on the posts without leaving! It’s quicker and more efficient to jump around from feed to feed than having to worry about loading up each and every website each time you want to read. RSS feeds can completely undermine the practicality of websites, and make learning new things a piece of cake. 
4. Support Your Favorite Blogs
Supporting your favorite blogs is one of the most important functions of RSS in my mind. As long as it is so easy to subscribe to an RSS feed (takes about 5 seconds max), why not take the simple steps to support well-run websites? Every subscriber is very important, and as I’ve mentioned, blogs are judged by how many subscribers they have. If I read even one interesting post on a 
blog, I’ll typically subscribe just knowing that I am boosting their own morale and making their website more attractive to other readers and advertisers. It’s a win-win, and a no-brainer.
5. RSS Subscribing is Completely FREE!
So now you’ve heard why subscribing to a blog is so effective, efficient and mutually beneficial… the most obvious pull should be that it is completely free to sign up to receive updates for your favorite blogs. Some people still don’t understand this, and think they are going to be hit with fees and solicitations along the way. This isn’t a newsletter, so you aren’t going to get hit with spam. RSS just pulls the text/images from new posts and displays it to you in an easy to read format each and every morning with your cup of coffee. So take a chance and subscribe to your favorite blogs’ RSS feeds!
You’ve heard my arguments for subscribing to an RSS feed. If you liked this post and aren’t already subscribed to my feed, why not turn your life around and subscribe to Jimvesting’s RSS?! 
Bloggers are giving you free information each day, so subscribe to the good ones and repay the favor… I’m sure they will appreciate it.
-Jimvesting
Related Posts
- The Art of RSS Solicitation – Boost Your Subscriber Numbers with Flattery
- Why "Why Subscribe?" – A Prudent Move for Every Blogger and Why!
- Build-A-Blog Workshop Day 8: Setting Up Your RSS Feed with Feedburner
- Offering Bribes to Your Readers: A Step In The Right Direction
- How to Increase Blog Traffic with your RSS Feed – Turn Subscribers into a Goldmine!
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Jim, I read every post of yours from Google Reader. I love Google Reader. Sometimes, I just add feeds for the heck it so I have more content to read in my “Reader”.
Zac Daviss last blog post..Free “Sponsored By” Links
I agree with this post. I subscribe to my favorite blogs and read the information that interests me on a daily basis.
Flimjos last blog post..Working All Weekend
You are no Fool, Thanking for writing this fine article. I guess I am a RSS junkie but never managed to tell about it like you did.
It’s also ad free
MoneyBitess last blog post..Competitions Help Your Blog Grow
I used to never subscribe to RSS feeds, but then after subscribing to a few blogs (including this one
) via email, I realized how nice it was to have a constant reminder of stuff to read every day, and I’ve learned quite a bit from the content I’ve received as well.
Good post!
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kenapa ya kok lama2 jadi membosankan optimasi rss
Benbego Rizkis last blog post..Kwikcontent VS Adsense Money Maker
Picking and choosing your favorite blogs is essential if you’re subscribing to RSS feeds. You don’t want 20 posts to read every day because you’ll never get anything else done.
Flimjos last blog post..Join the Weekly Buzz at Buzz My Blog
Great post there Jim
Chetans last blog post..Do you appreciate your wedding guests?
I am always amazed how you get all the points correct.This time I agree with each and every point of yours. My special liking is with point No.4
Agent 001s last blog post..Improving Your Alexa Score
great post. I’ve found that subscribing to the blogs I like has sure made a big difference in how often i go back there. Best of all if you use something like google reader you can go back and read them whenever you want.
Matts last blog post..MediaTemple GS Customers Beware Site Down for 23 hours
its a great post on RSS…in short you can say RSS do help a lot!!
I am an avid email subscriber. I must say that subscriptions flood it constantly, but it can be overwhelming at times.
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