One of the most frustrating things for a new blogger is gaining RSS subscribers. You won’t start a blog one day and then have hundreds of subscribers the next morning. It does take lots of hard work and patience. The most obvious tip is to post quality and relevant information that your readers can actually use. Of course you still need to advertise your blog and get known around the blogosphere. But here are some tips to retaining readers that find your blog.

Visits Your Site

First appearances are everything. If a reader visits your site and immediately is inundated with pop-ups, ads all over the place and a poor color clash – they might leave before they even have a chance to find any of your actual content. I pretty much have a rule of thumb myself, if I get nailed with a useless pop-up that isn’t directly from the site I am visiting – I leave. But also keep your logo, header and complete design in mind. The top fold of your page is the first thing everyone will see. Make it appealing and make it so that a reader knows almost instantly what the page is about and what you have to offer.

Don’t be afraid to discuss other sites or link to them. If you learned something worth utilizing from another blogger, share it with your readers. They aren’t going to unsubscribe just because they found a great tip elsewhere! Most subscribers are going to have quite a few on their readers list and will appreciate your tips about other sites that offer good information.

Don’t just login to your blog and make entries without thought. Have a game plan and a long term goal. Build your posts around that goal. Have an organizer to keep a schedule and a list of goals and limitations for your blogging.

While it’s good to be an authority on a particular subject, try and mix up the content a little and offer your readers some content other than your typical subject. Off topic posts are ok, but don’t do it daily. What I mean is this: if you are writing a blog about implementing CSS in your web design, maybe you can make an occasional post about Photoshop, PHP or how to make advanced forms. These might not be specifically what your blog is about, but they are related and your readers will enjoy the extra benefits of what you’re offering.

Retaining Readers

Not really related to retaining readers, but getting them there – look around for blogs that want guest bloggers and apply. Guest blogging is an outstanding way to get new readers to your own blog. What can be better than sharing your writing expertise with an already built audience? The same can be applied to leaving helpful comments on other blogs. Don’t just leave comments saying “thanks”, write something related to the topic that other readers will find useful and they will be more likely to check out your blog as a result.