Some of us net-junkies have really come to appreciate the concept of the RSS feed/reader, and what isn’t to like about it? It can keep us updated on just about everything we want, is generally super easy to use, and it can all be done for free. However, not everybody needs, or even wants, anything to do with RSS feeds. No, they only want to check things in the cozy corner of their email inbox. Now that you’ve set up your blog and equipped it with RSS subscription buttons galore, what is a guy to do to add email subscriptions? Sit back, relax, and I’ll tell you…

What Good is it When the RSS Method is Better?

Have you ever tried to put together a blog for family, and highly doubted the fact that they’d want to go download something or set up an independent account just to stay in touch? Have you noticed that you have very few subscriptions, and want a possible avenue to increase them? You see, the RSS system is very efficient, but you need to understand that not everyone wants an RSS reader. It means learning new things, and that means extra time. Make things easy on your potential readership, and give them the choice. I, even knowing the power of the feed and reader, still prefer to receive emails about updates. Without any additional work, they get an email every time you post. Keep these things in mind.

Where to Find It

If you’ve read this far and know what I am talking about, you are probably familiar with  Feedburner. This is a popular place to go and get your hands on some subscription buttons and track site activity, so it should come as no surprise that they do email subscriptions as well. You’ll need an account with them to set it all up, if you don’t already have one. Once you are set up and ready to go, get yourself into the “My Feeds” section of the website (the link is in the upper left section). During your registration, you should have already set up a feed, but if you haven’t, just enter the blog URL into the box, activate it. Keep clicking through the options, selecting what you want and don’t want, and you’ll eventually get to a page titled “Your feed is ready for the world. Now what?” You need to click on the tab labeled “Publicize”, and then on “Subscriptions”, under “Services”. Congratulations! You are about to enable your very own email service!

What To Do

You have your option to choose a few different services to send out your email. I chose the default of Feedburner, just to keep it simple. Next, click on “Activate”, near the bottom of the page, and you’ll be brought to a management section. Here, you can choose whether you want a link, which will bring potential subscribers to a new page, or a form, which allows them to simply enter an email address and click a button. It is mostly a matter of preference, but there are benefits to each method. A link saves space on pages with lots of content or extra HTML blocks, but can be more difficult to find in that same environment. Alternatively, a form takes up more space, is easier to find and saves the reader the time of going to an extra page.

If you are a lucky owner of a page with Blogger or TypePad, you can simply go to the drop down menu underneath the code box and install it as a widget. Otherwise, you’ll have to copy and paste the code into an independent HTML block on your page. The exact means by which to do this are different for each blog service provider, but the general idea is the same.  Get to your page layout editor, add or modify an HTML block, and paste the provided code into said block. Save the changes, preview your blog, and voila! You have just enabled your readers to keep tabs on you.

Afterthoughts

If this is the first time you’ve set up a service like this on your blog, there are some things you need to remember. If it is only a certain few people who should be allowed to subscribe, you need to keep track of your list. Make sure that people who shouldn’t be on there, aren’t. Just politely tell them your reasoning, and point them to the appropriate link at the bottom of your email. On the other hand, if someone asks to be unsubscribed, you need to show them to the ‘unsubscribe link’ in your emails. Lastly, since you have subscribers, your are now more obligated than before to post at least semi-regularly, lest your fans get bored and decide to unsubscribe. The purpose of this is to keep people up to date, so make sure there is something to read!

So now you’re all set to go. Don’t forget to check out the other tools that Feedburner gives you, like traffic analysis, podcasting, and rotating headlines. Have fun with it all, and happy blogging!