I'm frequently asked this question… “what is the best way to get more blog subscribers?”

You probably already know having great content with compelling headlines, published frequently will help you increase the number of people who subscribe to your blog.

And there's a lot more you can do.

You may also know using email in conjunction with your blog is one of the best ways to get people to come back to your blog over and over again. If they love what you're writing about and it solves their problems, they'll subscribe to get your updates and return to read your articles. The biggest challenge though, is moving readers to become subscribers.

When I do blog audits, there are typically two big mistakes I see bloggers make:

1) They bury the subscription form too low on the blog's sidebar so few people see it

2) They don't ASK readers to subscribe

How to correct these two mistakes and increase your blog subscriber numbers:

1. Put the email subscription form at or near the top of your sidebar so it's visible when the reader lands on your site. If you do nothing else, do this. You want the optin form visible “above the fold” and in a spot where eyes naturally move as your reader scans the page.
2. Include a call to action with your optin form with a compelling reason to subscribe, like a free gift (see this post for ideas). Merely saying “Join my list” or “Subscribe to get updates” doesn’t cut it. Offer an incentive that’s too good for your reader to ignore.

Bonus tip for boosting your subscriber numbers

If your blog is built on WordPress, you can use a simple plugin called "What Would Seth Godin Do" to include a call to action on every blog post. The plugin displays a custom welcome message to new visitors and an alternate message to returning visitors. Use this plugin to invite new visitors to subscribe to get blog updates and to welcome back returning visitors, encouraging them to subscribe (if they haven’t already), comment and share your post.

You can customize each message and set how many times a visitor sees the "new visitor" message before it switches to the "returning visitors" message.

You can also set the location of the messages: at the top of the post or the bottom. I put it at the bottom (you can see it in action below) since I believe readers are more inclined to subscribe once they have read your content and determined it’s valuable enough to show up in their sacred inbox.

Since adding this plugin, I’ve seen a 15% increase in new blog subscribers. It takes a couple of minutes to install and customize and then you're good to go.

Remember…a highly visible email optin form and a compelling offer will increase the number of subscribers to your blog.

There are at least seven ways to optimize your blog to attract more subscribers. If you’d like to learn how to generate more leads and build your list with your blog, I have a special invitation for you. Join me for a 90-minute live webinar training program on how to optimize your blog to convert more readers to subscribers.  Learn more and register now. 

The post The Top Two Reasons You’re Not Getting More Blog Subscribers appeared first on Adventures in Visibility.

Usually I'm the one doing the blog reviews for clients and confess I was a bit nervous about what he would say. Sometimes I feel like my blog suffers from the "cobbler's children have no shoes" syndrome.

No need to worry. Derek spent 45 minutes with me and pointed out several areas where I can optimize my site to get better results, the most important of which is attracting more email subscribers. This is not about driving traffic, but how to convert your traffic to your list once they land on your site. Remember: it's your email list that sells, not your your blog.

The video is 45 minutes and worth every minute. Derek shares great marketing tips and explains the reason why behind every lead generation optimization suggestion.  So carve out some time, grab a pen and paper, take notes and then go implement! [If you can't see the video, click here.]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYnZRlfUCOc[/youtube]

As Derek points out at the beginning of the video, the tips he shares can be implemented on any blog in any niche. His advice is universal.

I'm in the process of working with my tech team to make the changes and additions Derek suggested. I'm also having the video transcribed and will post some of the nuggets in future posts.

If you have questions, comments or feedback about Derek's suggestions, please post them below. And do yourself a favor, click on over to Social Triggers and subscribe to get Derek's tips for turning traffic into subscribers.

The post How to Optimize Your Blog for More Subscribers [Blog Review] appeared first on Adventures in Visibility.