One of the simplest and easiest ways to get more people to subscribe to your site is to prominently display your RSS icon or link.  This simple and straightforward strategy can result in significantly more people subscribing to your feed because it acts as a reminder.  You will notice that nearly every one of the most popular blogs will display that orange icon towards the top of the page and it is usually displayed in the sidebar.

Why it works

There is one simple reason why this works so well – people either forget to subscribe or the thought doesn’t even cross their mind.  All you need to do is give them a little nudge to remind them and you would be surprised at the results you can receive.

Where should you display the RSS signup button/link?

There are a few places where you can display your RSS subscription link:

• In your sidebar
• In your top navigation
• At the end of each of your articles

These few places give you the chance to remind them a couple times in case they might have missed the first occurrence.

Display the RSS icon next to your link to gain even more subscribers

While a text link or image is fine as a way to link to your RSS feed, I also recommend displaying the RSS icon as well.  This is a great lesson in branding, because that little icon has been seen billions of times and has created a strong association in many of your visitor’s minds.  By displaying the icon you are relying on that instant recognition of the icon and use that to your advantage.  It is amazing the difference you can see compared to a simple text link that says something like “Subscribe.”