Have you been following a blog religiously in the past chuckling over their wit and humour and being inspired or challenged by their posts only to find that you are not getting updates from them? Though it is likely that the blogger has stopped blogging as before, it might also be due to the fact that you have unfollowed them or not following them anymore. Before you protest saying “No! I did no such thing” let me tell you that such things unfortunately happen from time to time as and when the coding or the platform changes. If such a thing has happened to a you, then this post is for you. Here, I am going to list out five easy methods on How to follow a blog.
Blogger dropped my feed -What sorcery is this?
Ever Since I moved from Blogger to wordpress, I have been seeing a steep decline in pageviews and in the readership of my blog. I have also been getting emails and messages from Concerned friends and readers asking if all is well with me as they have not seen my blog updates in months. Though initially I was shocked, I quickly found out that most of these readers had been following me on GFC or Blogger’s reader and when I changed platforms, Google simply dropped my feed. I was like “Oh, no, no, no, no, no!!! What did I do???”
Let me assure you my friends that I am still very much around…and blogging atleast once a week. I also post quite regularly on social media (5-7 times a week on Instagram and Facebook). I have my RSS feed set up so if you follow me by email you can still see a truncated post along with an image. You just to click the link to get to my blog to read and comment. I have done everything right, still, people don’t get my posts. “What is this sorcery?”
Readers & Readership
If you feel frustrated like do, then its high time you educate your readers on How to follow a blog easily. Before I go into the different methods that a reader can use to follow a blog, we must understand that there are 2 types of readers. Bloggers & Non – Bloggers. Bloggers like keeping track of other blogs on their readers – whether it is blogger or wordpress. Hence the No. 1 and No.2 methods on the list are specifically for them. They can follow through the other options as well. Non- bloggers prefer to subscribe through social media or email and ocassionly through online RSS readers like Feedly or Bloglovin. But first, if you have wondering what RSS is, let me explain it to you.
RSS or Really Simple Syndication is a file that most websites update with their blog posts, images, and more. When you “subscribe” to sites through RSS the new content is automatically pushed to you through a reader or through email. Here is my RSS link. Moving on, here are different methods on How to follow a blog
How to follow a blog
Whether you are a blogger or a non – blogger it is indeed very simple to follow a blog. If you have been following a blog for a while and suddenly the feed goes missing, please do them a favour and check out if you are indeed following them now. To follow a blog
Follow on Blogger’s – Reading list
If you are a blogger who blogs on Blogger a.k.a Blogspot, then the easiest way is to follow a blog is through the reading list. Now blogger blogs that started before 2013 might have a GFC (Google friends connect) widget. Yes the rectangular thingy with faces and a blue follow button is what I am talking about. If the blog has that widget simply click on the “follow button” pick whether you want to follow a blog publicly or anonymously and click ok. The blog will appear on the reading list.
But the blogs that started after 2013 or blogs on other platforms like wordpress, Tumblr or Feebly will not have this widget. To follow any blog regardless of the platform, through the reading list, you’ll need to sign in to Blogger (use your gmail id). In the left menu, click Reading list and under Blogs I follow, the blog should be present. If not click on the “pencil icon” In the top right, click Edit. Enter the url of the blog, for e.g https://jewelsofsayuri.com/ and click next. Click follow publicly as many blogger restrict anonymous users from commenting on their site. You can also include the RSS feed url instead.
PS: If you enter the url of a wordpress.org blog sometimes the feed image might not be visible. If someone knows how to fix this issue, please inform me
Follow on WordPress – Reader
Most WordPress.com blogs have a follow button which other wordpress users can click to follow. But you will not find it on a wordpress.org blog (like mine) or blogs on any other platform. Log on to your wordpress.com account (wordpress.org users will have to connect their blog via jetpack for easy toggling). Click the reader tab to see the list of Blogs that you follow. Go to the followed sites on the side bar and click Manage. To add a blog, just type in the blog url or feed url and click the blue follow button. Additionally, you have the option of subscribing by email to the feeds of the blogs to in this method.
Blog Readers – Feedly & Bloglovin
Instead of checking the all websites you follow individually, you can just open an RSS reader app and see what’s new on all of those sites together. Feedly is probably the most popular reader in use today apart from Bloglovin which focuses on fashion and lifestyle blogs. I have not used Feedly but I use and love Bloglovin. If you click the ❤️ heart icon on my social media bar (the sticky message that comes with you as you keep scrolling) or at the sidebar below the about me, you would be taken to the JOS bloglovin feed. Once you signup, all you have to click the follow button to follow the blog you like. You can create collections (based on various topics) and set up email notifications to alert you when your favourite blogger (a.k.a Me!) posts. 😀
Follow via email
Most of the blogs, regardless of the platform, have a follow by email option. Just enter your email address in the box given and you would receive the feed in the form of an email. Signups are once again open on my blog as I have just moved to mailchimp. Simply add your email in the pop-up box and never miss one of my posts again. People who subscribed to my blogger blog will continue to get emails without any further sign up. As I have just moved, you might get 2 emails at the first time – one from RSS and one from Mailchimp but hte next post onwards it would only be mailchimp.
PSS: You can also click on the below pink image to be taken to a sign up page for subscriptions.
Follow on Social Media
Ofcourse there is always Social media and I am on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and G+ and regardless of which blogging platform I am on, I will continue to share my posts on them. With all of us being active on atleast 1-2 social media platforms, this is a great option to follow a blog. However, with the exception of google+, none of the other platforms can be relied upon to follow blogs. In Facebook the consistency of the feed showing up in your newsfeed varies from time to time based on the current pattern of coding. Both Instagram and Twitter are hard to keep up with, as the tweets and images get posted by the second.
Then there are facebook groups that are interest based where blogs of that particular niche get shared all the time. These get good engagement but they might not be a reliable method to follow a particular blog.
Those are some simple ideas on How to follow a blog. Do tell me in the comments, which of these are you comfortable with.If you are a blogger, Do share them with your friends and readers to help them follow your blog easily too.
Over the years I have become good friends with you and I really miss those who have stopped visiting my blog as before. Your words of advice and encouragement mean a lot of to me. So I would really love it if you Follow my blog using any of these methods, visiting and commenting on all my posts. I hope to continue writing content that rejuvenate you, inspire you and leave you wishing for more!
I hope you find it interesting.
Cheers
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