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Let’s talk about anything bookish!

 

One of the ways I love to support my favorite blogs is to subscribe to their RSS via email. I ONLY subscribe via email to those blogs I ACTUALLY read and visit regularly. Because of this, I have come across a slight issue that is bothering me: I wish blog email subscriptions had a format.

But before I delve into the issues, I want to talk about the reasons why I prefer email subscriptions.

The reasonS being:

1. There are just too many contests/giveaways that require you to follow via [insert follow option here]
2. I don’t like to download RSS apps like Bloglovin and scroll through them because, a. see item number 1, and b. I easily get overwhelmed with too many graphics (I already have Instagram for photos)
3. I can check my email on my desktop and read the email subject without opening the email

With that said, I follow blogs on Bloglovin when joining contests/giveaways but I hardly check that app at all. The blogs that I really DO follow, I subscribe to them via email.

Here’s the rub. I am persnickety about certain things and I WISH that all bloggers who have email subscription options set-it up in a way that makes it easier to know what a certain post is about. Most especially for those who post daily.

While there are no guidelines as to what your newsletters should be. But I just wish it was formatted this way. By the way, I used to be guilty of this until I formatted it a certain way.

Blog Email Subscription Format

Email Subject Line

Please format your subject line to show your POST TITLE. Please avoid the New Post from [blog name]. This is a slight annoyance for me because it doesn’t show your blog post title. This means I will have to open the email to see your post. It is easier to scroll through my email when the title is on the subject.

This is what my blog subscription looks like in your inbox

Do NOT enable Excerpts only

Please, please, please! If this is a way to drive traffic to your blog, it’s not a good idea. I honestly believe that if someone wants to visit your blog, they will regardless of you having excerpts only showing or the full blog post. I set my RSS/email subscription as full posts and I still get visits.

Also, I do comment on blogs and I will visit your blog even if you enable full posts on your RSS or email setting.

One of the reasons I unsubscribe to blog email subscriptions is the ease of reading your blog via email. For those of you who are offering email subscriptions on your blog, I hope you do have a format to make it easier for your readers.

For those who use newsletter subscription services like Mailchimp, you are able to format your email newsletters to fit your preferences. It’s actually really easy and you can also test the email before it goes out – even if it is set-up as an RSS.

Setting Up Name & Subject

To set-up your From name and subject: use *|RSSITEM:TITLE|* and use your blog name under from name. To personalize the recipient name, use *|FNAME|* and it should show the name the subscriber used when they signed up to your newsletter. This will only be used if you don’t use the RSS function.

 

Setting Up RSS Body to show Full Post

To set-up your RSS body to show the full posts: use *|RSSITEM:CONTENT_FULL|* and also include the link to read your blog post via browser.

I also include a link to 5 recent posts that have gone out. This helps when you have new subscribers. To add that option use *|RSS:RECENT5|* where 5 is the number of previous articles/posts that I wanted links for. You can change it to fit your preference.

 

Do you subscribe to your favorite blogs via email? Do you agree with my suggested format?

Do you provide email subscriptions on your blog? Do you have a format? Have you thought about your email subscription format?

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