What is the best way to follow a blog?

[Rosie of Proses' Roses]

What is the best way to follow a blog?

 

I'm not new to blogs (I've followed beauty blogs which are of a different kind to book blogs). But since becoming a blogger, it seems the number of followers is important to everyone so I want to contribute to that. 

Now I often bookmark blogs on my browser and then check on them daily or every other day for anything new but I don't believe it makes me counted as a "follower" just page views.

 

I know there are a couple ways; google friend, RSS, email subscription etc.

The thing is I don't want to skip around between systems, I want it all in ONE place. I have a wordpress blog so I can only subscribe to other wordpress blogs which is in the minority here.

 

Thanks for the help and please excuse my noobieness. :)

[Hannah]

What I usually do is follow on the Google Friend Connect, which seems to be the main indicator, but I add them to my Google Reader which I actually check. That way they get a new visible follower, and I don't get frustrated by blogspot dashboards and such ;)

[Miss GOP]

I agree that Google Friend Connect is a great way to keep all those blogs in one place. I'm trying to get more subscribers by email, but that's harder to convince people about.

 

When I first started I made a file in my computer for blogs I like and I still check it out from time to time. Good luck to you!

 

-Miss GOP

www.thewritingapprentice.com

 

[Jennifer Kitchens]

I'd agree that GFC is a main way to count followers.  Facebook is a good one too.  RSS and email are harder to get people to do, but to be honest, any kind of following is good.  

 

And don't get me wrong - getting extra pageviews is always great.  There are many times that you have several "official followers" that never actually check back ever again.  So pageviews are always nice.  

 

Clean Romance Reviews

[Rosie of Proses' Roses]

I'm surprised to hear GFC is the main one! I thought RSS was more standard, I mean GFC is pretty new, isn't it?

[Rosie of Proses' Roses]

Thanks for the feedback!

I'm going to use GoogleReader and add sites to them (through RSS or manually)

Wordpress doesn't have a widget to follow through GFC or other ways unless you use the .org site which isn't free.

[Joss Arden]

There's no single "best" way to follow a blog - it all boils down to personal preference. You've already gotten a bunch of responses saying Google Friend Connect and it's great that people like that service. My personal preference, however, is Google Reader. I have a GFC widget on m blog so that people can follow that way if they wish, but I've never quite understood how GFC works from a follower's perspective. ::shrugs::

[Grace]

I also use Wordpress, and so I tend to read more Wordpress blogs than ones through Blogger.  There are a few Blogger blogs though that I subscribe to via e-mail.

 

I don't really care for Google friend connect, mostly because it's too easy to "follow" blogs but then never actually read them.  I'd rather have a handful of subscribers who actually read and comment on my blog than hundreds of "followers" that don't actually visit.

 

It sounds to me that you want to follow people through RSS if you're reading a lot of blogs that aren't on wordpress.  Or, if you mostly read wordpress blogs, do what I do and follow blogger ones via e-mail.  Having two systems isn't that bad.

 

As far as RSS goes, you won't see views in the site stats on wordpress for people who read your blog via RSS feed.  If you're curious about feed views for your blog, you go into the "Top Posts & Pages" section under stats and click on the little icon to the right of a post that looks like a bar graph.  That icon will give you a graph with syndicated page views, which show the number of views through feeds as a darker shade of blue.

 

_______________________

Books Without Any Pictures

[Rosie of Proses' Roses]

Thanks for the helpful tips!

I don't really read posts through google reader, I usually open a new tab for posts I'm interested in but I never knew that page views don't count through RSS feeds!

Thanks for following me, I'm following you as well!

[Rikki]

I would definitely use RSS. A lot of blogs don't have GFC,I am not even sure you can use it on self hosted wordpress blogs. I don't know how GFC works and never use it. I find it pretty sad that people seem to measure the quality of a blog from the number of "followers" via GFC.

With RSS subscriptions you have everything in one place and can either read with Google Reader for example or go from there to the individual blogs. If as a blog owner you have Feedburner and use that to manage your feed you can check the number of subscribers easily.

[Patricia Blomeley-Maddigan]

Hi, Rosie -

 

I am a fellow WordPress Blogger, but I also have a Google/Blogger account.  The true reason is that originally I had my blog on Blogger, then switched to WordPress.  I started noticing other WP blogs, and I just liked the look of them.  When I switched to WP, I cancelled my Blogger/Google account.  Then, as you mentioned, I could not follow people on GFC.   That is one thing I like about WP - anyone can (email) subscribe to the blog.  The switch was not difficult for me, as I have only been blogging (anywhere!) for about a month..

 

Google is my favourite search engine, so using my Google account, I reopened a Blog on Blogger - just the bare bones of one - and on that blog I redirect everyone to my WP blog.  This gives me access to GFC - without actually using that widget.

 

I always sign up when bloggers use GFC - but I do that for them, not for me.  Checking through all the blogs I follow on GFC would be very difficult, so like most people, I have my favourites.

 

I also sign up when a blogger uses FB Networked Blogs - that gives me reminders on my (personal) FB page.  Without reminders I am sunk!!

 

As for my personal preference, it is definitely to subscribe to blogs through email.  They end up in my Inbox - right in front of me - so I can check out their news.

 

As I said, I am only one month in to the blogging world, so it is still very overwhelming at times.  I know I need to create a folder, (or folders), on my desktop, for blog info - but I only realized that in the last week or so.  Which means I need to backtrack a little!

 

I have also started keeping track of the blogs I follow in a journal - which may go by the wayside once I have everything organized on my laptop.

 

I have suscribed to your blog Proses' Roses - you have done a great job on the setup.  And the Classics!!  My favourites!   What a great idea for blogging!!  Also sent you a Friend Request here on Book Blogs.

 

Hope these thoughts are helpful.

 

Do please check out my blog:  https://thejoyofthewrittenword.wordpress.com/).

Patricia

Choose Joy!!

[Rosie of Proses' Roses]

Thank you for replying . And your compliments make me blush. :)

I'm following you too. We wordpress bloggers need to stick together!

[Patricia Blomeley-Maddigan]

 

  :)