Comments on: FeedBurner Relevancy And RSS Subscriber Numbers

By: Christina Warren

Christina Warren — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 22:06:50 +0000

I think that RSS subscribers matter less and less as services like Facebook are becoming not only a bigger traffic driver but a better way to syndicate content. After all, my mom reads uses Facebook but she will never understand how to set-up and maintain an RSS reader.

Having said that, I still think that RSS subscription numbers can be an important metric when negotiating advertising prices, especially if you do a “sponsor” for your feed (not to be confused with using AdSense, meaning, you plug a company with a special post that also gets syndicated to your feed and in return they pay you an amount weekly or monthly). I think it can be a way to track engagement if your readers use Google Reader primarily, but again, I think Facebook is a much, much better tool on that front.

By: Adam W. Warner

Adam W. Warner — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 13:09:47 +0000

I started using Feedburner because of the email subscription option. I still have it activated on some sites, but I’ve been moving my email subscriptions to the use of a Gravity Form which integrates with my MailChimp account where I have RSS subscriptions activated.

Not as simple of a solution to setup, but allows me better analysis of subscriber activity and much nicer looking emails to them.

Down side is no Adsense in these emails currently.

By: Miroslav Glavic

Miroslav Glavic — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:44:48 +0000

I cancelled all my feedburner subscriptions.
I use Google Reader now.
I have access to Google anywhere in the world, maybe not in China.
I have 118 subscriptions.
Some of them are only sending posts once a month or two.
I got 89 feeds this morning.
I look at the sender then the subject/title, if it’s not interested then it goes to the MARK READ pile (without me reading it).

EDIT: Now you moderate comments?

By: Drew Strojny

Drew Strojny — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:44:36 +0000

I dropped Feedburner about 6 months ago and haven’t looked back. The service just isn’t that valuable to my users and the built in WordPress feeds work great. With that being said, I do think it is an important stat if you are trying to attract advertisers.

By: Ipstenu

Ipstenu — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 17:58:27 +0000

I don’t use it for the numbers. I use it for the easy way to put adsense ads in my RSS and the 30 people who follow via email. That’s it.

When I want numbers, I look at my analytics results.

By: Jean-Baptiste Jung

Jean-Baptiste Jung — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 17:46:48 +0000

I don’t think RSS numbers are relevant anymore. Bloggers should definitely getting rid of them for good.

The problem is that many advertisers are seeing those number as a proof of quality and/or traffic of your site. For example BSA are adding RSS stats for each site on their marketplace.

But if feedburner continue to be a pure joke like it is now, many people, including myself, will simply get rid of their – once very cool – chicklet.

By: Andrea_R

Andrea_R — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 17:45:11 +0000

I’d like to have a rough idea. It doesn’t have to be accurate, but “close enough” woudl be good enough. I don’t need to know how they fluctuate on a daily basis.

Mine has gone from in the 400s to over 6000. In the past week.