Do you enjoy reading blogs online but struggle to keep up with the latest posts from your favourites? Well, read on for a few suggestions that might help.
Blogs can be a fantastic source of information or entertainment, but the more you discover, the more time you can spend browsing for something interesting to read. Without a defined means of following a blog, it’s easy to forget about them, as you have to remember to check-in every few days and see if anything new has been posted. For blogs that post infrequently, this can be a real pain.
But there are a number of easy ways to get around this.
1. Google Reader
A simple way of following the RSS Feeds of your favourite blogs. All you need to do is set up an account and list the blogs you want to follow. Log-in to your reader whenever you want to check for new posts, you’ll see them all in one place.
2. Facebook
Chances are, if you’re a regular blog reader, then you have your own Facebook profile. If the blog you want to read has a Facebook page, simply click like and you’ll receive their updates on your News Feed.
As an aside, thanks to Facebook’s EdgeRank software, you don’t automatically see all updates in your News Feed any more. Instead you will only see the posts that FB judges will most engage you.
To get around this, when you like a new page, simply click ‘Get Notifications’ and you should see all their updates.
Alternatively, if you like a lot of blogs on Facebook, it might be a good idea to set up an Interest List so that you can follow them all in one place away from your News Feed.
Your interests will appear on the left-hand toolbar in your News Feed, down near the bottom. You can set your list to be public, for your friends or private, so only you can see it.
3. Bloglovin’
My personal favourite, Bloglovin’ is a really easy, mobile way of following blogs. You can follow via the website or download the app for iPhone and iPad. I have the app on my iPad and open it up each morning whilst eating my breakfast so I can see if any of the blogs I enjoy have new posts. Bloglovin’ also send you a daily email roundup so you can track your feed that way. This might be a great tool for those who commute to work on the bus or train and are looking for a way to fill the dead time.
4. Email subscriptions
A lot of blogs give you the option of signing up to receive email notifications whenever they post something new. Simply pop in your email address and hey presto!
5. Follow via WordPress or Blogger
If you have your own blog, both WordPress and Blogger allow you to follow other blogs so you see their updates within your own dashboard. I have quite a few people who follow me this way.
I’ve used all these methods at one time or another, but find the ones that work best for me are Facebook and Bloglovin’ because they’re easy and I’m on FB all the time anyway!
I hope these tips were useful; if you can recommend another way of following all your favourite blogs, let me know in the comments.