Google Reader has a feature of showing how many readers are subscribing to an RSS feed. The number of subscribers can be seen by searching for a blog after clicking the ‘Add Subscription’ link once you are logged into your Google Reader account. The subscription numbers only reflect the number of subscribers through Google Reader, not all subscribers. Nonetheless, it is an interesting way to compare blogs and monitor some trends. Of course, blogs that post about Google Reader on a regular basis due to the nature of their blogs will probably have an advantage. While some claim that sometimes the number of subscribers is not that important, I do not think a webmaster should completely ignore this aspect of their blog.
Often bloggers ask the question what to do in order to be able to maintain a large reader base. I think one of the best ways to approach this dilemma is to try to imagine what would make you read somebody else’s blog. In my case, I believe the most important aspect of a blog that I would visit would be the fact that it would be useful to me. It might be useful in different ways, but it is important that it would be useful in some way. For example, I might want to visit a blog that provides accurate, and well-timed news, or a blog that offers some valuable advice that is hard to obtain, as it requires experience or expertise. Ask yourself the question: what makes you visit other blogs, and try to do the same as other blogs do.