Member Avatar for carolm456

I understand the importance of building a list of Email Subacribers, and I have an automated Subscribe to our Newsletter Form on my blog. But what is the advantage to me of having people Registering at my Blog as Users?

They do not get any extra privileges - they are just a Subscriber with Profile and Password. They don't need a password (or login) to have full read only rights at my blog. They can get regular updates of every new posts by subscribing to my RSS feed by reader or email if that is what they want.

So why do they do it (Register as User/Subscribers) and why do other bloggers say they want to actively encourage people to Register at their Blog?

Thanks in advance.

  • 3 Contributors
  • 3 Replies
  • 202 Views
  • 2 Weeks Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by mauconline

Dani AI

Generated

Short answer: registering converts anonymous visitors into manageable, actionable contacts. correctly focuses on email lists, and and point to comment-control and community signals, but those are only part of the story. A real registration system gives the site the ability to personalize, track, segment, and convert — things an RSS or anonymous read-only visit cannot do reliably.

Common, practical benefits:

  • Personalization: serve topic-specific digests, saved reading lists, or recommended posts based on a user profile.
  • First-party data and segmentation: tag users by interest or behavior to send targeted communications or onsite messages.
  • Higher engagement: registered users are easier to re-engage with tailored notifications and are likelier to return and comment.
  • Conversion and commerce: quicker checkout, saved carts, member pricing and trial gating improve conversion rates.
  • Community and social proof: profiles, avatars and follow features increase trust in comments and encourage user-generated content.
  • Better measurement: cohort analysis, activation metrics and lifetime value are only meaningful when users are identifiable.

Ways to make registration worthwhile (practical checklist):

  • Minimize friction: request the least info up front (email + password); use progressive profiling later.
  • Give an immediate, visible benefit: topic digests, bookmarks, a small resource or a one-time discount.
  • Make features obvious: preview member-only areas so the benefit is clear before someone signs up.
  • Measure success: track registration rate, profile-completion rate, 30/90-day retention, comments per user, and conversion to paid actions.

Cautions: don’t force-read registration for every visitor unless there is clear premium value — that hurts discoverability and sharing. Collect only needed data, explain how it will be used, and keep unsubscribe/privacy options simple to preserve trust.

Recommended Answers

All 3 Replies

Member Avatar for Dani

Most blog systems often require comments from registered users to prevent spam. Bloggers want to encourage people to register to, as you say, build a list of email subscribers, but also to allow guests to comment on their articles.

If your system does not allow any extra privileges, guests are most likely registering out of curiosity because they don't know that. It's usually assumed that registering makes the experience better/different/more customized in some way, and there's a curiosity factor.

Member Avatar for carolm456

Thanks for your reply Dani.

I've been doing some research and have found a great Plugin called S2Member Plugin.

This powerful free plugin lets you merge your Registered Users List with your Subscribers List. This means you have a chance to 'catch' your Registered Users and get them added automatically to your automated Subscriber List.

The S2Member free plugin also lets you secure your site with a banner to display that is updated every day so readers see the site is secure.

You can also add secure Paypal options and buttons, and can divide your List up into different levels of Membership and also hide some parts of your content for different levels of Membership.

It's pretty cool! And it works.

It's really good if you also have Commentluv installed because the Commentluv plugin attracts more Registered Users, which can then get automatically added to your Subscriber List if they Confirm on a double optin process.

Spammers won't do this double optin, so your Subscriber List stays as a quality list of genuine readers and followers.

Edited by carolm456
Member Avatar for mauconline

One key purpose for blogging or indeed for engaging in any social media activity is to create a community of persons interested in your products or services.

So when you get persons to register on your blog, this is great as it suggests that they have found your blog to be worthy of their readership and it also indicates that they are willing to become members of your tribe.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.