Many people assume that they should only include a single element on their blog in one location. This makes logical sense, because why would you waste valuable screen real estate on the same information over and over again? Well, what if the reader misses the first mention? Then you may have lost an opportunity and you may have an opportunity to recapture that opportunity ever again.

Perhaps the best example of this is the emphasis of your RSS feed. There is nothing wrong with mentioning the availability of a full feed RSS in multiple locations, because it reminds casual users that there is an RSS feed available and they are free to subscribe whenever they’d like to. On the BlueFur blog, for example, you’ll notice that there is a button next to the search box at the top, but there is another reminder to subscribe to the RSS feed in the sidebar a little further down the page.

On Beyond the Rhetoric, there is a slightly different strategy that takes on a similar sentiment. A large RSS icon is placed in the sidebar, but within each individual post, there is a subtle reminder of the RSS feed just before the list of related posts. Two mentions of the RSS feed, but they’re both low-pressure and not “in your face.”

The next time you consider giving your blog a little makeover, consider including multiple mentions of your RSS feed to help maximize the number of subscribers.