Are you looking for a way to bring your Google Followers to WordPress? I’ve found a perfect (and easy) way to do it.
NOTE: this only works if you keep the SAME domain name when you move from one platform to the other.
When you move your blog to WordPress, you will need to update your Feedburner feedsource. For example, my blogger feedsource was
http://www.goodtrueandbeautiful.com/feeds/post/default
and when I moved to WP I had to change it to
http://www.goodtrueandbeautiful.com/feed/atom
That meant that people who were receiving my blog’s feed in Google’s Reader didn’t get the updates… Very frustrating! People who use Google Reader had to re-subscribe (even thought their “faces” still showed up in the widget).
The GREAT news is that I’ve found a simple and effective way to bring Google Followers to WordPress (and when I say simple, I mean really simple – I’m embarrassed I didn’t figure this out earlier!).
Follow these steps:
Install the Redirection plugin (I use the one by John Godley – you can find it by searching “Redirection” in your Add New Plugin search).
Paste your original Blogger feed source in the top line.
Paste your new WordPress feed source in the bottom line.
It should look like this (using YOUR feed information, not mine)…
Hit the save button.
That’s it – Your Google Readers will now get your new feed in their reader!
A few extra comments:
- many people have assumed that because they see all the faces in their Google Follower gadget/widget that their readers are getting updates. Unfortunately this isn’t true…
- Yes, your feedburner numbers will bounce back once you do this.
- If you have installed a new Google Followers gadget on your WP blog, this redirection will still work. The feed update isn’t dependent on the widget being visible.
Hope this helps!
Shameless Plug: If you would like to hire me for technical support, or take me up on my free offer to move your blog to WordPress I have details on my services here.
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
AWESOME!! What a great logical solution! LOVE IT!
thanks Lynn! I’m psyched about it too… Let me know if you need any help
Thanks so much Sharon! I knew if there was a way you would figure it out!
This is SO helpful.
THANK YOU. And thank you for the email!
My pleasure! I was excited to figure it out!
Awesome info. Thanks
I’m searching for a way to have followers with the little pictures on my wordpress blog, but not to bring followers over from somewhere else. Is this something I should show my tech person? Can you recommend anything if this isn’t it? Thank you very much!
WOW..big thanks for U..!!!
Sorry, I have some question.
I already redirect my Blog feeds in feedburner.com.
My question is, “in the target URL, i must add my feedburner feed or just blog feed like U, ht*p://www.narzis.net/feed/atom’?
Thx
I already try Ur tips step-by-step, but still not working.
Does the ‘www’ prefix in the source and target URL also influential?
Like this:
ht*p://www.narzis.net/feed/atom
ht*p://narzis.net/feed/atom
@Zippy: the Redirection Plugin that you need to use for this hack will actually remove the “www” from the original source (It can only work if the domain names are the same from your original blog to the new WP blog – it won’t work if you are trying to go from blogspot.com to .com ). Therefore, the prefix shouldn’t matter.
Yihaaa! Successfully! Thanks again for U!
Great tips, I love it!
So I changed my domain name from a .blogspot.com to a .com. How would you suggest I go about the follower move? Just add the widget to WP then as my last post on the blogger ask them to re-follow? Or have you figured out some other way to make it work
Thanks!
Is there any way to bring Google Followers to WordPress when the old and new domains are different?
Hi Katie Lane — unfortunately, I haven’t found a way to do that… the redirection solution will only work if the domain names are the same. If you were using a blogspot, you could try to redirect it to the new domain, but I’m not confident that it will work.
You completely saved the day. I’ve been working on this problem all day! I’m still waiting for my Feedburner numbers to catch up, but it looks like everyone is finally receiving my feed correctly. Thank you so much!!
I search this at google and came up in this website. Thank you for the tutorial.
thank for this tips..
This is a very good trick to add fabric google connects friends
This very helpful but I need to confirm one question. If I wish to keep my BlogSpot running but start a WordPress blog on the same topic, will the redirect detour my current followers from BlogSpot? I want to keep my followers on BlogSpot and set them up on the new WordPress as well.
Hi James. Unfortunately, the GFC will only be able to pull one feed. So you can either have them on Blogger’s feed or WP’s feed, but not both at the same time. They would need to sign up again in one place or the other.
Sharon, your quick response last time was so awesome. I have another issue with WP. My friend likes the drop down menu I made for him in Dreamweaver cs4. It’s a spry menu. So it works off of .js and .css files. How do I get this to work on WP?
Nice post. I have transferred by site from blogger to wordpress.
THANK YOU, Sharon! I just did a Blogger to WordPress transfer for a friend, but we ended up changing her domain name, and her readers weren’t getting her posts! She was really concerned, and I searched everywhere looking for what I should do about it, and then I found this! I really hope it works for her, but I know it will, because you are AWESOME!
P.S: The only way I was even able to do the transfer for her in the first place was because of your amazing book. I followed it to a T! hank you, again!
Hey Syndney! Glad to hear the book was so helpful – that makes my day! Cool Beans
One Note: if your friend changed her domain name completely (meaning that her Blogger blog was one domain name, and the WP blog is a completely different one) then you will need to add a JavaScript redirect to the Blogger Blog to get the GFC to update. It’s a little complicated to explain here, but if you need more details, send me an email (or your client can). If you changed the domain name while still on Blogger (and then moved over to WP) the redirect plugin should work fine!
(be sure you installed the FeedBurner Feedsmith plugin to the WP blog too – otherwise you won’t know if the GFC updates are being captured).
thanks again for your kind words!
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