Two Awesome Google Reader Alternatives

Posted on March 13, 2013 by AK Stout

So ya heard Google Reader is gettin’ the boot. (Or maybe you didn’t and I just spilled the beans.) Either way, you’re probably scratching your head wondering how in the world you’re going to continue to consume your favorite blogs and RSS feeds.

Fear no more! I have two great alternatives with which I think you will be more than pleased.

1. Skimr

Skimr comes pre-loaded with some awesome geeky sites but you can remove those and add your own. (Go ahead try it … just add http://2geekygirls.com/feed:-)) You can also easily transfer your feeds from your current RSS feed reader over to Skimr by importing an OPML file. 

My Skims from Skimr 2 Geeky Girls Blog

I really love this reader because of it’s clean, simple format. You just click on the site and the feed opens right up with the title of the article and an excerpt. Browse the excerpts then click on one to open it up and read the full article. 

2. BlogLovin’

BlogLovin’ is great for blog readers and writers alike. For readers, simple enter the URL of the blogs you wish to follow and then you can elect to get email notifications daily or as new posts occur for the blogs which you are following. (There’s also a sweet Google Chrome extension that will pop up with a notification when a new post is added!)

For blog writers you can claim your blog and have others follow your blog so that your new posts will appear in their notifications as described above. BlogLovin’ also does a really nice job of providing buttons that bloggers can put on their site and in their posts to encourage readers to follow. Something like this…

Follow on Bloglovin(Hint, hint, cough, cough.) You will also see that we added a BlogLovin’ menu item and a sidebar widget. We did that based on recommendations that came from BlogLovin’ on how to increase readership… and well… we want to do that:-) Don’t you?!

So Google Reader may be prepping for the big sleep but not all is lost – you still have some great options for reading your favorite blogs and article sites!

If you have any other suggested alternatives please leave a comment below so that we can check them out!

Thanks for reading!

XOXO,

AK

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About AK Stout

Owner Saying It Social, LLC, a Social Media Marketing Co; Trainer; Speaker; Co-host, Social Geek Radio; Co-organizer, Baltimore Social Media Group; Co-geek, 2 Geeky Girls.
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  • http://twitter.com/GeminiRedCraft GeminiRed Creations

    I would like a way to import all the blogs I follow into Bloglovin. I just signed up with them for my blog, but I also read a ton of blogs.

    • http://2geekygirls.com/ 2 Geeky Girls

      I did the same thing! Will check out your blog:-) Thanks for reading!

  • http://twitter.com/skimrss Skimr

    Thank you for recommending Skimr as a Google Reader alternative! http://www.skimr.co

    • http://2geekygirls.com/ 2 Geeky Girls

      You are welcome! Thanks for stopping by! Don’t be a stranger:-)

  • Geoff Pritchard

    Thanks for making me aware of this! I’ve been using NetNewsWire to pull in my Google Reader feeds, so I suppose I’d have to use it to get to them directly. It could also be a good time to switch to a different reader. Do you know if either Skimr or BlogLovin has the option to highlight or ‘star’ favorite posts?

    • http://2geekygirls.com/ 2 Geeky Girls

      Hi Geoff. I don’t believe Skimr has an option like that, but in BlogLovin you can “Like” posts. Thanks for stopping by!

  • James Merrill

    Thanks for the alternatives.

    • http://2geekygirls.com/ 2 Geeky Girls

      You’re welcome!

  • http://kathybear.blogspot.com/ Kathy Pearlman

    Thanks, but I just sub on my Outlook RSS reader. Although I do sub to a few things on Google Reader.

    • http://2geekygirls.com/ 2 Geeky Girls

      Yep Outlook RSS is good, too!

  • http://twitter.com/BooksForMe2 Books4me

    I got a popup the other day on GR, letting me know about this occurrence in June but wondered what other options there are. Thanks for the heads up for other ways to follow!
    ~Barrie

    • http://2geekygirls.com/ 2 Geeky Girls

      You’re welcome! I’ve also been hearing a lot of buzz about Feedly as a great alternative. ^AK

  • 5lita5

    Thanks for the suggestions! I ONLY just figured out how to work the G+ thing & (of course) now it’s not going to be valid anymore… oh well… time marches on I guess…