Steps To Creating and Promoting RSS Feeds

RSS, or Really Simple Syndication as it is commonly known, is a technology that gives webmasters the ability to easily distribute and publish syndicated content on the Internet. It seems like all Internet businesses now have RSS feeds available; at least your competitors do. You have finally made the decision that you have to have one. Where do you start?

Steps to Creating an RSS feed

1.) Build a Feed

There are a number of desktop and web applications available that make feed creation easy. I would encourage anyone creating a feed to use one. Though not overly complicated, hand-coding an RSS feed can become a bit confusing and time-consuming. Most desktop software applications for building a feed include a wizard and contact-sensitive help, simplifying the process of creating a feed. Following a few simple steps in a wizard generally will produce an RSS feed in just a few minutes.

Publishers control what information is syndicated in the RSS feed, so ultimately it is the publisher's decision as to whether to include teaser copy or full articles. Consider what you are trying to accomplish and who your target audience is when building the feed.

Software to Build a Feed - http://www.feedforall.com
Tutorial for Creating Feed by Hand using XML-
http://www.make-rss-feeds.com

2.) Transfer the Feed Onto Your Server

Once you have constructed an RSS feed you will need to transfer the feed to your server. This can be done using a standard FTP client (if it is not built into the feed creation software). The feed is usually placed in the domain's root directory like this:

http://www.mydomain.com/nameoffeed.xml, but as long as you know where it is it doesn't really matter.

3.) Display the Feed on Your Website Using a Graphic of Some Sort

In order to signal to website visitors that an RSS feed containing content related to the website is available, include a colorful graphic on the website. It has become a standard that nearly all websites that have RSS feeds available use colorful graphics such as flags as indicators that RSS feeds are available for specific content. The flags were initially bright orange rectangles but as the popularity has grown, webmasters have bent the rules a bit. NotePage has made a free online RSS graphic tool available that allows users to quickly customize buttons by selecting the text on the button and the color scheme of the button. Once the color and text is entered, a custom graphic is instantly created. Webmasters can easily match the style of the RSS button to a website's theme. Graphics experience is not required. Simply select alternative colors and insert text to personalize RSS feed graphics. The RSS graphics tool can be used by clicking the following URL

http://www.feedforall.com/public/rss-graphic-tool.htm or choose ready made graphics fom: http://www.rss-specifications.com/rss-graphics.htm

4.) Include Information in the HTML of the Web Page So RSS Readers Auto-Detect Your Feed

After publishing an RSS feed it is important to let visitors know that the feed exists. Aggregators will automatically detect RSS on a website if you add a small bit of code in the header field of an HTML page.

<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS"
href="http://www.yourdomain.com/rss.xml">

Be sure to replace http://www.yourdomain.com/rss.xml with the URL to the RSS feed.

5.) Display the Feed's Content on a Website

Contents contained in an RSS feed can be added to a website, providing site visitors an alternative method for viewing the content. The information will also help increase search engine interest. Displaying the feed as HTML can be accomplished. Providing fresh content on a regular basis will encourage site visitors return.

Tutorial for Displaying Feeds - http://www.small-business-software.net/display-rss.htm

6.) Submit the Feed to RSS Directories and Search Engines

As a rapidly increasing number of content sources, new and old, migrate or add RSS as a key distribution channel, and as more people utilize RSS newsreaders and aggregators to keep themselves informed, the ability to maintain high exposure and visibility is gradually shifted from complete attention to major search engines and content optimization techniques to an increasing awareness of RSS feed directories and search tools.

In order to increase exposure of an RSS feed it should be submitted to RSS search engines and directories. This can be done manually. Just as you would submit the URL of a website or web page to a search engine you will need to submit the link of the actual feed located on your website to the RSS directories. There is a large list of RSS directories at http://www.rss-specifications.com/rss-submission.htm. If you prefer to automate the submission process try RSS Submit at:

http://www.dummysoftware.com/rsssubmit.html. An evaluation version is available.

About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for NotePage http://www.notepage.net a wireless text messaging software company.

---

Better Links Directory

Writing Good Blogs

There's a lot of blogs out there on the Web,... Read More

RSS is Not Only for Blogs

Contrary to popular opinion, RSS is not only good for... Read More

The Viability of Blogging to a Niche Market

Niche marketing is an old and very successful marketing strategy... Read More

Is Your Site Ready For The Coming RSS Revolution?

Recently, there have been many developments in the RSS arena.... Read More

Blogging Your Way To Success Part 4

(Continued from Blogging Your Way To Success Part 3)In this... Read More

Your RSS Feed Might Look Like Spam

RSS feeds seem to be the breakout technology for the... Read More

Could There Be A New Way Of hearing The News Stories We Feel Are Relevant In Our Lives?

Mainstream media has become a single-minded authority on how we... Read More

Blogs are an Art Form that Takes Practice to do Well

Writing?Blogs?Blogs are on-line journals where people express themselves through writing.... Read More

Blogging for Business

Business blogs are primarily used to improve a company's communication... Read More

Microsoft and Google Show Its Time for RSS Marketing

Many internet marketers are still wondering whether to start marketing... Read More

Are Blog Meant for Raves and Rants?

Blogging is the latest internet craze and it may turn... Read More

Why Would You Use Blogs Instead of a Web Site For Your Online Business?

Why would you use Blogs instead of a web site... Read More

Creating A Basic RSS Feed For Your Site

The future of RSS Feeds and internet marketing is looking... Read More

Why Your Blog Might Be Sabotaging Your Business

Many marketers were very excited when forum and newsletter discussion... Read More

See RSS Feeds from Your Website

RSS feeds have made it so convenient to gather current... Read More

7 Tips for Successful Blogging

So, you have a blog! Do you have traffic? Do... Read More

Blogs for Kids

Flush out the writer in children. Blogging could draw out... Read More

Shorten Your Blogging-RSS Learning and Submission Curve

A blog is a frequent, online publication of comments, web... Read More

RSS Meets the Needs of Direct Marketers

Contrary to general opinion, RSS meets the needs of even... Read More

How To Build Traffic To Your Blog

With the growing interest in blogging as... Read More

How To Create A Blog

Blogs are more permanent than posts to an online discussion... Read More

How to Promote Your Blog for Free Online

11 Ways to Promote Your Blog1. Ping weblogs.com and other... Read More

Improving Your Customer Relationship Management by Blogging

Before I address the following questions:* What is a blog?... Read More

Why you should be using RSS

RSS opens up a whole new channel of communication between... Read More

Got Blog?

In 1999 I asked my friends and colleagues if they... Read More