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Free Website Content
Increase RSS Subscribers
Increase Subscribers of RSS Feeds
By Sharon Housley
Growing subscribers of your RSS feed
will expand your reach. Put the appropriate effort into
marketing your RSS feed, so you can increase adoption
and spread the message contained in the RSS feed.
Feed Validation
Make sure that the feed is properly formed.
Some RSS readers and aggregators will be unable to compensate
or read an RSS feed that is not correctly formed. There
are both web-based and desktop feed validation tools
available that can help determine whether an RSS feed
is properly formatted or not. After you edit the feed,
be sure to spend a few minutes validating the feed.
Properly Promote Your Feed
In order to increase the number of individuals
subscribing to your RSS feed, take the time to properly
promote the RSS feed. Just as a website requires promotion
and marketing, so does an RSS feed. Here are a few tips
for promoting your feed...
1. RSS Auto Discovery
Use RSS "Auto-Discovery" tags in the header
of web pages. Many RSS feed readers have built-in technology
that can auto-detect an RSS feed. But in order for the
technology to detect your feed, you must have auto-discovery
tags in place on your web pages. Using auto-discovery
will let visitors know instantly and automatically that
an RSS feed is available for the content.
2. Feed Icon
Include a standard RSS feed icon on the
web page. The icon should be both visually appealing,
and obvious. The RSS icon should appear "above the fold"
on the page. That means that when a website visitor
lands on the page, they should be able to see the icon
without having to scroll up, down, left, or right. The
RSS icon should link to the URL of the RSS feed. The
RSS feed icon should be available on all web pages within
a website, so that visitors can subscribe to the RSS
feed regardless of what page they land on or navigate
to.
3. Submit To RSS Feed Directories
Submit the RSS feed to the various RSS
feed directories and RSS search engines. Many visitors
search RSS feed directories for topical feeds that might
suit their needs. This may be a way to attract a new
audience.
Submit RSS Feeds - http://www.rss-specifications.com/rss-submission.htm
4. Tell Email List That RSS Is Available
If you have a current email subscription
list, be sure to inform your subscribers that an RSS
feed is also available.
5. Send A Press Release
Issue a press release announcing that
an RSS feed is available for the content on the website.
In the release, describe the kind of information contained
in the RSS feed, and explain how the RSS feed can assist
interested individuals.
6. One-Click Subscription
Offer a one-click subscription option
to RSS feeds, so your visitors can subscribe quickly
and easily.
7. Communicate RSS Feed Availability
Exploit all channels of communication
to let people know that RSS feeds are available. Include
details of the RSS feed in forum and email signatures,
and include a mention in any company or product newsletters.
Educate And Explain
RSS is still a fairly young technology,
and while more and more people understand the power
and capabilities of RSS, others may not. Be sure to
explain to prospective website visitors how to subscribe
to RSS feeds, and what the benefits of subscribing are.
A little education goes a long way, and this can significantly
increase RSS adoption.
RSS Content
The content of the RSS feed can be a wide
variety of things. Here are a few tips regarding feed
content...
1. Interesting Content
Provide quality content that will be of
interest to subscribers. Like any other communication
channel, you must engage the readers with interesting
material in order to hold their attention .
2. Focused Content
Keep the content in the RSS feed focused.
The theme of the RSS feed should be narrow, and should
not wander too far from its original purpose.
3. New Content
Provide new content in the RSS feed on
a regular basis.
4. Avoid Ads
Avoid inserting ads or self-serving content
into the RSS feed. Advertising should be used sparingly.
Balance content with advertisements.
5. Log Analysis
Examine logs to see what readers enjoy
the most. If you discover that specific segments are
very popular, expand on them by adding additional items
that delve deeper into the topic of interest.
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
RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com
audio recording and editing software.
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This article may be used freely in opt-in
publications and websites, provided that the resource
box is included and the links are active. A courtesy
copy of the issue or a link to any online posting would
be greatly appreciated send an email to sharon@notepage.net
.
Additional articles available for publication available
at http://www.small-business-software.net/free-website-content.htm
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