Create Professional RSS Feeds

More and more companies are using RSS as a means to communicate, so having an RSS feed that is professional and well polished will help differentiate your company from your competition. What makes an RSS feed professional? Follow these simple steps to polish your RSS feed and take it to the next level…
1. Feed Image
Add an image to your RSS feed. The image will be displayed by many feed readers each time your feed is displayed. This will help build and reinforce your brand or image in the minds of people who read your RSS feed. Adding an image to an RSS feed is relatively easy, and adds a level of professionalism.
2. Images And Links
Add images and links within the RSS feed. The process of adding images and links to the description field of an RSS feed is really quite simple if you are using software to manage your feed, while it may be somewhat complex if you are hand-coding your feed. Incorporating images or hot links in the feed’s content will allow your readers to explore further and dig deeper into your content. The added benefit, of course, are the additional web links back to your site from any sites that choose to syndicate or display your feed’s contents.
3. Validate
Properly formed code is important, in order to ensure that all RSS readers can read and display your feed. But it is also very important for another reason… nothing is more embarrassing or unprofessional than an RSS feed that is broken or stops working. Use software to manage your feed creation, and validate your feed on a regular basis.
4. Easy To Subscribe
Make your RSS feed easy to subscribe to. Include the traditional RSS icon, or an indicator site-wide, so that website visitors can easily locate and subscribe to your RSS feeds. Include basic directions on how website visitors should subscribe to your RSS feed.
5. Auto Discovery
Add “auto-discovery” code to the HTML header of your website. Many RSS aggregators include an auto-discovery feature, which allows them to automatically detect when a website offers an RSS feed. So, if your website visitors are using one of those aggregators, they will instantly know that an RSS feed for your content is available from your website.
Instantly create auto discovery code – http://www.feedforall.com/autodiscovery.htm
6. Favicon
Add a “favicon” to your website. Favicons (short for “favorite icons”) are typically a tiny version of a company or Web site’s logo, and appear in the URL bar of the user’s web browser. When a user bookmarks a specific Web page that includes a favicon, that Web page loads the customized icon into the user’s browser. Because the favicon is usually displayed next to the web site address, it can act like a small logo or an icon that visitors can use to remember the web site or the site address. Feed directories and RSS Search Engines will often use a favicon beside an RSS feed’s listings. So be sure that you have one on your website; otherwise, you’ll have nothing but a generic icon beside your feed. Webmasters can establish branding by creating a favicon for their website. Here is a free service from HTMLKit: http://www.html-kit.com/favicon
7. Subscribe To Your Own Feed
Always subscribe to your RSS feed, so you can see what your website visitors are seeing.
While it is not essential to incorporate the above elements in your RSS feed, the additions will result in a more professional and polished RSS feed that stands apart from competitors in news aggregators and RSS directories. Spending a few extra minutes here could easily draw more attention to your feed.
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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Top 10 RSS Promotion Tips

Creating a feed is not enough – not if you want people to read it. You need to let people know that your feed exists and try to get them to subscribe to it. Promoting a feed is similar to promoting a Web site or an e-mail newsletter. You have to work at it a bit. Luckily, some easy-to-use tools are available to help you, and im going to show you each, and how to use them effectively.
Registering Your Feed with Directories
The number one way to let people – those outside your usual range of contacts – know that you have a feed is to register it with as many directories as possible. This concept is similar to registering your Web site with Web-site directories such as Yahoo!
Of course, you should also promote your Web site content itself. When you get people to your Web site, if they like the content, they may look for your feed so that they can keep up to date on any changes that appear on your site. Check out this article for more tips on promoting your website/feed. Online Marketing Techniques.
RSS is a relatively new technology that’s causing a lot of excitement, and many people want to get in on the act – so they start directory sites.
Some sites hope that you’ll come for the free feeds and stay to buy customized, specialized feeds or other RSS-related services.
So, you need to do the legwork and register with as many directories as you can. To get you going, checkout Kevins article, a post where he has listed the best and most valuable sites and directories to submit your blog/rss feed too.
If your feed is based on a blog, you can still register at all the RSS directories, but you should also register at blog directories. Blogging is a whole world onto itself. In fact, more blog directories exist than RSS directories. Do a Web search using the keywords blog and directory, and you’ll find what seems like millions of listings.
To reach those who aren’t as RSS savvy or as motivated to find feeds, read on, as we look at other ways to promote your feed.
Linking to Your Feed
Of course, when people do find your site, you want your website visitors to subscribe to your feed, so you need to put an RSS or XML button on your site. I recommend you stick with the universally known orange rss button.
Add a hyperlink to the button, linking to your RSS feed’s file. To add a hyperlink to a button, select the button, and use your web creation software’s hyperlink command. In the HTML code, the result looks something like the following:
<a href=”autocad_tips_newsletter.xml”><imgsrc=”images/rss_btn.gif”></a>
Now visitors can easily subscribe to your feed.
You need to make clear what the RSS feed is about. If you have a page that includes many different types of content, label the RSS button with the name of your feed. If you have a place on your site for visitors to sign up for an e-mail newsletter, that’s a good place to put your RSS link. Then people can choose which way they want to receive information from you.
Getting Auto-Discovered
Some RSS readers can automatically find RSS feeds on a Web page. This feature is called auto-discovery.
You can ensure that this auto-discovery works by using the link HTML tag and the code on any web page that contains an RSS feed. You place this code in the head section of your page, which means between the <head> and </head> tags. Here’s the code:
<link rel=”alternate” type=”application/rss+xml” title=”RSS” href=”http://www.your_URL_here.com/feedfilename.xml”>
You can put anything you want for the title attribute, but it should relate to your feed, because some browsers display this text. If you have more than one feed on a page, create a separate link tag for each feed, giving each one a different title.
For an Atom feed, the type should be “application/atom+xml”.
Explaining Just What RSS Is
Let’s face it – not everyone knows what RSS is yet. Unless your clientele is very geeky, you need to explain it to them. Most sites don’t, but some do.
When explaining RSS, keep your explanation simple and appropriate for your audience. You don’t really need to explain the technology, just what it means for them and how they can subscribe. If you want, recommend some RSS readers to make the process painless or refer them to a browser-based reader.
Helpful text next to the RSS button can say something like “Subscribe to My RSS Feed on Widget Technology.” Here are just a few phrases that you could use:

• Get regular updates about widget technology
• Keep informed about widget technology
• Don’t miss the latest news about widget technology!

More people are finding out about RSS every day, so even if they don’t sign up right away, they may the next time they visit. Having an RSS feed shows that you’re “with it.” The implication is that if you are up to date enough to have a feed, you’re similarly up to date in your field – and that’s what your visitors want.
So evangelize a little, strut your stuff, and brag about being on the RSS bandwagon.
Telling Others All about Your Feed
To market your Web site, you do more than just register it and hope that people come. You probably proactively tell people about your site in many ways. Web-site marketing is a huge field.
Some common ways to market a Web site also apply to marketing your RSS feed. These methods are:

• Cross-link with other sites: Ask sites that link to you to add a phrase about your RSS feed. Using the phrase “RSS news feed available” may be enough.
• Send out press releases: Because RSS is new, you can send out press releases about your news feed. That’s right; the feed is news in itself.

Tip: When marketing your website or RSS feed, be sure to avoid the most common Internet Marketing Mistakes
RSS feed links in your e-mail signature
A signature is text that automatically appears at the bottom of every e-mail you send. Almost all e-mail programs let you create a signature. You can often add links to this text. Your Web-site URL should be there. Why not a link to your RSS feed as well? Think of it as an RSS button in every e-mail!
Writing articles for other sites
A great way to get links to your site is to write articles for newsletters and sites that cover your field. The way others pay you is to link to your site. You probably don’t want to substitute a link to your RSS feed for the link to your site (but then again, you may). However, other sites can also give you a byline. You can mention your RSS feed in the byline or perhaps even in your article.
Telling everyone you know
“Hey! Guess what? I have an RSS feed! Pass it on.” Wherever you go – conferences, business meetings, and so on – or whomever you talk to – friends, colleagues, and customers; let them know about your new RSS feed. They’ll probably say, “What’s an RSS feed?” and you can tell them all about it. It’s a great way to break the ice at a party.
Tip: Why not put the URL for your feed on your business card, stationery, or brochure?
Keeping Your E-mail Newsletter
If you have a successful e-mail newsletter, I don’t recommend giving it up. E-mail is still the way that most people get their news. But you should definitely mention your RSS feed in your newsletter as an alternative way to get the same information, with a link to your site’s explanation about RSS.
You can – and should – update your RSS feed when you update your Web site. If your newsletter is monthly, for example, and covers updates on your site throughout the previous month, people who subscribe to your RSS feed receive the news before your newsletter subscribers. You can plug this advantage to your readers. One of the major advantages of RSS is to notify your readers of changes as soon as they happen. By comparison, an e-mail newsletter is old news by the time you get it published.
Branding Your Feed
You probably hired a Web designer to make your Web site look beautiful, if you’re not a designer yourself. You carefully use your logo on your site, your letterhead, your PowerPoint presentations, and all your publicity materials. Why not brand your RSS feed as well?
You can probably think of more ways to publicize your feed. Remember that publicizing your feed also publicizes your website and your business. If you know of any more please feel free to comment or leave your feedback.

Source: http://www.sitepronews.com
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RSS Revisited – Why You Still Need RSS On Your Site

One of the very first articles I ever wrote on Internet Marketing had to do with RSS and it was entitled “10 Reasons To Put RSS On Your Site.” That was in 2004 and RSS was somewhat new and many webmasters were just beginning to place blogs and RSS feeds on their sites. If you do a search in Google, you can still find that article on around 2,000 sites.
Most people now refer to RSS as “Really Simple Syndication” – although it originally stood for “Rich Site Summary” and was a very simple way of summarizing and syndicating your content in real-time to all interested parties.
RSS had its early beginnings with Netscape in 1991 which introduced the first version of RSS (RDF Site Summary). Later versions would be introduced and made popular by Dave Winer of ScriptingNews and Userland fame who is considered by many to be one of the major founding fathers of RSS.
Most people today associate RSS with blogs and blogging. You can read RSS content by using an RSS feed reader or “aggregator” which can be desktop or web-based. Some common feed readers include FeedDemon, My Yahoo!, iGoogle and Firefox (Live Bookmarks). You subscribe to your favorite RSS feed by clicking the small icon on your favorite blog or site and then when fresh content is published via RSS your reader can immediately retrieve and display it for you.
RSS is a very simple way of keeping up to date and in contact with your favorite site or topic. It makes staying informed easy to do and it provides site/blog owners a simple way of distributing their content.
One can’t but wonder has RSS lived up to all that early hype?
Perhaps that question can only be answered by looking at the popularity of blogging and the role it now plays on the web. No one can deny blogs and their accompanying RSS feeds carry tremendous weight, no matter which way you measure it. Can anyone now imagine the World Wide Web without blogs?
But the importance of RSS goes beyond just blogging, we tend to forget how important it is for all the new social media sites like Digg, Technorati, Reddit… and not to forget fast growing applications like Twitter.
People also forget RSS feeds play a major role in online retail and affiliate programs. For example, you can get an RSS feed of all the latest Amazon products to place on your site. Many major online companies now have these product feeds to help promote and sell their wares.
XML and RSS have blended so seamlessly into many browsers and operating systems most users are blissfully unaware they’re even using RSS. Maybe that’s how things should be; with RSS, the ever-present workhorse, quietly doing its job behind the scenes.
RSS is just as important now as it was five years ago – actually its influence and presence has only grown stronger over the years. If you have not fully embraced RSS and placed it on your site and in your online marketing you’re missing out on one of the best opportunities to spread your message on the web.
RSS is here to stay and even has its own advisory board to help with the technical and programming side of RSS. They also list a very handy “RSS Best Practices Profile” for any webmaster wishing to create their own XML-based RSS documents. http://www.rssboard.org/
Why should you use RSS?
Well, the list of reasons is quite long but RSS can help you: syndicate your content in real-time, sell your products, build your list, gather fresh content, promote your company and boost that one vital element everyone needs more of on the web – traffic. For those who have taken full advantage of RSS it has delivered in more ways than one for it has truly turned into that Golden Goose with the Midas complex. RSS has simply proven beneficial to those users who have fully embraced it.
Now, you still don’t really need 10 reasons to put RSS on your site, do you?
To add RSS to your Site within minutes – download this simple RSS Guide: http://www.bizwaremagic.com/RSS/Lead_Capture_Page.htm Or try this more technical RSS Tutorial: http://www.bizwaremagic.com/RSS_Tutorial.htm 2008 Titus Hoskins.

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Pros and Cons of Using RSS Feeds

If you are struggling with the decision of whether to implement RSS feeds or not, consider the following pros and cons for webmasters who use RSS feeds as part of their content and communication plan…
Benefits (Pros Of Using RSS)
The benefits for a webmaster who opts to implement RSS feeds on their website are numerous:
1. Saves Time
RSS feeds save time. RSS subscribers can quickly scan RSS feeds, without having to visit each and every website. Subscribers can then click on any items they are interested in, to get additional information.
2. Timely
RSS feeds are timely. RSS feeds will automatically update themselves any time new information is posted, so the information your subscribers receive via their RSS reader or news aggregator is timely.
3. Spam Free
RSS is free of spam. Subscribers don’t have to worry about wading through huge amounts of spam in an attempt to get to the information they are actually interested in.
4. Opt-In
The RSS subscriber chooses what they want to see, and what information they wish to receive. Knowing they have full control, and that they do not have to provide any personal information to subscribe, they will be more likely to opt-in.
5. Unsubscribing Is Easy
It is also easy to unsubscribe from an RSS feed. If they do not like information contained in an RSS feed, they can simply remove the RSS feed from their RSS reader or news aggregator in order to unsubscribe.
6. Alternate Communication Channel
RSS provides you with an alternate communication channel for your business. And the more channels you provide, the more opportunities you have to connect with your customers and potential customers.
7. Expands Audience Through Syndication
The very nature of RSS is that it is designed specifically for syndication (i.e. publication by others). And wide-spread syndication can expand a company’s reach and strengthen the company brand.
8. Can Increase Backlinks
When an RSS feed is syndicated, it can increase the number of links back to the original website. And additional incoming links will often help a website rank better in organic search rankings.
9. Increases Productivity
RSS increases productivity, allowing people to quickly scan new posts and headlines, and only clicking through and spending time on the items of interest.
10. Competitive
Whether you decide to implement RSS feeds or not, your competitors likely will. So one way to remain competitive is to implement RSS feeds and other web 2.0 technology, and not allow your competition to get ahead of you.
Negatives (Cons Against Using RSS)
1. Not Widely Adopted Yet
Outside of technical circles, RSS has not yet been widely adopted. While it is becoming more and more popular, it is still far from being a mainstream technology.
2. Content Can Easily Be Copied
Content contained in an RSS feed can easily be copied and replicated, regardless of whether you want it to be or not. Few aggregators respect the copyrights of content contained in an RSS feed.
3. Tracking Subscribers Is Difficult
It is very difficult to accurately track the number of subscribers who read an RSS feed or the items contained in an RSS feed. This is due in part to the fact that at its heart, RSS is all about achieving the widest syndication possible.
4. Source Origination Difficult
It is sometimes difficult to discern the origin of an RSS feed item. When an item is syndicated, the source is not always indicated. The metrics available are not always reflective of the traffic received.
Weigh the pros and cons of implementing an RSS feed as a communication channel, and determine whether the benefits outweigh the risks in your own situation.

Source: http://www.sitepronews.com
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Using RSS Feeds to Increase Website Traffic – Guaranteed Results!

RSS (real simple syndication) feeds provide online business owners, bloggers, and marketers the opportunity to connect with members of their target market in an ‘ongoing fashion’. While it is still essential for a website to feature valuable content which interests others to be successful, RSS has the ability for a site owner or blogger to send out notification of new content or promotions to interested subscribers. Thus, allowing them to stay in contact with previous visitors like never before.
Visitors who find a site or blog useful and entertaining could easily subscribe to the RSS feed and receive notification and have and easy access to any future site updates. This adds to an advantage of being able to keep in touch with past visitors, and in this way, would increase repeat business for a site. There are a couple other reasons why businesses are now embracing the use of RSS feeds:
1.Feeds increase your chances of others linking to your content, mentioning your site, and spreading your business around by word of mouth.
2. Having an RSS feed to your site aids in your ranking with search engines.
3. With RSS feeds, you could be able to get your content indexed with search engines much faster.
4. It is possible to attract traffic to your site which does not come from the search engines results pages, if you have RSS feeds installed on your site
5. Since your content is distributed to all subscribers, there are chances of your content catching on and “going viral” as it spreads from one person to another.
When you have RSS feeds operating with multiple sites, you could essentially get free marketing and traffic for your business! Some websites which operate RSS feed directories receive thousands upon thousands of visits every single day.So, you are listed with them, you get to benefit from this tremendous business exposure. The result is a constant flow of traffic which you do not have to pay for!
Most people do not realize how powerful RSS feeds can be, and are not using this tool to its greatest ability. They use it to some minor extent, but they do not understand or know how to get the back links that they should be receiving from the usage of RSS feeds. Most, as well, do not understand that RSS feeds can improve their page ranking. All in all, if you could grasp the concept and understand the application of RSS feeds, you could take a huge leap ahead of all your competition!
If you want to see substantial increases of traffic to your site and watch your business explode, you really can’t afford to pass up on RSS feeds.

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