What
is an RSS Feed?
RSS stands for "really simple syndication".
For example I write articles every 2 weeks
and place them on my web site. I then
link to that article from my home page
and from my article headlines page. I
make that article available to others
as an item in my RSS file. People who
use RSS readers or news aggregators can
read, then link to your article from their
web site.
You have now syndicated your content for
others to view. This is a great way to
improve or maintain your search engine
rankings by naturally getting incoming
links. Every time you write a new article
it will be instantly available to 1000s
of web site owners.
How to create an RSS File?
RSS files use the XML language. This is
similar to html except you must be careful
to use closing tags and be sure to validate
it before you use it. An XML file contains
the information (Title, Description and
Link URL) that your audience will receive
through a RSS reader.
Here is all you need to create an RSS
file:
-Title
-Description
-Link
Open notepad on your computer, then copy
and paste the information below replacing
it with your own title, description and
link information.
The first part contains information about
your web site. The second part contains
information for one of your articles.
You can also include optional information
in your headlines such as language, copyright
info, contact email addresses, or an image.
Try to limit the number of articles you
wish to include in your RSS file to 5
or less. Enclose your RSS information
with the xml and rss versions you are
using followed by the channel and item
tags. Finish off with the RSS closing
tag.
Here's the example:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"
?>
<rss version="0.91">
<channel>
<title>Web Site Design | Hosting
| Marketing</title>
<link>http://www.isitebuild.com</link>
<description>Affordable Web Design
in Maryland</description>
<language>en-us</language>
<item>
<title>How to Add a Search Engine
to Your Site </title>
<link>http://www.isitebuild.com/add-search-engine.htm</link>
<description>
When visitors arrive at your web site
you want them to find the information
quickly otherwise they will lose patience
and move on. A great way achieve this
is to add a search engine or search box
to your web site.
</description>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
You have now created your first RSS file
that is almost ready for syndicating.
How to Syndicate Your RSS
Feed
If you syndicate your RSS
Feed or advertise it, you will get an
immediate boost in traffic to your web
site by others reading and/or linking
to your information. There are 2 ways
to do this:
a) Place an XML button at the top of your
home page. This is a little orange image
that links to your RSS file. You can see
one at the top of my home page at www.isitebuild.com.
Get a copy of the image (right click,
save picture as) and upload it to your
website. Place the image, with your xml
link, on your home page. For example,
here's the line of code I placed on my
home page:
<a href="http://www.isitebuild.com/rss/rss-feed.xml">
<img
border="0" src="rss/rss_icon.jpg"
alt="rss for maryland web
design" width="36" height="14"></a>
Feel free use this code for your own site
but remember to replace the information
with your own link.
b) Submit your site's RSS feed
URL to various aggregators or
news readers. This will enable them to
start checking your RSS feed for updates.
contact@e2solutions.net
Here is a list of some of the most popular
news aggregators:
Daypop
Syndic8
Userland
Feedster
Postami
Update your RSS feed regularly
- add new articles to your RSS file on
a regular basis. Make sure you link each
article to your site to increase your
web traffic. Remember to delete your old
articles because the dates next to your
articles will adjust depending on when
news aggregators pick them up.
You only need to do this once and then
syndicators tracking your feed automatically
pick up your new feed items as you update
them.
Conclusion:
Even though RSS feeds are a relatively
new way of marketing, once you set them
up it takes very little time to maintain
and provides another great way to increase
the number of visitors to your web site.
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