Use RSS feeds to get the most from your content

Let’s say you have got to the point where you are getting a steady flow of content to your website, you might be wondering where you go from this point. Well, one course you can take is to publicise your content using RSS feeds.

What is an RSS feed?

RSS, which stands for ‘Really Simply Syndication’, is a specific format used to create a web feed of entries or items. It isn’t the only type of content feed available, but it is by far the most popular and commonly used set of formats. The individual items within the feed can have a number of metadata associations, such as published date and a title.

What are feeds used for?

RSS feeds (and others) can be used for a number of reasons, though the ultimate purpose is to share content throughout the internet. There are specific feed readers, which allow users to sign up to website feeds and have them delivered in a variety of reading styles to meet their needs.

There are also websites that act as an ‘aggregator’, collecting information from feeds that either get picked up for featuring certain keywords or are submitted to the site database. Aggregators tend to focus on a specific industry, for example you might get a video games news website which grabs the most recent content from websites that mention game names or similar key phrases.

How can RSS feeds help me?

There are two ways you can use RSS feeds to your advantage. You can set up a feed reading script to pull in relevant content that is written on websites in your industry, therefore adding more keyword-specific content for your website.

The alternative is to ensure your content is put into an RSS feed; something that can be done automatically with most blog and CMS software applications. Then, you can submit this content to RSS aggregator websites and potentially gain new readers and/or links back to your website. It is important to place links that point to inner pages of your website within the feed content, as these tend to be taken along with the rest of the feed data.

Stefan Crowe
Content Developer