4 Fail-Proof Ways to Increase Your RSS Subscribers

Using RSS on your website is a good way to spread your company message and increase your search engine position. But if you don't have subscribers to your newsfeed, the benefits of news syndication are lost.

This article will provide you with 4 proven ways to increase the subscribers to your newsfeed.

1. Use an RSS Auto-Discovery Tag

Embedding an RSS auto-discovery tag into your webpage can allow newsreaders to automatically detect you serve RSS newsfeeds. Web browsers such as Firefox and Safari now detect RSS automatically, and ask the visitor if he or she wants to subscribe to your feed. This way, you don't have to push your RSS feed - the web browser does it for you. Also, Yahoo search results will include an "Add to My Yahoo" link if you use an auto-discovery tag.

Global Syndication offers a tool that makes creating RSS auto-discovery tags a snap: http://www.globalsyndication.com/rss-autodiscovery-tag.

2. Submit Your Feed to RSS Directories

When people look for information on websites, they use a search engine such as Google. When they are looking for RSS newsfeeds, they go to an RSS directory. That is why it is vitally important to submit your newsfeed to as many directories as you can. Robin Good has published a definitive list of directories that you can submit to: http://www.masternewmedia.org/rss/top55/.

If you are looking to save time with the RSS directory submission process, Global Syndication can submit your feed to the top 45 directories for under $10:
http://www.globalsyndication.com/directory-submit.

3. Create An RSS Landing Page

To many people, RSS is a completely new concept they know nothing about. When those people click your RSS link, what do they see? A bunch of meaningless XML code. Needless to say, this does not give a good first impression of RSS. You need to make it easy for your site visitor to start using your newsfeed - now.

The best way to do this is to create a separate page on your site describing the newsfeeds you offer and information about RSS in general.

Some things you should cover on this page include:

  • A quick overview of how RSS works
  • Why subscribing to your feed will help them
  • Where to obtain a feed reader
  • How to subscribe to your feed using a feed reader
  • How to display your feed on their site

CNet and the New York Times provide good examples of RSS landing pages:
http://www.cnet.com/4520-6022_1-5115040-1.html?tag=cnetfd.ft
http://www.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/

4. Create a Branded RSS News Reader

If your website offers many diverse newsfeeds, consider creating a custom news reader that is branded with your company logo and preloaded with your newsfeeds. This saves the beginning user the time and hassle of figuring out how to get a feed reader and subscribe to your feeds.

Some companies that offer RSS newsreader branding include NewsGator (http://www.newsgator.com/custom.aspx), Deskshare (http://www.deskshare.com/awrc.aspx), and CustomReader (http://www.customreader.com).

By following the tips mentioned in this article, you will receive an immediate boost in your RSS subscribers, and in turn, drive more traffic to your website.

Josiah Mackenzie is an RSS syndication consultant and founder of Global Syndication, a company providing a wide array of practical RSS solutions: http://www.globalsyndication.com

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Blogging/RSS Information:

Related Articles

6 Ways That Blogging Can Save You Money
Even though I've had several personal blogs for years, I've only been officially business blogging since 2003. So in going back over expenses for the last quarter, you can imagine my shock when I realized that my overall business costs were down about 19%.
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 should perceive life. Theirs is a negative perspective.
What Is RSS?
Recently I did an interview with a well known email Internet Marketer. He wanted to share with his readers a viewpoint on what RSS is from someone who is using it in place of traditional email marketing.
Get the Internet on Your Own Terms
RSS for the Rest of UsI don't know about you, but I'm seeing a whole bunch of articles and websites telling me that I need to get into this RSS thing.Is it really time?RSS (it stands for "Really Simple Syndication") is the latest wave of internet technology designed to take advantage of the "Content is King" mentality.
Blogging Your Way To Success Part 2
(Continued from Blogging Your Way To Success Part 1)By now, you have already configured your blog name, description, personal profile, and the page template. As soon as you set up your blogging account with Blogger, you will need to do this next:Post At Least 20 Articles=====================While this may sound like hard work, there is no short cut around it.
Is RSS Here to Stay or Gone Tomorrow?
RSS is totally hot. We have seen it everywhere, from John-Doe blogsites to major news websites.
How To Create A Blog
Blogs are more permanent than posts to an online discussion list, more dynamic than older-style home pages. They are more personal than traditional journalism, and definitely more public than diaries.
Microsoft and Google Show Its Time for RSS Marketing
Many internet marketers are still wondering whether to start marketing with RSS or not. It seems that not even all the case studies, hard metrics and benefits available can't convince them, or everyone would be jumping on the RSS wagon by now.
Small Business: To Blog or Not To Blog
A weblog, or "blog" started out as a personal journal on the Web. They have evolved far beyond that initial concept.
The Holy Grail that Online Advertisers, Merchants, Publishers, and Shoppers have been Looking for!
For Online Publishers/RSS Feeds users - RSS (Real Simple Syndication) is a popular way for online users/publishers to pull news and information from across the web. RSS allows web sites to publish real time content to online users/shoppers easily and the trend is growing.
How to Write A Blog... And Survive
Copyright © 2004 Priya Shah The question of the day is "Should you start a Blog?" People all over the planet are blogging. Companies, CEOs, lawyers, journalists, stewardesses.
Is a Blog Right For Your Business?
Lemmings are cute, but dumb. If you tell them to jump off a cliff, they will.
Blog and Ping: The Basics!
The buzz words on the internet at the moment are Blogging and Pinging and according to the internet guru's we should all be looking at these as the must have system to be attracting visitors to our site and consequentially making revenue.At first glance you may be forgiven for thinking that this is a new comedic duo just bursting on the entertainment scene, but seriously what is Blogging and Pinging and how will it help us to become a viable internet site owner and if indeed an internet marketer, make a serious income online.
3 Ways to Publish RSS
As RSS news syndication gains popularity among users, new ways for publishing RSS are emerging. In this article, I examine the three most popular methods, and help you decide which one works best for you.
Amazing Information About Blogging
A few months back, at the ITEA conference I saw this guy sitting next to me typing constantly into his wireless laptop. He was making notes on what the speakers had to say, was finding relevant links and then hitting the send key - instantly updating his Web site.
Using RSS Feeds to Set Off a Traffic Explosion
RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, is the perfect answer to your needs for sharing and distributing content. The way this works is webmasters can share bits of code with one another that give them access to the others forums, newsletters, blogs, information, news, and the like.
RSS and Blog Marketing for Real Estate
Earlier this month, Realtor Magazine announced that they would be featuring an article about Tampa Bay Realtor John Mudd and the success he has been having in attracting prospects and media attention with his blog on real estate.Since then, many others in the Real Estate market have been curious about how to implement similar strategies to capture leads in their areas.
RSS FEEDS: Whither Thou Goest?
I open up the 'Feed Reader' every day on my laptop and cruise the 'news feeds' I 'subscribe' to. The amount of information is now overwhelming, I need to just 'subscribe' to only the 'feeds' that are of immediate interest, else I would be reading 'feeds' twenty four hours every day.
Should Affiliates Really Use Blogging and Pinging To Get Indexed?
There seems to be a huge craze lately with everyone trying to blog and ping to get their websites indexed into the search engines. Although this can be a great tool, all marketers should first understand exactly what they're getting themselves into before starting.
Avoid Bad Manners While Blogging
Blogging, the hottest trend in online publishing right now,is currently spreading like wildfire across the Internet.A cross between an online journal and a bulletin board,everyone from rock starts, politicians, business leadersand your average "Joe" or "Jane" can instantly become acenter of influence online using blogs.