Build-A-Blog Workshop Day 8: Setting Up Your RSS Feed with Feedburner
Author: Jim | Filed under: 30-Day Blogging
Welcome back to another day of the Net Fool’s Build-A-Blog Workshop. By now, we have a good looking website all built and ready to go, but don’t bother customizing because we will cover that soon. For now, we need to find a way to retain our members, and will be configuring our RSS feeds for maximum compatibility.
What is RSS, and Why Do I Need It?
RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication.” Essentially, think of this as a way for a passerby to get a condensed version of what you are putting out every time you post in some kind of easy-to-use reminder (i.e. emailed or in an “RSS Reader”). It turns one-time viewers into daily readers, and it makes even the most dedicated fans that much more reflective in your blog’s production levels. Advertisers love to see those high RSS numbers, viewers see RSS as a sign of industry reputation, and it is overall a very positive tool for your blog.
Using Feedburner As Your RSS Mediator
The internet’s most popular RSS tool is called Feedburner, and was recently acquired by Google to bring all of their most premium services to you for FREE! While RSS feeds are technically meant to be manually put into your system in the form of an .xml file on your server every time you update, WordPress automates this to have your feed at a dedicated location that auto-updates every time you have a new post. We want to take this one step further so that our readers have the most flexibility to read your blog (outside of actually visiting it), and this is offered to us by Feedburner!
Let’s go ahead and set this up:
1. Find your blogs RSS feed URL
You can usually do this by simply visiting your blog and looking for a “subscribe” or “rss” link on the main website. Any basic template will have this option in plain sight, even the default, so you can simply locate this and copy down the link where it is.
2. Sign up to Feedburner and Claim Your Feed!
Now, simply go to Feedburner.com and create an account (same as your GMail account if you use GMail!). Then you can add any blog feed url like the one you just copied down in step one, and get your blog run through Feedburner after a few administrative steps. It couldn’t be any easier!
3. Install Feedburner “FeedSmith” Plugin on Your Blog
I’ve seen way too many bloggers fail to utilize this plugin that properly syncs your WordPress blog to Feedburner. Without it, you won’t see the full number of RSS subscribers you have… which is 100% essential to you as a blogger. Read the official directions on the Feedburner website.
It’s important to every successful blog that you get your RSS feed out there as a viable option to your readers. The most successful writers have a huge backlog of 1000s of RSS readers that get their “feed” every time they update it. This creates an opportunity for recurring traffic to your website, and can be a huge boost to the amount of sales that you bring in. Remember, advertisers want to see powerful numbers before they invest in any kind of advertising on your website.
Be sure to check out all of the options that Feedburner allows, and definitely enable “Email Subscriptions” as a way for your users to get in touch as these members will be your #1 cash cow in the future (we will cover later). Heck, everything is free… so we might as well do what we can!
-Jimvesting
Related Posts
- How to Increase Blog Traffic with your RSS Feed – Turn Subscribers into a Goldmine!
- Build-A-Blog Workshop Day 9: Configuring Your Blog's Site Statistic Trackers
- Double Your RSS Feed Count! Using an Opt-In List to Boost Your Numbers!
- The Art of RSS Solicitation – Boost Your Subscriber Numbers with Flattery
- Five Reasons Why Subscribing to RSS Feeds Is Worth Your While
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That is best alternative synchronize the need information, instead of going for the larger search or lost in clutter.
Great tip again Jim.
I am surprised to see most of my clients actually skipped the Feedsmith plugin installation process.
Twitter: @motorbeam
May 3, 2009 at 4:00 pm #
It would be nice Jim, if at the end of the 30days you can make a list with a link to all the days
Twitter: @jimvesting
May 3, 2009 at 10:59 pm #
Why don’t I one-up you and make it an eBook?
Yup you can make a ebook. I think it would be nice.
On the official directions link it says “The plugin is currently compatible with downloadable WordPress versions 1.5 through 2.5. ” but 2.7.1 is what I dowloaded is there another plugin you recommend for this version?
Twitter: @jimvesting
May 3, 2009 at 10:52 pm #
Go ahead and install away! It works with the new WordPress
Nice advice yet again
Hi, good post. I have been wondering about this issue,so thanks for sharing. I’ll definitely be subscribing to your posts.
great advice listed!
Jim. I think you should also have mentioned about activating email subscription and the Subscribers Counter.
I tried doing that on my own but I don’t know how to get it into my template but it seems like I should wait until I’m at least at 200 subscribers anyway, but I did manage to get a banners in two of my ad spaces.
Great post Jim! I saw above in the comments about making this into an eBook, I think that would be a good idea. Keep up the good work!
Hello Jim,
This is very considerable ideas but how many steps for starting your new blog?
Hi, good post. I have been thinking about this topic,so thanks for writing. I will definitely be coming back to your posts. Keep up the good work
It recently become combined with google account. Isn’t that nice?
I’m trying to find a subscribe by email block for my site anyone know of any simple plug ins or widgets?
Twitter: @jimvesting
May 30, 2009 at 8:28 pm #
You will need to have that feature enabled w/ Feedburner. Go into your account and be sure that it is “active.” They have a few codes for you to try for yourself!