Posts Tagged ‘Tell’

How to Tell your RSS From your Elbow!

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

RSS, which stands for “Really Simple Syndication,” allows users to deliver articles, announcements or alerts to readers who subscribe to RSS feeds. The feeds are delivered involuntarily to an email inbox or a Web browser. RSS also allows people to add links to your content within their own Web pages. Primary uses of RSS, which has become the standard for syndicating content across the web, include:

1. Showing news headlines or content from other Web sites on your site

2. Improving search engine visibility for your Web site or blog

3. Involuntarily notifying your customers about new content on your site

Here are some tips and tactics to help you sort it out:

Determine the content you wish to syndicate

RSS is a quick and simple way to distribute or “push” your content to subscribers. Your feeds could include product news, announcements, press releases or new blog posts.

Links and resources: Mnot.net offers an RSS tutorial and suggestions for RSS content.

Make and publish your feed

Your Web site’s content management system or your blog publishing software may by now have a built-in option to generate an RSS feed. Otherwise, there are several feed providers you can use.

Links and resources: FeedForAll is an inexpensive and user-friendly RSS feed creation tool. Others include Simplefeed and PRESSfeed.

Publicize/promote your feed

Include a “subscribe” or RSS button to your site or blog. Be sure to register your feed with various RSS directories.

Links and resources: You can download the ever-present “RSS” button at FeedForAll. Submit the feed to RSS directories and search engines with KSoft’s RSS Submit software. Review a large RSS directory at the RSS Specifications site.

Use tools to optimize your RSS feeds

Use RSS feed validators to determine if your feed is valid, meaning it has been translated to code so it works properly. You don’t need to know code, you simply penetrate the address of your feed and the “validator” does the rest.

Links and resources: Validate your feed with RSS Validator or Feed Validator. Lockergnome features tips and techniques. Footstep your feed Need to know how many people are subscribing to your RSS feed? Measurement and analytical tools are available from several resources.

Links and resources: SyndicateIQ offers management and measurement of syndicated content. Nooked can also footstep results of an RSS campaign.

Bonus Tips & Tactics: – Your feed title is your headline and your hook. Use it to attract interest.

- A description is your “teaser” copy that should convince the reader to click through to the full article or entry.

- Include an image or graphic to make your feed more visually compelling.

- Be sure to subscribe to your own feed so you can see how it looks.

- Include “AddToMyYahoo” and “MyMSN” buttons on your site to expand distribution.

Tell Me More About, Blogging and Blogs

Friday, November 27th, 2009

If you are new to the Internet and have spent some time here, you must have heard about “Blogging” and “Blogs”. But what exactly is a blog? How does it work? And how you can start one? Let me tell you one by one : So what is a Blog? In simplest language, a blog is a daily journal of your thoughts maintained you (a Blogger) on the web. When posting to a blog you will notice that it is arranged in chronological order – with the most recent additions on top. As you keep postings more and more posts, the older posts will penetrate into an Archive folder so that visitors can view your past posts easily. You can permit your readers to add their own comments/pointer on any of your Blog post. You can add audio to your blog known as Podcast, which readers can listen to. In fact it’s a fantastic way remain in touch with your clients. How one can start a Blog? It’s extremely simple. There are numerous options available. If you want to have an experience of Blogging without spending some cash, you can opt for the blogging service from Blogger.com or from Wordpress.com. These two websites are world’s most standard free blogs providers and have some fantastic tools for early a blog. On Blogger.com you also have the option to earn cash from your free blog through Google Adsense program. In the end you only need to register at these blogging service for a free account, fill some information and lo your blog is live! Early a Blog is just like signing for a new email account! But, I strongly advise you that after getting sufficient experience of running a blog on these free blogging platform, you should thrash to a qualified blog by purchasing own domain name and host. This can be easily done by using the Wordpress Blogging tool (wordpress.org) which is one of the most powerful and free blogging software on earth. Working on wordpress is as simple as a breeze. There are zillions of wordpress tutorials for newbie on internet. Further, there are many web hosting companies which offered wordpress enabled site hosting where installing wordpress is just a topic of point and click. What a blog can do for me? Well, a blog can changed your life in reality. If your blog become successful, you will be freed from all your financial worries and problems. For many people, their blog has become a virtual economic apparatus. If you have any doubts over power of a blog question Steve Pavlina, the guy who is earning $1000 a day (probably more) from his personal Blog. What are other benefits of having a blog? There are many and some of them are: 1. A blog allows you to get to know your customers and their needs, as well as, allowing your customers to know the blogger – that is you 2. A blog is a strong communication tool to keep in touch with your customers. 3. A blog (if updated evenly) can provide daily, feature content – which the Search engines like and thus, increase your traffic. 4. A blog can be used to make known your links. You can write review of an affiliate product in your blog post thus increasing the chance of a sale. 5. A blog can be used to bring social exchange as is doing by some bloggers from Plates, Myanmar and Iran despite stiff resistance from their Governments. 6. A blog can be used to answer inquiries that people may have about your product. Well , the list is not exhaustive and I have not mentioned all the benefits of a blog as it’s an introductory article on blogging. In my opinion, there is only one weak point of early a blog – you’ll have to maintain/update it evenly :) In fact a Blog is just like the fish shark. It’ll die if it stops. A blog needs constant feeding of your thought topic to exist. The blog should be maintained on a fixed basis or it’ll lose its effectiveness. Now enough of my ranting on blogging. Get up and go blogging. My best desires for your blog.