Copyright
© S. Housley
Tips
for
Helping Your RSS Feed Perform!
In
some ways RSS is very similar to HTML, the language commonly used to
create websites. Just as with HTML, webmasters using traditional search
engine optimization tactics when creating an RSS feed will find that
their RSS feed receives additional exposure and interest.
Simple steps to optimize an RSS feed for search engines:
1.
The title
should contain important search terms.
To
state
the obvious, the title should be relevant and not misleading, while
still emphasizing keywords. Ultimately, the title should entice the
reader to read on, not mislead them.
2.
Display RSS
feeds.
Most webmasters display their
feeds as
content on their website. When displaying a feed be sure to use PHP,
ASP or HTML so that search engines will spider the contents of the feed
displayed. If using a template to display feeds, use header tags to
define the appearance of the Channel Title and Item Titles. Many search
engines weight header tags with more importance. See Displaying RSS
Feeds for additional information - http://www.small-business-software.net/display-rss.htm
3.
Internal &
external Links.
Within a feed
you should
always use the full path of any links, keeping in mind that other sites
may syndicate the contents of the RSS feed. Links that are not local to
the site should launch a new browser. While this is not specific to
search engines it will help keep visitors on your site.
4.
Link text
should emphasize keywords.
It is no
longer a deep,
dark secret that the text used for incoming links will help a site
contextually define the keywords that the site appears for in the
search engines. Keeping that in mind, be sure to use keywords in any
link text that points back to your website.
5.
My.Yahoo and
My.MSN.
This is surprisingly simple
to do but
often overlooked by publishers and webmasters. The fastest way to have
an RSS feed spidered by Yahoo or MSN is to include the feed on a
personal my.yahoo or my.msn home page. Simply create an account on the
respective search engines and customize the home page to include your
RSS feed. This is done by adding content and listing the URL to the RSS
feed. Typically, within 24-48 hours the feed's contents will be
spidered and indexed by Yahoo and MSN.
6.
Theme feeds.
Feeds
should be themed. This will
help with
themed links back to a publisher's website from anyone syndicating the
feed's content.
7.
Link
popularity.
Increase link popularity by
submitting the
RSS feed, blog or podcast to the appropriate directories. The following
directories allow submissions of specific kinds of RSS feeds. Be sure
to follow the guidelines of each site and choose categories wisely.
Submit Podcasts - http://www.podcasting-tools.com/submit-podcasts.htm
Submit
RSS feeds - http://www.rss-specifications.com/rss-submission.htm
Submit
Blogs - http://www.blog-connection.com/submit-blogs.htm
8.
RSS feed
descriptions.
RSS feed descriptions are
generally
summaries or introductions to other content. Often, feed creators will
provide additional information on an HTML site, enticing the reader to
click through for the full information if it is a topic that is of
interest to them. Provide enough teaser copy that the reader can easily
discern if the contents are something that is important to them.
9.
Subscribe to
feeds.
This might seem obvious, but
a
surprisingly large number of publishers do not subscribe to their own
feed. This is a great way to visualize what your customers see, and
experiment with formatting and integrating HTML into feeds.
10.
Image ads.
Add
your corporate logo to your RSS
feed. Create
a brand and enforce that brand by including the image in the RSS feed.
The image will enhance your corporate identity and dress up the look of
your feed by adding your corporate logo.
11.
Alphabetical
rank.
Many feed readers list feeds
alphabetically in the reader. Feed channels that begin with A will
naturally appear in the top of the feed list in most feed readers. If
you wish to appear in the top of list of feeds that a reader has
subscribed to, keep this tip in mind.
12.
Meaningful
Links
Each item in your feed should
contain a
unique URL associated with it. This will direct users to associated
information. Many find using target URLs with the "#" symbol in the
link to identify specific content useful.
Most marketers have a love-hate relationship with search
engines.
Search engines have the abilitiy to make even the most confident
webmaster feel powerless . Let's face it - all of us have felt the
wrath of the search engine powers-that-be at one time or another, and
while it may be difficult to know what line was crossed or how we fell
out of favor, following some basic guidelines will be helpful in
optomizing feeds for search engines. ABOUT THE
AUTHOR
Sharon Housley manages marketing
for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software
for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition
Sharon manages marketing for NotePage http://www.notepage.net a
wireless text messaging software company. | 
Psst!...Have you Heard the Buzz?
