Fun Free Feed Tools For Both The Publisher And The Reader

As you've probably been reading, there are basically three problems many webmasters have with web feeds (that is, among those who are already familiar with them on a basic level).

The three concerns I hear the most are:

"How do I deal with the bandwidth hit?"

"Is there a way to include information that isn't in the automated resource I use to populate my feed without touching any code?"

and

"Where can I find a cost-effective, simple way to display feeds on my site?"

Say Goodbye to Bandwidth Overages with FeedBurner

http://feedburner.com

If you're a publisher, chances are, you're familiar with the bandwidth increase that occurs every time your audience reads the latest update to your feed that for some webmasters lead to the possibility of exceeding monthly bandwidth limitations. There's an easy solution.

Burn your feed with FeedBurner. They're happy to take the burden off your server. (And yes, they say, FeedBurner is one word.)

Whether you've just created your news feed or you have been RSS-ing for years, you can create a free account at their site. Their service will also:

• translate your feed from Atom to RSS or vice versa,

• make a browser-friendly page that explains what web feeds are to the new user,

• allow you to splice any link into your feed using some of the more popular social bookmarking services.

FeedBurner also allows you to study your demographic by giving you statistics on how many request have been made for your feed contents, down to the item if you like.

Though I offer both the burned version of my feed and the original to my audience, they love the extra information my FeedBurned link provides them.

Social Bookmarking -Share More Info with Less Hassle

http://furl.net

http://bloglines.com

http://del.icio.us

Social bookmarking allows you to create a bookmark online, and share those bookmarks via RSS.

Some services even allow you to share your collection of links, as you can do with the service from del.icio.us . Furl.net, newly acquired by LookSmart, also adds the capability of saving an old version of a page you have visited with the bookmark feature. And at Bloglines, you can get ezine subscriptions via feed by subscribing through a special address they give you.

All three of these services can be coupled with FeedBurner to splice external links - or other internal links from your own site - into the "burned" version of your feed.

Display links on your site for free with RSS Digest

http://www.bigbold.com/rssdigest/

You've heard about the value of displaying feeds from other sites (with permission of the publisher, of course) on your site. The theory is that the frequently updated headlines add freshness to your site, which results in more frequent visits from search engine spiders. This can lead to better rankings for the site carrying the headlines, and more backlinks for the feed publisher. Everybody wins.

For the most part, I've found this to be true, with a feed that frequently updates, at sites that have suitable content for both the visitor and the spiders to enjoy.

The trouble for many smaller web property owners is finding a cost-effective manner in which to employ this technique. Most free tools that do this with javascript are fine for site publishers who are using the headlines for content, but if you also want the search engine benefits, it doesn't help as many spiders don't register content that appears in this format.

RSS Digest will do this for you in HTML, as recently reported in Search Engine Journal.

It's not as sophisticated a tool as CARP or RSS Equalizer, but if you want to offer your feed to an audience and they don't mind using an IFRAME or pasting PHP code into their pages, this will do the job just fine.

If you're good at supplying tips, finding resources, or locating fresh information, after viewing some news feeds for yourself, you might find that you're ready to take the next step and publish one. If you're already a publisher, utilizing some of these free tools may help you build a better feed.

Either way, good luck!

Copyright 2004 Tinu AbayomiPaul

About The Author

Tinu saw a 75% increase in site traffic using only promotion of her web feeds, not taking into account increased exposure in search engines. She compiled her findings into a quick, ever-evolving guide this past July that you can download from http://www.freetraffictip.com, in addition to the semi-daily free traffic tips you'll find in her blog.

---

How Can RSS Feeds Help Your Online Business?

So who should I use RSS Feeds? How can it... Read More

Amazing Information About Blogging

A few months back, at the ITEA conference I saw... Read More

How To Display RSS Feeds on Your Website

This article is intended as a guide for webmasters who... Read More

Podcasting vs. Blogging

The US Navy blogs. Larry Kudlow of CNBC blogs. I'd... Read More

Shorten Your Blogging-RSS Learning and Submission Curve

A blog is a frequent, online publication of comments, web... Read More

Blogs: The Hidden Ace Up Your Sleeve

If it wasn't for my blog, I wouldn't make any... Read More

Blogging for Profit Using AdSense

This article is designed to teach you how to profit... Read More

Get the Internet on Your Own Terms

RSS for the Rest of UsI don't know about you,... Read More

Use Blogging to Manage Your Entire Web Sites Content

Blogging is a term that means different things to different... Read More

Why Would You Use Blogs Instead of a Web Site For Your Online Business?

Why would you use Blogs instead of a web site... Read More

Blogging Dollars in 7 Hours or Less

Need to make money fast, but you don't want to... Read More

What Are RSS Feeds

RSS Feeds.RSS also known as rich site summary or real... Read More

How to Use a Blog to Dramatically Improve Your Web Business!

A blog is an online journal in which the author... Read More

Comparing Free Blogging Software

With the increased interest in Blogging (web Logging), many web... Read More

7 Tips for Successful Blogging

So, you have a blog! Do you have traffic? Do... Read More

Cash In Your Blog - 4 Ways to Profit From The Hidden Revenue In Your Blog

Most webmasters and online business owners know that a blog... Read More

RSS - How to Promote and Profit From Your Feed

Let me ask you three questions to get you thinking.... Read More

Is a Blog Right For Your Business?

Lemmings are cute, but dumb. If you tell them... Read More

Time Saving Uses For RSS

RSS is an underused and underappreciated technology by a majority... Read More

The 7 Steps to Promoting Your RSS Feeds on Your Website

RSS gets 100% of your content delivered, but it's no... Read More

The 7-Step RSS Marketing Plan

If you're wondering how to get started with RSS marketing,... Read More

Blogs and RSS - Why Do I Need This Stuff?

If you've been under a rock for the last year... Read More

The 6 Top Reasons Marketers Should Blog

If there is a downside to blogging, I have yet... Read More

Profit Pulling Niche Blogs with Wordpress

When it comes to building and creating profit pulling niche... Read More

Content Syndication Through RSS Feeds

Delivering regularly updated content to website visitors is easier through... Read More

RSS FEEDS: Whither Thou Goest?

I open up the 'Feed Reader' every day on my... Read More

RSS, Feeds, and Aggregators

When you work online all the time, immersed in bits... Read More

A Person Is Known By the Blog He Keeps

Literature is the soul of the wit. The best source... Read More

Feeds For Small Business: Real World Examples

A merchant I was talking to the other day asked... Read More

24 Tips and Strategies on How Everyone Can Blog Right and Get Everybody to Read

By the end of 2004 blogs had established themselves as... Read More

Use RSS Feeds to Improve Search Engine Optimization and Ranking

RSS is rapidly becoming a "must have" for a proper... Read More

How Yahoos Recent Facelift Can Mean More Traffic To Your Site

It even surprised me. Yes, even though I have... Read More

Make Money Blogging Using These Nine Powerful Strategies

The question "How to make money blogging" sits high on... Read More