The 7 steps to promoting your RSS Feeds on your site

The 7 steps to promoting your RSS Feeds on your site
Copyright 2005 Rok Hrastnik

RSS gets 100% of your content delivered, but it's not good if no one subscribes to your feeds. So your first order of business after planning and setting up your feeds have to promote them to your visitors. The only problem is that most internet users still don t know RSS is, so you have your work cut out for. But user outlined below you shouldn t-system has problems. In fact, after the implementation of this system, you should achieve better results than most publishers out there. 1. How RSS FEEDS are generally PROMOTED RSS feeds generally are promoted by using the orange XML or RSS buttons and often also with buttons that enable visitors to draw directly on the feed with your RSS reader. Normally, if you click the RSS button, visitors can see only a mass of confusing XML code. They must actually copy and paste link into your RSS reader. But since most still don t know RSS is, by using this procedure only waste potential subscribers. If you want to achieve success, you ll another approach. A] create a RSS presentation page where you explain:
-What RSS is-how visitors will benefit from using RSS-where they can get a free RSS aggregator (recommend one myself!)-how they can install it (gives step-by-step instructions)-how they can subscribe to your RSS feeds-why you should subscribe to your own RSS feeds then, on this same page, including links to all of your RSS feeds. In addition to the standard orange RSS button, also include direct links to subscriptions through MyYahoo! (get it here http://my.yahoo.com/s/button.html) and other relevant services, such as Blog lines (http://www.bloglines.com). There are about 5 RSS readers you should cover these buttons. (B)] are now promoting this RSS presentation page, as you can by using all of your available channels. 2. location and content It s all about location, just as with the box subscription to your e-zine. If they don t see it, they won t Subscribe. And if you don t motivating them enough to check box-it out, they'll just ignore it. (A)] promote your RSS feeds directly in your e-zine subscription box, and always above fold. Promote your RSS presentation page (tells your visitors that s where they can subscribe to your feeds) on the most prominent placements of your site. (B)] If you re publishing more than one RSS feed, but rather a few focused topic feeds, promote each of them according to their topics. For example, if you re publishes an RSS feed on e-mail marketing, promote RSS feed at the top of the home page for the topic, and in each E-mail marketing article you publish. These links should actually direct subscriptions links to feeds. Use this service to cover all important readers by using only one simple button: http://www.methodize.org/quicksub/(C)] Promote your RSS feeds in all your e-mail messages and e-zine issues. (D)] as for contents, don t say just Subscribe and receive news from my site, but rather prepare compelling copy to specifically Show your visitors why they need to subscribe to your content in the first place and why they should subscribe specifically your RSS feeds. 3. Enable AUTO-DISCOVERY

Some internet browsers such as Firefox, making it easy for users to subscribe to RSS feeds. The browser actually asks the user if he wants to subscribe to feeds, see the browser of the user is currently on the site.

Yes, it is even more powerful than the form e-mail subscription, because the browser in a way pushes the user with your RSS feed subscription. But for the browser to do this, you need to help it to find your RSS feed. Simply include the following piece of HTML code in thepoint in your webpages and you ll be all set: there are many more techniques and opportunities available to you from direct subscribe links to actual user opt-in forms, but these 7 steps should get you started as soon as possible, and help you achieve a better visitor-to-RSS-subscriber conversion rate than the vast majority of sites are achieving today.

About the author:
Rok Hrastnik is the author of Unleash the marketing and Publishing power of RSS, hailed as the best and most comprehensive guide on marketing with RSS by top RSS industry leaders, experts, developers, and top marketers. Find out everything you need to know about RSS and how do I use it to get your content delivered, win back your customers, make more sales and increase Search engine rankings http://rss.marketingstudies.net/index.html

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