Best practices for promoting an RSS feed for blogs

RSS is an acronym for Rich Site Summary (also known as Really Simple Syndication) and is a type of content feed format used to publish frequently updated websites—like blogs, news, audio sites, and video sites.

Many blogs and news sites use RSS to build up readership. Heavy readers often subscribe to websites that they want to follow and browse news and content headlines in an aggregated list. For example, some journalists will use RSS to stay abreast of news or stories, including business or government press office content. Here are some simple best-practices for designing websites with frequently published content--like blogs or press rooms.

Some best practices for promoting RSS

• Promote your RSS visibility within your website in an accessible area, as well as in your site maps page
• Use a standard RSS button/icon
• Make sure your RSS feed is available from your individual post / article page
• Add your RSS feed links to your site map
• Syndicate your RSS feed on Linkedin if you are lazy and don't want to promote pieces selectively
• Subscribe to RSS yourself and follow other sites, blogs and competitors to generate insights personally
• Use SEO-best practices for headlines and excerpt information with published content pieces
• Use a web feed management tool like Feedburner.com to access feed stats and feed analytics
• Submit your RSS feed to Ping-O-Matic