No matter what what industry you belong to, providing high-value information to your site users is essential. For example, if your business provides health-related services, you may want to include useful information from the health department, such as news or updates on medical research, health and fitness tips, etc.

The problem with creating this type of information, however, is that it requires a lot of effort and resources. You have to filter through, gather, and organize a lot of information, check your facts, write and edit content (or hire someone to do this for you), and then continually make sure that this information is up-to-date. As you can imagine, this not only involves a huge amount of work but most of the information you are dealing with is entirely beyond your control.

Fortunately, there is a simpler way to keep your site readers up-to-date with great information.

It’s called RSS …

(RSS - The easiest way to provide your site readers with up-to-date information)

The Ultimate Guide To WordPress RSS

Some Basic Information About RSS

• RSS is short for RDF Site Summary, or, as is more commonly referred to, Really Simple Syndication. It can also be referred to as a “feed” or “web feed”.
• RSS allows content publishers to automatically syndicate their content so that their users can read it without having to keep revisiting sites to check for updates.
• Feeds are also used to publish frequently updated information, such as new blog posts, news headlines, audios, etc., to which users can then subscribe.
• You can view an RSS feed with a software called an RSS reader, or feed aggregator. Feed readers can be used to find new content published on websites and syndicate this content to various online properties.
• Feeds can be made available in different types and read by different feed readers. Some of these include RSS feeds, Atom (also called AtomPub or APP feeds and RDF (RDF = Resource Description Framework) feeds. All of these formats, however, use a standard XML file format to ensure compatibility with different devices and programs.
• Many sites and software applications also let you combine many RSS feeds to receive news and updates from multiple sources.

In this in-depth guide, we explain where your RSS feed is located, how to syndicate your content online using feeds, and how to display content from other websites and blogs on your site using RSS feeds.

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Feeds

Content syndication is a powerful and legitimate way of sharing web content. RSS Feeds provide a simple way for web users to keep up with the latest information published on websites and blogs they are interested in.

First, let’s look at content syndication.

Global media publications rely heavily on syndication to publish content from content sources all around the world.

Content syndication allows most online newspapers to deliver readers up-to-the-minute news and stories of interest from all around the globe without having to employ and send additional reporters everywhere in the world …

(Most online newspapers rely on content syndication to publish newsworthy stories from news sources all around the planet.)

Syndication is a legitimate method of sharing information with other sites. Global media publications syndicate their stories using feeds …

(Digital news publishers syndicate their news stories using feeds)

Most sites actually want you to share their information. Content syndication not only allows information of great value to be shared, but it also drives visitors back to the original site that created and published the content being syndicated. This can be an effective way to generate web traffic.

Major sites will include an RSS feed section (look for links that say ”RSS”, “Syndication”, or “Newsfeeds” in them, or just search for “name of site/keyword + rss” – e.g. “nytimes rss”, “times of india rss”, “sydney morning herald rss”, etc.) …

(Most online newspapers and leading online media publications provide links to an RSS feed section. Image Source: SMH )

Clicking on a site’s RSS feeds section brings up a list of different RSS feeds of the site …

(RSS feeds list. Image Source: nytimes.com RSS feeds)

gives readers access to different sections of the site (e.g. business news, sports news, lifestyle magazine, etc.)

An RSS feed directory can also contain further feed subdirectories …

(A feed list can also contain feed subcategories. Image: LA Times)

Note: A feed is only a URL. All you need to do to use feeds is to copy the URLs and paste these into software that can translate the feed code into something readable. We’ll cover this further below.

The Benefits Of Content Syndication

Adding someone else’s content to your site has some obvious benefits. It helps someone else’s site and adds value to your site without you having to create the content …

(Using RSS Feeds - Benefits)

While adding RSS feeds from another site is a great way to add content to your site that you don’t have to create, it’s worth keeping in mind that you also want other websites to syndicate your content.

When other websites syndicate your feed, this gives your business the opportunity to get increased exposure online and drive more visitors …

(Get visitors to syndicate your feed … it will help drive more traffic to your site!)

WordPress Feed

By default, WordPress automatically publishes a feed of all your posts, allowing other online users to easily syndicate your content on their websites and blogs.

Depending on your theme, there are a number of ways to access your RSS feed:

1) If your theme allows the Meta widget to display in a standard or custom menu, you can scroll down to the Meta section and click on Entries RSS …

(WordPress Meta widget)

2) You can also find built-in links or buttons on certain WordPress themes that let your visitors copy your RSS feed.

In the screenshot below, for example, a visitor can simply copy the site’s RSS feed URL by clicking on on the Subscribe to RSS link …

(Copy RSS links to your clipboard from “subscribe to RSS” buttons)

3) On many websites and again, depending on your WordPress theme, you can find the RSS feed displayed in a Social Share, Links, or Stay In Touch floating, slide-out, or fixed toolbar …

(Look for an RSS button in a a Link To Us, Share, or Follow Us toolbar)

4) You can also view your WordPress RSS feed by simply typing your site’s URL into a web browser and adding “/feed” after the URL, e.g.:

• http://www.yourdomain.com/feed
• http://www.yourdomain.com/blog/feed (if your WP installation is in a subfolder, e.g. “blog”)

Using any of the above methods will bring up your RSS page …

(RSS feed items seen with a Firefox browser)

Note that your feed page will display differently depending on the web browser you use …

(Feed entries displayed on Google Chrome)

Specify Number Of Items To Display On Your RSS Feed

You can specify how many entries you want displayed in your RSS section in the Reading Settings section. Select the number of items to show in the “Syndication feeds show the most recent” field …

(WP Reading Settings – Syndication feed items field)

The feed page will show as many recent posts as you have specified in your Reading Settings section …

(The feed page will show the number of posts as you have specified in the Reading Settings section)

Display Full Text Or Summary Of Posts In Your RSS Feed

Another setting in your Reading Settings section that affects your RSS feed is whether to display articles in your feed as full text, or just as a summary …

(Reading Settings – Show ‘Full Text’ or ‘Summary’ for posts in a RSS feed)

Post Excerpts can also affect how the content in your feed displays …

(Post excerpts can affect how a feed will display)

To learn more about Post excerpts, refer to this tutorial:

• WordPress Post Excerpts Explained

View The Content Of Your RSS Feeds

As mentioned earlier, to view the content of an RSDS feed, you need to copy the feed’s URL and paste it into a feedreader, i.e. an application that reads and translates feeds into readable content for humans.

Let’s take a look at how this works.

First, go to a website or blog and look for a ’subscribe to feed’ button or link using any of the methods described earlier …

(Look for a ’subscribe to feed’ button. Image source: http://www.yourcoffeeguru.com)

Next, copy the feed URL to your clipboard …

(Copy the URL of your feed)

If you want, you can check what the RSS feed contains by pasting the URL of the feed into a feed reader …

(Paste the feed URL into a feedreader to view the content. Source: http://feedreader.com/online)

Like feedreaders, WordPress has the ability to process RSS/XML feeds and convert these into content that can be read by your visitors.

How To Add Feeds To WordPress Sites

In the example below, we are going to add content from other sites to your WordPress site.

How To Add RSS Feeds To Your Sidebar

As mentioned earlier, no matter what industry your business operates in, you can display on your site the latest updates from an industry-related government department or authoritative site in your industry simply by adding content from their RSS feed. You can easily display a range of information on your WordPress site such as news, social media comments, or content from thousands of sites using the WordPress RSS widget.

Let’s add content from an RSS feed to your sidebar …

(Add content from an RSS feed to the WordPress sidebar area)

copy the RSS feed URL from a site containing content that you would like to display on your sidebar …

(Copy the feed URL)

Next, go to your WordPress Dashboard > Appearance > Widgets and paste the feed into a new RSS widget …

(RSS Widget)

To learn more about using sidebar widgets, go here:

• Adding And Configuring WordPress Widgets In Your Blog

Refresh your web browser. The content from the RSS feed will now display in your sidebar (or wherever the RSS widget has been inserted) …

(RSS Widget)

Add Your WordPress RSS Feed To Search Consoles

You can add your WordPress RSS feed to Google and Bing’s search consoles. This will help them index your content faster.

(WordPress RSS feed added to Google Search Console)

Adding your site’s RSS feed to search consoles is simple, fast, easy, and requires no technical skills. For a step-by-step tutorial, go here:

• How To Set Up Webmaster Accounts

How To Add Content From RSS Feeds To WordPress Posts

Can you add content from RSS feeds to WordPress posts instead of the sidebar? You sure can!

You can easily do this using plugins. Search inside your Plugins screen (Plugins > Add New) for RSS, RSS feed to post, etc.

(‘Add Plugins’ search results – RSS plugins)

Note: These plugins typically require configuration – visit the plugin sites for setup instructions, or contact us if you need assistance with plugin configuration.

Here are a few plugins that let you add RSS feeds to your posts:

WPeMatico

(WPeMatico – WordPress Plugin)

WPeMatico is an easy to use auto blogging plugin that lets you publish posts automatically from multiple RSS/Atom feeds.

You can manage all the feeds you import and organize them according to campaigns.

For more details, go here:

• WPeMatico WordPress Plugin

WP RSS Aggregator

(WP RSS Aggregator – WordPress Plugin)

WP RSS Aggregator is an RSS feed importer and auto blogging WordPress plugin with extended functionality with premium add-ons.

For example, the Feed to Post add-on is a popular, feature-filled importer that lets you autoblog by importing RSS feeds directly into your WordPress posts or any other custom post type.

For more details, go here:

• WP RSS Aggregator Plugin

RSS Post Importer

(RSS Post Importer – WordPress Plugin)

RSS Post Importer can be used to syndicate, import, curate, merge and display full-text feeds on your WordPress blog.

The plugin will fetch an RSS feed and publish the full article content of every item in the feed as a standalone post.

For more details, go here:

• RSS Post Importer – WordPress Plugin

Powr RSS Feed

(Powr RSS Feed – WordPress Plugin)

POWr RSS Feed allows you to automatically combine content from various content using RSS feeds.

The POWr RSS Feed plugin also lets you display videos, images, and article content, adjust the priority of different feeds, use custom borders, colors, fonts, and more. It is also mobile responsive and supports text in all languages.

The premium version contains many additional features, such as the ability to display different feeds, accept or reject posts in your feed, and more.

For more details, go here:

• Powr RSS Feed WordPress Plugin

WP Pipes

(WP Pipes – WordPress Plugin)

The WP Pipes plugin is a powerful data migration plugin that lets you create curate content from RSS feeds, Google News, and many other sources.

This plugin provides loads of features like CSV importing for posts/WooCommerce, RSS feed creator, autoblogging, auto post to Twitter/LinkedIn/Facebook, export posts as iTunes podcasts, create Google XML sitemaps, and more!

For more details, go here:

• WP Pipes Plugin For WordPress

FeedWordPress

(FeedWordPress Plugin For WordPress)

FeedWordPress provides flexible Atom/RSS syndication for WordPress site content.

As stated in the FeedWordPress website …

FeedWordPress is an open-source Atom/RSS aggregator for the WordPress blog publishing platform. You set up feeds that you choose, and FeedWordPress syndicates posts from those sources into your WordPress posts table, where they can be displayed by your WordPress templates like any other post — but with additional meta-data, so that your templates can properly attribute the post to the source it came from.

FeedWordPress can be used to create aggregator site (sites that bring together content from different sources), or bring together all of your online activity in one place.

For more details, go here:

• FeedWordPress WordPress Plugin

Autoblog

(Autoblog by WPMUDev WordPress Plugin)

Autoblog is an easy-to-use plugin that can be set-up in minutes, without coding skills or complicated instructions. Simply copy and paste in the URL of your feed, name your feed (for admin purposes) and select a blog that you want it to post to.

For more details, go here:

• Autoblog

RSS Includes Pages and Custom Post Types

(RSS Includes Pages and Custom Post Types – WordPress Plugin)

Install RSS Includes Pages and Custom Post Types to include pages in your RSS feed in addition to posts (by default WordPress only includes posts in your RSS feed).

For more details, go here:

• RSS Includes Pages and Custom Post Types Plugin

Useful Tips

Tip #1 – WP Comment RSS Feeds

In addition to making RSS feeds of your posts available to online users, WordPress also displays RSS feeds of comments posted on your site.

You can access this feed by clicking on Comments RSS in your ‘Meta’ widget area (note: this section may not be visible on some themes) …

(WordPress Comments Feed)

Comments posted on your site by visitors will appear in the Comments RSS page …

(RSS comments feed content as seen on Firefox browser)

Like post entries, your comments feed page will display differently depending on the browser you are using …

(RSS comments feed content displayed on Google Chrome)

Again, you can check what the feed contains by pasting the feed URL into a feedreader …

(Paste your URL of your comments feed into a feedreader to view the feed content. Source: http://feedreader.com/online)

Note: If the Meta section is not displaying on your theme, you can view the Comments RSS section of your site by opening up a browser and typing in the following URL:

• http://www.yourdomain.com/comments/feed
• http://www.yourdomain.com/blog/comments/feed (if your website is located in a subdomain, e.g. “blog”)

Tip #2 – Creating RSS Feeds For Individual Items

Being able to create an RSS feed for a specific post item can be useful. For example, you may want to add feeds from specific items to RSS aggregator sites, or you may have created a valuable resource that other online users will want to syndicate.

The formula for making an RSS feed for an individual post item is shown below:

(RSS Feed For Single Post Item)

To create the above feed, copy the web address of your post, and append “/feed/?withoutcomments=1” to the end.

(Single Post RSS Feed)

Note: By default, if you only add “/feed” to the end of your post, WordPress will return the comments associated with that post, not actual content of the post itself.

Tip #3 – Displaying Post Category Feeds

Some your site visitors may only want to subscribe to content from a specific category. They may not want to subscribe to all of your site’s content.

If your website or blog displays content published under multiple categories, WordPress allows you to provide a separate RSS feed for each different category.

Just use the format below:

(Use this format for WP post categories feed)

Select and copy the category link address …

(Copy the category URL to your clipboard …)

Append “feed” to the end of it …

(Format for WordPress category RSS feed)

Your RSS feed now only contains content specific to that category …

(Category RSS feed page)

The WordPress Codex also provides different ways to create feeds not just for post categories, but also feeds for tags, authors, search, etc.

For this example, let’s create a feed for a specific post category using the format shown below:

(Post Category feed format. Source: WordPress Codex)

Here is the feed format WordPress recommends using. In this example, the post category ID is ’42’. We’ll need to replace the post category ID and the domain name …

(WordPress post category feed format)

To find the post category ID, go to Posts > Categories …

(Posts > Categories menu)

Locate the post category you want and hover your mouse over the title to reveal its unique ID …

(Post Category ID)

In our example, the post category ID is ’29’ and the post category feed format we need to use for this specific category with our domain name looks like this …

(Post category feed format with domain name and ID)

Copy and paste the feed into your browser and hit enter …

(Paste the feed into your browser)

This will display the feed for that specific category …

(RSS feed of a specific post category)

Note that in this example, WordPress automatically converted the feed format we pasted into the browser into the category feed we had used in the previous section of this tutorial …

(Post category feed format)

Here is the feed format again …

(Post category feed)

In this case, the simplest way to create additional feeds for specific categories is to simply change the post category slug …

(Change the post category slug to create a new category specific feed)

Paste the edited feed into your web browser and hit enter to display the content for that specific category’s feed …

(Post category feed content)

Now that you have a method for creating feeds for specific post categories (or tags, authors, etc.), you can even create a directory or list of individual feeds for visitors.

Tip #4 – Set Up Your Own RSS Feeds Directory

You can provide your own RSS feeds page that allows readers to subscribe only to content in specific categories …

(Set Up Your Own RSS Feeds Page)

Link a button image to category (or specific post) feed URLs and then create a table or a list of all feeds on a separate page …

(RSS button graphic. Image: public-domain-photos.com)

We have created a detailed tutorial about adding tables to WordPress posts and pages here:

• How To Create And Add Tables In WordPress Easily With No Coding Skills Required

WordPress RSS – Notes

Feeds can be customized in several ways, such as adding videos and images to feeds, ads, etc. Some of these customizations require code editing skills.

WordPress allows a number of RSS feed configurations that do not require code editing skills. For example, the table below lists some of the kinds of custom feed types you can display on your site and how to format the feeds …

(Different Custom Feeds You Can Create Using WordPress RSS)

Below are the feed types, descriptions, and feed examples listed above:

• Feed Type: All Posts
• Description: Content feed – Feed that includes your latest entries
• Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/feed/

• Feed Type: All Comments
• Description: Comments feed – Includes the latest comments posted on your website
• Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/comments/feed/

• Feed Type: Individual Posts
• Description: Feed that displays a single post
• Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/title-of-your-blog-post/feed/

• Feed Type: Individual Posts Comments
• Description: Feed containing the latest comments made on a single post entry
• Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/title-of-your-blog-post/feed/

• Feed Type: Archives
• Description: Day – Contains latest post entries in each archive
• Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2016/01/14/feed/

• Feed Type: Archives
• Description: Month – Contains latest posts in each archive
• Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2018/07/feed/

• Feed Type: Archives
• Description: Year – Displays the latest post entries in each archive
• Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2011/feed/

• Feed Type: Search Results
• Description: Includes latest items for a search query
• Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/search/term/feed/

• Feed Type: Custom Post Type
• Description: Includes the latest items for a custom type (e.g. book)
• Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/feed/?post_type=book

One more thing …

It’s a good idea to let your users know that they can subscribe to your feed. Make sure you place a ’subscribe to RSS’ buttons somewhere visible …

(Remember to make your RSS feeds visible your feeds!)

Keep in mind that online users will only syndicate your content if you provide your subscribers with very high-quality information that can add value to their sites and benefit their users.

(Easily add great content from other sites and get visitors to share your content online with RSS!)

If you need help coming up with content ideas subscribe to our FREE content creation course using the form below:

Also, don’t forget to subscribe to our RSS feed 🙂

RSS Resources:

• RSS Feed Graphics – Visit Iconspedia.com or search online (e.g. “free rss icons”, “RSS icon”, etc.) for sites that allow you to download RSS images.
• RSSBoard.org – The RSS Advisory Board provides useful information and links to resources about RSS.
• Wikipedia.org/RSS – Learn more about RSS.
• WordPress.org/RSS Feeds – WordPress documentation and reference. Go here for additional information about WordPress RSS feeds.

Congratulations! Now you know where your RSS feed is located, how to use your WordPress RSS feed to get your content syndicated online, and how to display someone else’s content on your site via their RSS feed.

Hopefully, now you have a better understanding of problems that can affect your website and how WordPress can help you build a better business online. To read more about using WordPress for a business web site please see our related posts section.

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