No matter what your business sells or what industry you are in, providing high-quality information on your site or blog is vitally important. For example, if you provide accounting services, it’s not a bad idea to provide users with useful information from the taxation office, such as news or updates on tax rulings, small business tax tips, etc.
The problem with providing this kind of information, however, is that it is very time-consuming. You have to do a lot of data sorting, researching and organizing, fact-checking, content writing and editing (or hire someone to do this for you), and then make sure that this information is continually kept 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.
Thankfully, there is a simpler way to keep your users up-to-date with great information.
It’s called RSS …
(RSS is one of the simplest ways to provide your subscribers with up-to-date information)
The Ultimate Guide To WordPress RSS
What Is RSS?
- RSS is an acronym for Rich Site Summary, or, as is more commonly referred, Really Simple Syndication. It it is also called a “feed” or “web feed”.
- When users subscribe to an RSS feed, they no longer have to manually check the website for updated content. Instead, their browser will constantly monitor the feed and automatically keep subscribers up-to-date.
- RSS feeds are often used to publish frequently updated information, such as blog entries, news, videos, etc., to which any user can choose to subscribe.
- Essentially, an RSS feed is a structured XML document that includes either full or summarized text along with metadata such as published date, feed author, etc. It allows people to subscribe to content on sites that publish feeds and then view any updates posted on these sites using an RSS feed reader. Conversely, RSS feeds also enable publishers to automatically syndicate their information.
- Feeds can be made available in different formats and read by different feedreaders. Some of these include RSS feeds, Atom Publishing Protocol) feeds and RDF (Resource Description Framework) feeds. All of these formats, however, use a standard XML file format to ensure compatibility with different machines and programs.
- Many sites and software tools also allow you to combine many RSS feeds to aggregate news and updates sourced from different sites.
This guide shows you where your RSS feed is located, how to use your WordPress RSS feed to get your content syndicated online, and how to add someone else’s content to your site via their RSS feed.
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Feeds
Content syndication is a really powerful (and legitimate) way to share web content. Feeds provide online users with a way to keep up with the latest information posted on sites they are interested in.
First, let’s look at content syndication.
Most online newspapers and many popular media publications rely heavily on content syndication to publish news and stories from news agencies around the world.
Content syndication allows most news reporting agencies to deliver readers interesting stories and up-to-the-minute news headlines from around the planet without having to hire more reporters everywhere in the world …
(News reporting agencies rely on content syndication to publish newsworthy content from news sources around the globe.)
Syndication is used to share content legitimately. Global media publications syndicate their stories using feeds …
(Content syndication is a legitimate method of sharing newsworthy content)
Most sites actually would like you to syndicate their content. Syndicating content not only allows information of great value to be shared, but it also sends visitors back to the site that published the original content being syndicated. This creates links that can drive traffic back to their site.
Leading news reporting agencies contain a feed section (look for links in their navigation section that say ”RSS”, “Syndication”, or “Newsfeeds” in them, or just search for “name of site/keyword + rss” – e.g. “nytimes rss”, “courier rss”, “sydney morning herald rss”, etc.) …
(Leading news reporting agencies provide links to a feed section. Image: smh.com.au )
Clicking on a site’s RSS links section brings up a list of different RSS feed sections of the site …
(RSS feeds section. Image: nytimes.com)
These feed items allow readers to source information about different areas of the site (e.g. technology news, arts news, jobs, etc.)
Feed sections can also contain further feed subcategories …
(RSS Feed section. Image: LA Times RSS)
Note: A feed is simply a URL. All you need to do to use a feed is copy the URL and paste it into software that can process the feed into something readable. We’ll cover this further below.
The Benefits Of Syndicating Content
Syndicating someone else’s content on your site has some obvious benefits. It gives someone else’s business additional exposure online and adds value to your site without you having to create that content …
(Using Feeds)
While adding an RSS feed 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 there are benefits in getting other sites to syndicate your content.
When other websites and blogs syndicate your content, you have the opportunity to gain increased exposure online and drive more web traffic …
(Get other online users to syndicate your feed … it will help to increase your exposure online!)
WordPress Feed
WordPress automatically publishes a feed of your latest posts, allowing other online users to easily syndicate your content on their websites and blogs.
Depending on which theme you have installed, there are a number of ways to access your RSS feed:
1) If your theme allows the Meta widget to display in a navigation menu, you can scroll down to the Meta section and click on Entries RSS …
(WordPress Meta widget)
2) You can also find links and buttons on certain themes that let your visitors copy your feed.
For example, in the screenshot below, a visitor can copy the feed URL by right-clicking and copying on the Subscribe to RSS link …
(Copy RSS links to your clipboard from “subscribe to RSS” buttons)
3) On many sites and again, depending on the WordPress theme you have installed, you can find the RSS feed displayed in a Share, Links, or Stay In Touch floating, fixed, or slide-out toolbar …
(Look for an RSS button in a a Share, Stay In Touch, or Links toolbar section)
4) You can also view your WordPress site’s 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 WordPress site installation is in a subdomain, e.g. “blog”)
Using any of the above methods will bring up a page containing your WordPress RSS feed …
(RSS content as seen using a Firefox browser)
Note that your feed content will display differently depending on which web browser you use …
(RSS items viewed with a Chrome web browser)
Specify Number Of Items To Display On Your RSS Feed
To specify how many entries you would like displayed in your Feeds section, go to your Reading Settings section and enter the number of items to show in the “Syndication feeds show the most recent” field …
(WordPress Reading Settings – Syndication feeds)
The feed will display the number of posts as you have specified section …
(The feed page will display the number of items you have specified in your WP Reading Settings section)
Display Full Text Or Summary Of Posts In Your RSS Feed
Another setting in the Reading Settings section that affects your RSS feed is whether to display each article as full text, or just a summary …
(Settings – Reading Settings – Display ‘Full Text’ or ‘Summary’ for each article in a feed)
Post Excerpts can also affect how your feed content appears …
(Post excerpts affect how feeds display)
If you need help WordPress Post excerpts, see this tutorial:
View The Content Of Your RSS Feeds
As mentioned previously, all that’s required to view a feed’s content is to copy the feed’s URL to your clipboard and paste it into an application that can translate feeds into readable content.
Let’s take a look at how this works.
First, find a website or blog and look for their RSS feed button …
(Search for a ’subscribe to feed’ icon. Image source: YourCoffeeGuru.com)
Next, copy the feed URL to your clipboard …
(Copy your feed URL to your clipboard)
If you want, you can check the feed content by pasting the URL of the feed into an online feed reader …
(Paste your URL of your feed into a feed reader to view the content. Image Source: Feedreader.com)
Like feedreaders, WordPress also has the ability to process RSS feeds.
Adding Feeds To WordPress Sites
In the example below, we’ll add content from another website to your site.
How To Add An RSS Feed To Your WordPress Sidebar
As mentioned earlier, no matter what industry your business is a part of, you can add to your site the latest updates from an industry-related government department or authoritative site in your industry simply by adding their RSS feed. You can use RSS feeds to display a range of information on your WordPress site like news, social media updates, or content from thousands of sites using the WordPress RSS widget.
Let’s add RSS content to your sidebar …
(Add an RSS feed to the WordPress sidebar navigation area)
copy the RSS feed URL from a site containing content that you would like to display on your sidebar to your clipboard …
(Copy the URL of your feed)
Next, go to Appearance > Widgets and paste the feed into a new RSS widget …
(Widgets Screen – RSS Widget)
To learn more about adding content to sidebars using widgets, go here:
Load your site in your browser. The content can now be seen on the 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:
Adding Content From RSS Feeds To Your WordPress Posts
Can content from an RSS feed be added to a post instead of a sidebar? Yes, it can!
You can do this using plugins. Just search on WordPress.org plugin directory for RSS Aggregator, RSS feed to post, etc.
(‘Add Plugins’ section – RSS plugins for WordPress)
Note: Most RSS 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 auto blogging plugins for WordPress that allow you to create new with feeds:
WPeMatico
(WPeMatico)
WPeMatico is an auto blogging plugin that lets you publish posts automatically from specific RSS/Atom feeds.
You can manage all of your imported feeds and arrange them into categories.
For more details, go here:
WP RSS Aggregator
(WP RSS Aggregator WordPress Plugin)
WP RSS Aggregator is a comprehensive RSS feed importer and autoblogging WordPress plugin that offers extended functionality with a number of premium extensions (add-ons).
For example, the Feed to Post add-on for the WP RSS Aggregator plugin is an advanced importer that allows you to autoblog by importing RSS feeds directly into WP posts.
For more details, go here:
RSS Post Importer
(RSS Post Importer WordPress Plugin)
RSS Post Importer allows you to import, curate, syndicate, merge and display full text feeds on your WordPress site.
RSS Post Importer fetches an RSS feed and publishes the full content of every item in the feed as a separate post.
For more details, go here:
Powr RSS Feed
(Powr RSS Feed Plugin For WordPress)
With POWr RSS, you can combine and display content from multiple RSS feeds.
This plugin also lets you display images, videos, and articles, adjust sizing and spacing of feeds, use custom borders, colors, fonts, and more. It is also mobile responsive and supports text in any language.
The premium version of this plugin contains a number of additional features, such as the ability to display different feeds, accept or reject posts, and more.
For more details, go here:
WP Pipes
(WP Pipes)
The WP Pipes plugin is a powerful data migration plugin that lets you curate content from RSS feeds, Google News, and other sources.
This plugin provides loads of powerful features like CSV importing for posts/WooCommerce, RSS feed creator, auto blogging, auto post to LinkedIn/Facebook/Twitter, export WordPress posts as podcasts, create Google XML sitemaps, and more!
For more details, go here:
FeedWordPress
(FeedWordPress)
FeedWordPress provides simple and flexible Atom/RSS syndication for WordPress.
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 (e.g. from your blog, Twitter, YouTube, or other online services, in one place.
For more details, go here:
Autoblog
(Autoblog by WPMUDev – WordPress Plugin)
Autoblog is an easy-to-use plugin that can be set-up very quickly, with no coding required and no complicated instructions. Just copy and paste in your feed URL, give it a name of your choosing (for admin purposes) and select a blog to post content to.
For more details, go here:
RSS Includes Pages
(RSS Includes Pages and Custom Post Types WordPress Plugin)
By default, WordPress only includes posts in your RSS feed. Use the RSS Includes Pages and Custom Post Types plugin to include pages in your RSS feed and not just posts.
For more details, go here:
Using RSS Feeds – Useful Tips
Tip #1 – Comment RSS Feeds
In addition to displaying RSS feeds of your posts, WordPress also displays RSS feeds of comments posted on your site.
You can view this by clicking on Comments RSS in your ‘Meta’ widget area …
(Comments Feed)
Comments posted on your site by visitors and users display in the Comments RSS page …
(Comments feed entries seen using a Firefox browser)
Like post entries, your comments feed content will display differently depending on which web browser you use …
(Comments feed entries displayed on a Google Chrome web browser)
Again, you can check what the comments feed contains by pasting the URL of the feed into a feed reader …
(Paste your comments feed URL into a feed reader to view the content. Source: Feedreader)
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 site has been installed in a subfolder, e.g. “blog”)
Tip #2 – Individual Item Feeds
Being able to display an RSS feed for single posts 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 creating an RSS feed for an individual post is shown below:
(Feed For Specific Post Item)
To create the above feed, copy the post address, and append “/feed/?withoutcomments=1” to the end.
(Single Post Feed)
Note: By default, if you only append “/feed” to the end of the URI of your post, WordPress will return the comments associated with that post, not the post content itself.
Tip #3 – Displaying Post Category RSS Feeds
Some your site users may only be interested in subscribing to content from specific categories. They may not want to subscribe to your entire site’s feed.
If your website displays content published under different categories, WordPress allows you to provide a separate feed for each category.
All you need to do is use the format shown below:
(Feed format for post categories)
Select and copy the category link address …
(Copy the category URL to your clipboard …)
Add “feed” to the end of it …
(WP RSS feed format for category)
Your category RSS feed will now only display content specific to this 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 – Create Your Own RSS Feeds Page
You can create a page of RSS feeds that allows your readers to subscribe to specific content, just like large online publishers …
(Create A Directory Of RSS Feeds For Subscribers)
You can link a button graphic to the URL of your category feed and then create a table or a list of your individual feeds on a separate page …
(RSS icon. Image Source: public-domain-photos.com)
We have written a detailed tutorial on adding tables to WordPress posts and pages here:
RSS – Notes
RSS feeds can be customized in a number of ways, such as adding videos and images to feeds, ads, etc. Some of these feed 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 contains some of the kinds of custom feed types you can display …
(Different Custom Feeds You Can Create With WordPress RSS)
For your convenience, here are the feed types, descriptions, and feed examples listed above:
- Feed Type: All Posts
- Description: Content feed – Feed that contains your latest posts
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/feed/
- Feed Type: All Comments
- Description: Comments feed – Contains the latest comments published on your blog
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/comments/feed/
- Feed Type: Individual Posts
- Description: Feed that contains individual posts
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/title-of-your-blog-post/feed/
- Feed Type: Individual Posts Comments
- Description: Includes the latest comments made on a post entry
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/title-of-your-blog-post/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Day – RSS feed containing latest items in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2017/01/09/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Month – Contains the latest post entries in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2011/09/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Year – Includes latest post entries in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2017/feed/
- Feed Type: Search Results
- Description: RSS feed that displays the latest entries for a search query
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/search/term/feed/
- Feed Type: Custom Post Type
- Description: Contains latest entries for a custom type (e.g. book)
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/feed/?post_type=book
One last thing …
Remember to let users know that they can subscribe to your RSS feed. Make sure you place your ’subscribe to RSS’ button or link in a visible location …
(Encourage visitors to subscribe to your RSS feeds!)
Keep in mind that online users will only subscribe to your content if you provide great content. In other words, focus on providing your subscribers with high-quality information that can add great value to their sites and benefit their visitors.
(Add content to your site and get other users to share your content using WordPress and RSS!)
If you need great 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:
- Download RSS Feed Icons – Visit online resource sites like Iconspedia or search online (e.g. “free rss icons”, “RSS icon”, etc.) for sites that contain downloadable RSS images.
- RSSBoard.org – The RSS Advisory Board Go here if you want to gain a better understanding of RSS.
- Wikipedia.org/RSS – General information about the benefits of using RSS.
- WordPress.org/Feeds – WordPress documentation and information. Go here for additional information about using feeds in WordPress.
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 using RSS.
Hopefully, this post has given you a better understanding of problems that can affect your website and how WordPress can help you build a better business online. To learn more about using WordPress for a business web site please click on links to visit our related posts section.
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now