No matter what your business sells or what industry you are in, providing high-value information on your site or blog is important. For example, if you provide health-related services, it’s a good idea to provide users with useful information from the health department, such as news or updates on medical research, health and fitness tips, etc.
To create and publish this kind of information, however, involves an enormous amount of work and expertise. You have to sift through, gather, and organize a ton of data, check your facts, write and edit content (or hire someone to do this for you), and then continually ensure that this information is up-to-date. As you can imagine, this is not only 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 visitors up-to-date with great information.
It’s called RSS …
(RSS is the simplest way to provide your site visitors with great information)
The Ultimate Guide To WordPress RSS
What Does RSS Stand For?
- RSS, which, according to some is short for RDF Site Summary, is more commonly known now as Really Simple Syndication. It is often called a “feed” or “web feed”.
- When users subscribe to a website’s feed, they no longer have to manually visit and check the website for content updates. Instead, their browser will constantly monitor the feed and automatically keep subscribers up-to-date.
- RSS feeds are typically used to publish frequently updated information, such as blog posts, news, videos, etc., to which other users can choose to subscribe.
- RSS feed content can be read with a software program called a feedreader, or feed aggregator. Aggregators are used to access new content published on websites and syndicate this content online.
- Feeds can be made available in different types and read by different feed readers. Some of these include RSS feeds, Atom feeds and RDF (Resource Description Framework) feeds. All of these formats, however, use a standard XML file format to ensure compatibility with different machines, feed readers, and programs.
- Many sites and software applications also allow you to combine multiple RSS feeds to display news and updates from multiple sources.
This article explains where to find your WordPress RSS feed, how to syndicate your content online using feeds, and how to add content from other websites and blogs to your site using RSS.
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Feeds
Content syndication is a powerful and legitimate way of sharing web content. Feeds provide a simple and easy way for web users to receive the latest information posted on sites they are interested in.
First, let’s take a look at syndication.
News reporting agencies and many influential online publications rely on content syndication to publish newsworthy content from news agencies around the world.
Content syndication allows digital publishing agencies and many highly-visited online publications to deliver readers up-to-the-minute news headlines from all over the planet without actually having to set up additional reporting agencies in every location in the world …
(Global media publications rely on content syndication to publish stories from other news agencies all around the world.)
Syndication is used to share content legitimately. Global media publications syndicate their newsworthy content using feeds …
(Content syndication is a legitimate way of sharing newsworthy content)
Most websites actually want you to syndicate their information. Syndicating content not only allows information of great value to be shared, but it also drives visitors back to the original site that published the content being syndicated. This creates new ways to drive traffic back to their site.
Most leading online media publications include a feed section (look for links in their navigation section that say “RSS” or “Newsfeeds” in them, or just search for “name of site/keyword + rss” – e.g. “nytimes rss”, “courier mail rss”, “sydney morning herald rss”, etc.) …
(Leading news reporting agencies provide links to an RSS feed section. Source: smh.com.au )
Clicking on a site’s RSS links section brings up a directory of different RSS feeds of the site …
(RSS feeds directory. Image: nytimes.com RSS feeds)
These feed items let readers access different areas of the website (e.g. technology news, travel news, science news, etc.)
Feed sections can also contain subcategory feeds …
(RSS Feed section. Image: latimes.com feeds)
Note: A feed is simply a URL. All that’s required to use a feed is to copy the URL and paste it into a program that can translate the feed code into something readable. We’ll cover this further below.
Using Feeds – Benefits
Adding someone else’s content to your website has some obvious benefits. It gives someone else’s site additional exposure online and helps your site by freeing you up from having to create this content …
(Content Syndication - 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 there are benefits in getting other sites to use your content.
When other websites syndicate your RSS feed, you have the opportunity to get more exposure online and drive new visitors …
(Get other online users to syndicate your feed … it will help drive more traffic to your site!)
Your WordPress Feed
By default, WordPress automatically publishes a feed of all your posts, allowing others to syndicate your content on their websites.
Depending on the WP theme you have installed, there are a few ways to get the WordPress RSS feed:
1) If your theme has been configured to display the Meta widget as part of your navigation menu …
(Your feed page will display as many recent posts as you have specified in the Reading Settings section)
Display Full Text Or Summary Of Posts In Your RSS Feed
The other setting in your Reading Settings section that affects your feeds is whether to display your posts as full text, or just as a summary …
(Settings – Reading Settings – ’For each article in a feed show’ options)
Post Excerpts can also affect how your feed content appears …
(Post excerpts can affect how your feed content will display)
If you need help using WordPress Post excerpts, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
View The Content Of Your RSS Feeds
As mentioned previously, all you need to do to view a feed’s content is to copy the feed’s URL to your clipboard and paste it into an application that can read and translate feeds into readable content for humans.
Let’s show you how this works.
First, go to a website whose feed you want to subscribe to and look for an RSS feed icon using any of the methods described earlier …
(Search for an RSS feed link. 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 what the RSS feed contains by pasting the URL of your feed into a feed reader …
(Paste the feed URL into a feed reader to view the content. Source: http://feedreader.com/online)
Like feedreaders, WordPress also has the ability to process XML/RSS feeds and convert these into content that is readable by humans.
Adding RSS Feeds To Your WP Site
Let’s show you how to add content from other site’s RSS feeds to yours.
Adding RSS Feeds To Your Sidebar
As mentioned earlier, no matter what industry your business is in, you could add to your site the latest news from an industry-related government department or authoritative site in your industry by simply adding content from their RSS feed. You can use 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 the WordPress sidebar …
(Let’s add content from an RSS feed to your sidebar)
copy the feed URL from a site containing content that you want to display on your sidebar to your clipboard …
(Copy the feed URL)
Next, go to your Widgets area and paste the feed into a new RSS widget …
(RSS Widget)
To learn more about using sidebar widgets, go here:
Load your website in your web browser. The content from the RSS feed should display on your sidebar (or wherever you have added the RSS widget) …
(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
What if you want to add content from RSS feeds to a post instead of a sidebar?
You can do this using WordPress plugins. Just search inside your Plugins screen (Plugins > Add New) for RSS Aggregator, RSS feed to post, etc.
(RSS plugins)
Note: These plugins typically require configuration – visit the plugin sites for full instructions, or contact us if you need assistance configuring plugins.
The plugins below are useful if you want to add feed content to posts, or “auto blog” (An auto blog is a blog with content that is automatically gathered and compiled from RSS feeds):
WPeMatico
(WPeMatico WordPress Plugin)
WPeMatico is an easy to use plugin that allows you to publish posts automatically from RSS/Atom feeds of your choice.
You can manage all the feeds you import and organize them according to categories and campaigns.
For more details, go here:
WP RSS Aggregator
(WP RSS Aggregator – WordPress Plugin)
WP RSS Aggregator is a comprehensive RSS feed importer and auto blogging WordPress plugin that offers additional functionality with premium extensions (add-ons).
For example, the Feed to Post add-on allows you to add content to your site automatically by importing RSS feeds directly into your WordPress posts or any other custom post type.
For more details, go here:
RSS Post Importer
(RSS Post Importer)
The RSS Post Importer plugin lets you curate, syndicate, import, merge and display full text feeds (RSS, Atom, etc.) on your WordPress blog.
The plugin fetches an RSS feed and publishes the full content of each feed item as a standalone post.
For more details, go here:
Powr RSS Feed
(Powr RSS Feed Plugin For WordPress)
POWr RSS Feed lets you automatically combine and display content from multiple sources using RSS feeds.
The POWr RSS plugin also lets you display videos, images, and article content, adjust feed size and spacing, use custom fonts, backgrounds, colors, and more. It also has mobile-responsive design and supports text in any language.
The premium plugin edition contains many additional features.
For more details, go here:
WP Pipes
(WP Pipes WordPress Plugin)
WP Pipes is a powerful data migration plugin that lets you create curate content from RSS feeds, Google News, and many other sources.
This plugin provides functionality like CSV importing for posts/WooCommerce, RSS feed creator, autoblogging, auto post to Twitter/LinkedIn/Facebook, export posts as podcasts, create Google XML sitemaps, and help take your WordPress CMS to a new level.
For more details, go here:
FeedWordPress
(FeedWordPress WordPress Plugin)
FeedWordPress provides versatile syndication for WordPress content.
As stated in the FeedWordPress site …
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 combine and display content from many different sources), or display all of your online activity into a Lifestream.
For more details, go here:
Autoblog by WPMUDev
(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 and Custom Post Types
(RSS Includes Pages WP Plugin)
The RSS Includes Pages plugin lets you display pages in your RSS feed in addition to posts.
For more details, go here:
Useful Tips
Tip #1 – Comment RSS Feeds
In addition to giving online users access to feeds of your latest posts, WordPress also makes available RSS feeds of your post comments.
To view these comments, go to the ‘Meta’ widget on your sidebar menu (note: this section may not be visible on some themes) and click on Comments RSS …
(WordPress Comments RSS)
Comments posted on your site by visitors can be seen in the Comments RSS page …
(Comments feed items viewed using a Firefox web browser)
Like post entries, your comments feed items will display differently depending on the browser you use …
(Comments feed entries as seen using a Google Chrome web browser)
Again, you can check the feed content by pasting the feed URL into an online feed reader …
(Paste your comments feed URL into a feedreader to view the feed 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 WP installation is in a subdomain, e.g. “blog”)
Tip #2 – Single Item Feeds
Being able to use an RSS feed for a specific post item can be useful. For example, you may want to add feeds from specific posts 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:
(Individual Post RSS Feed)
To create the above feed, copy the post URL, and append “/feed/?withoutcomments=1” to the end.
(Single Post RSS Feed)
Note: By default, if you only append “/feed” to the end of the post URL, WordPress will return the comments left on that post, not the content of the post itself.
Tip #3 – Post Category RSS Feeds
Some your site users may only want to syndicate content about specific topics. They may not want to subscribe to all of your site’s content.
If your site displays content published under a number of categories, you can easily provide a separate RSS feed for each post category.
All you need to do is use the format below:
(Feed format for category)
Copy the selected category link address to your clipboard …
(Copy the selected category URL to your clipboard …)
And append “feed” to the end of it …
(WP post categories feed format)
Your RSS feed will now only include content posted under 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 – Publish An RSS Feeds List
You can publish your own feeds directory that allows readers to subscribe to content in specific categories …
(Provide A Directory Of RSS Feeds On Your Site)
You can also link a button graphic like the one shown below to category feed URLs and then create a table or a list of all feeds on a new page …
(RSS button image. Image Source: http://www.public-domain-photos.com/free-cliparts/computer/other/rss_button_roman_bertle_01-2522.htm)
To learn more about adding tables to WordPress posts and pages, go here:
RSS Feeds – Notes
You can customize your feeds in a number of ways, such as adding images to feeds, ads, etc. Some of these feed customizations require code editing skills.
WordPress allows a number of feed configurations that do not require messing with code. For example, the table below contains some of the kinds of custom feeds you can use …
(WordPress RSS – Feed Types)
Here are the different feed types, descriptions, and feed examples listed above:
- Feed Type: All Posts
- Description: Content feed – Feed that displays your latest entries
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/feed/
- Feed Type: All Comments
- Description: Comments feed – Displays the latest comments posted on your site
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/comments/feed/
- Feed Type: Individual Posts
- Description: Feed for a specific post entry
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/blog-post-title/feed/
- Feed Type: Individual Posts Comments
- Description: Feed that displays the latest comments made on an individual post entry
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/blog-post-title/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Day – Displays the latest post entries in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2013/02/03/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Month – Displays the latest post entries in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2011/02/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Year – Displays latest items in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2012/feed/
- Feed Type: Search Results
- Description: Displays the latest posts for a search query
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/search/term/feed/
- Feed Type: Custom Post Type
- Description: Displays latest post entries 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 promote your feed. Make sure you place your subscribe button image somewhere visible …
(Encourage your visitors to syndicate your feeds!)
Also, keep in mind that online users will only want to syndicate your content if you provide your visitors with very high-quality content that will add value to their sites and benefit their visitors.
(Add content from other sites and get visitors to subscribe to your content with RSS feeds!)
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 🙂
Resources:
- Feed Graphics – Visit an online resource site like Iconspedia.com or search online (e.g. “free RSS icons”, “RSS logos”, etc.) for sites containing downloadable RSS images.
- RSSBoard.org – The RSS Advisory Board Go here if you want to gain a better understanding of RSS.
- Wikipedia.org/RSS – Learn more about the history and benefits of using RSS feeds.
- WordPress Codex – Official WordPress documentation and information. Visit this site to learn more about using WordPress RSS.
Congratulations! Now you know where your RSS feed is located, how to syndicate your content online using feeds, and how to display content from other websites on your site using their RSS feed.
Hopefully, this article has given you a better understanding of issues 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 website please see our related posts section.
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"This is AMAZING! I had learnt about how to use WordPress previously, but this covers absolutely everything and more!! Incredible value! Thank you!" - Monique, Warrior Forum