No matter what service or product you provide or what industry your business belongs to, it’s important to provide quality information on your site or blog. For example, if you provide insurance-related services, it’s not a bad idea to publish information from government departments, such as news and updates on statistical findings, insurance advice, etc.
The problem with creating this type of information, however, is that it is very time-consuming. You have to sift through, research, and organize a ton of information, check your sources for accuracy, write and edit content (or hire someone to do this for you), and then ensure that this information is continually kept up-to-date. As you can imagine, this is not only a lot of work but most of the information you are dealing with is beyond your control.
Fortunately, there is an easier way to keep your site visitors up-to-date with your information.
It’s called RSS …
(RSS is one of the easiest ways to provide your users with the latest information)
The Ultimate Guide To WordPress RSS
What Does RSS Mean?
- RSS is an acronym for RDF Site Summary, or, as is more commonly referred, Really Simple Syndication. It is also often called a “feed” or “news feed”.
- RSS allows content publishers to automatically syndicate their content so that users can read it without having to keep revisiting sites to check for updates.
- RSS feeds are also used to publish frequently updated information, such as blog entries, news headlines, audio playlists, etc., to which users can choose to subscribe.
- You can view the content of an RSS feed using a program called a feed reader, or feed aggregator. Feedreaders are used to access content on all kinds of topics and distribute this content to other sites.
- There are different kinds of feeds, read by different feed aggregators. Some of these include RSS feeds, Atom Publishing Protocol) feeds and RDF feeds. All of these formats, however, use a standard XML file format to ensure that feeds are compatible with different machines, readers, and programs.
- Many sites and software applications also let you combine several RSS feeds to aggregate news and updates from different sources.
This article shows you how to find your WordPress RSS feed, how to syndicate your content online using RSS feeds, and how to add someone else’s content to your site using RSS feeds.
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) Feeds
Content syndication is a really powerful and legitimate way of sharing web content. RSS Feeds provide a simple way for online users to stay up-to-date with the latest information posted on different sites.
First, let’s take a look at how content syndication is used.
Media publications use syndication to publish stories from other news agencies around the world.
Syndication allows leading news reporting agencies to deliver readers up-to-the-minute news headlines and newsworthy content from all around the globe without actually having to post additional staff everywhere in the world …
(Most news reporting agencies use content syndication to publish stories from other news agencies around the globe.)
Syndication is used to share content legitimately. Online newspapers syndicate their newsworthy content using news feeds …
(Content syndication is used by online newspapers to share information with other news publications)
Most sites 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 created and published the content being syndicated. This creates new ways to drive traffic back to their site.
Major sites will include a feed section (look for links that say “RSS” or “Newsfeeds” in them, or just search for “name of site/keyword + rss” – e.g. “nytimes rss”, “chicago tribune rss”, “sydney morning herald rss”, etc.) …
(Most news reporting agencies and major sites have a feed section. Source: Sydney Morning Herald RSS )
Clicking on a site’s RSS feeds section brings up a directory of different RSS feeds …
(RSS feeds list. Source: nytimes.com RSS feeds)
gives readers access to information from different sections of the website (e.g. business news, travel news, jobs, etc.)
Feed sections can also contain feed subcategories …
(RSS Feed section. Image Source: latimes.com feeds)
Note: A feed is only a URL. To use the feed, all you have to do is copy the URL and paste it into software that can translate the feed code into something readable. We’ll cover this further below.
Syndicating Content – Benefits
Syndicating someone else’s content on your site has some obvious benefits. It not only gives someone else’s content additional exposure online, it also helps your site by freeing you up from having to create this content …
(Content Syndication Benefits Someone Else’s Business And Yours!)
While adding feeds from another site is a great way to add content to your site without having to create it, it’s worth keeping in mind that there are benefits in getting other websites to use YOUR content.
When other sites syndicate content using your feed, you have the opportunity to get more exposure online and drive new visitors …
(Get visitors to syndicate content using your feed … it will help drive more traffic to your site!)
Your WordPress Feed
WordPress automatically publishes a feed of your posts, allowing other online users to easily syndicate your content on their websites.
Depending on which theme you have installed, there are a number of ways to get your RSS feed:
1) If your theme allows the Meta widget to display on the sidebar menu, scroll down to the Meta section and click on Entries RSS …
(You can access your WordPress RSS feed in the Entries RSS menu)
2) You can also find links and/or buttons on certain WordPress themes that let your visitors copy your feed.
In the screenshot below, for example, a visitor can copy the 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 theme, you can find the RSS feed displayed in a Links, Follow Us, or Share toolbar section …
(Look for an RSS button in a a Links, Social Share, or Stay In Touch 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 WordPress installation is in a subfolder, e.g. “blog”)
Using any of the above methods will bring up a page containing your RSS …
(Feed entries as seen with Firefox)
Note that your feed page will display differently depending on the web browser you use …
(Feed entries displayed using Google Chrome)
Specify Number Of Items To Display On Your RSS Feed
You can specify how many posts you would like to show in your RSS Feed page 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 items field)
Your feed page will display the number of posts as you have specified in your Reading Settings section …
(Your feed will display the number of items you have specified in your Reading Settings section)
Display Full Text Or Summary Of Posts In Your RSS Feed
The other setting in the Reading Settings section that affects your RSS feed is whether to display each article in a feed as full text, or just as a summary …
(Reading Settings – ’For each article in a feed show’: ‘Full text’ or ‘Summary’)
Post Excerpts can also affect how the content in your feed appears …
(Post excerpts can affect how your feeds will appear)
If you need help Post excerpts, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
View The Content Of Your RSS Feeds
As mentioned earlier, to view the content of a feed, you need to copy the feed’s URL and paste it into an application that can read and translate feeds into readable content for humans.
Let’s take a look at how this works.
First, go to a website whose feed you want to subscribe to and look for a ‘subscribe’ link or icon using any of the methods described earlier …
(Look for a ‘subscribe’ link. Image source: http://www.yourcoffeeguru.com)
Next, copy the feed URL to your clipboard …
(Copy the URL of your feed to your clipboard)
If you want, you can check what the RSS feed contains by pasting the URL of your feed into an online feedreader …
(Paste the feed URL into a feedreader to view the feed content. Image: Feedreader.com)
Like feedreaders, WordPress also has the ability to process XML/RSS feeds and convert these into human-readable content.
How To Add Feeds To Your WP Site
In the example below, we are going to add content from other website or blog’s RSS feeds to yours.
How To Add RSS Feeds To Your WordPress Sidebar
As mentioned earlier, no matter what industry your business is in, you could display on your site the latest updates from an industry-related government department or authoritative site in your industry by simply adding their feed. You can use RSS feeds to display a range of information on your WordPress site like news, social media comments, or content from thousands of sites using the WordPress RSS widget.
Let’s add content sourced from an RSS feed to the WordPress sidebar …
(Add an RSS feed to your sidebar)
First, Go to a site containing content that you want to display on your sidebar and copy its feed URL to your clipboard …
(Copy the feed URL to your clipboard)
Next, go to Appearance > Widgets and paste the feed into a new RSS widget …
(RSS Widget)
To learn more about adding content to sidebars using widgets, go here:
Load your site in your browser. The content will now display in your sidebar (or wherever the RSS widget has been inserted – e.g. footer) …
(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 Add RSS Feed Content To WordPress Posts
Can content from RSS feeds be added to WordPress posts? Yes, it can!
You can do this using WordPress plugins. Search inside the Plugins section (Plugins > Add New) for RSS feed, RSS feed to post, etc.
(’Add Plugins’ screen)
Note: Most RSS plugins typically require configuration – visit the plugin sites for configuration instructions, or contact us if you need help with plugin configuration.
Here are a number of autoblogging plugins that allow you to create posts using RSS feeds:
WPeMatico
(WPeMatico – WordPress Plugin)
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 according to campaigns and categories.
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 a number of premium add-ons for extended functionality.
For example, the Feed to Post extension for the WP RSS Aggregator plugin lets you import RSS feeds directly into your posts or any other custom post type.
For more details, go here:
RSS Post Importer
(RSS Post Importer)
The RSS Post Importer plugin can be used to import, syndicate, curate, merge and display full text RSS feeds on your WordPress site.
The plugin fetches an RSS feed and publishes the entire content of every item in your feed as a standalone post.
For more details, go here:
Powr RSS Feed
(Powr RSS Feed WP Plugin)
POWr RSS Feed automatically combines and displays content from a number of different RSS feeds.
The POWr RSS Feed plugin also lets you display images, videos, and articles, adjust sizing and spacing of feeds, use custom fonts, colors, backgrounds, and more. It also displays feeds correctly on all phones, computers, and tablets and supports text in all languages.
The premium plugin edition contains a number of additional features.
For more details, go here:
WP Pipes
(WP Pipes)
The WP Pipes plugin is a powerful data migration plugin that allows you to curate content from RSS feeds, Google News, and other sources.
This plugin provides loads of features like CSV importing for posts/WooCommerce, RSS feed creator, autoblogging, auto post to LinkedIn/Facebook/Twitter, export posts as iTunes podcasts, create Google XML sitemaps, and help take your WordPress CMS to a new level.
For more details, go here:
FeedWordPress
(FeedWordPress Plugin)
FeedWordPress is a flexible Atom/RSS syndication plugin for WordPress.
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 posts from different sources), or bring together all of your online activity (e.g. from your blog, Facebook, YouTube, or other online services, into a Lifestream.
For more details, go here:
Autoblog by WPMUDev
(Autoblog WordPress Plugin)
Autoblog is an easy-to-use plugin that can be set-up very quickly, without coding skills or complicated instructions. Just copy and paste in your feed URL, name your feed (for admin purposes) and select a blog that you want it to post to.
For more details, go here:
RSS Includes Pages and Custom Post Types
(RSS Includes Pages Plugin)
RSS Includes Pages modifies your default WordPress RSS feed to include pages in addition to posts.
For more details, go here:
WordPress RSS – Useful Tips
Tip #1 – Comment RSS Feeds
WordPress makes available RSS feeds of your post comments in addition to displaying RSS feeds of your posts.
You can see these comments by clicking on Comments RSS in your ‘Meta’ widget (note: your theme may not be configured to display this widget) …
(WordPress Comments Feed)
All the comments posted on your site by visitors and users display in the Comments RSS page …
(RSS comments feed content viewed using a Firefox browser)
Like post entries, your comments feed content will display differently depending on which browser you use …
(Comments feed items as seen using a Google Chrome web browser)
Again, you can check the feed content by pasting the URL of the feed into a feedreader …
(Paste the URL of your comments feed into a feed reader to view the content. Image 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 WordPress site installation is in a subdomain, e.g. “blog”)
Tip #2 – Displaying Individual Item RSS Feeds
Being able to select an RSS feed for single post items can be useful. For example, you may want to add feeds from specific posts to RSS directories, or you may have created a valuable resource that other online users will want to syndicate.
The formula for displaying an RSS feed for specific posts is shown below:
(RSS Feed For Individual Post Item)
To create the above feed, copy the post address, and add “/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 for your post, not actual content of the post itself.
Tip #3 – Category RSS Feeds
Some your site visitors may only be interested in subscribing to content about certain topics. They may not want to subscribe to all of your site’s content.
WordPress allows you to create category feeds.
Just use the format below:
(WordPress post categories feed format)
Select and copy the category URL …
(Copy the selected category link address …)
And append “feed” to the end of it …
(Feed format for post categories)
The category feed now only displays content posted in this category …
(Category RSS feed)
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 List Of Feeds For Visitors
You can provide your own directory of RSS feeds for your subscribers that allows readers to subscribe only to content in specific categories, just like large online publishers …
(Create A Feeds List)
All you need to do is link an RSS image like the one shown below to a feed and then create a table or a list of all your feeds on a separate page …
(RSS button. Image Source: public-domain-photos.com)
For a detailed tutorial on inserting tables into WordPress posts and pages, go here:
RSS Feeds – Notes
You can customize RSS in a number of ways, such as adding videos to feeds, ads, etc. Some of these feed customizations require editing code.
WordPress allows you to configure various feed formats that do not require messing with code. For example, here are just some of the kinds of custom feeds you can use on your site and how to create your feeds …
(WordPress RSS – Custom Feeds)
Here are the feed types, descriptions, and feed examples listed above:
- Feed Type: All Posts
- Description: Content feed – contains your latest entries
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/feed/
- Feed Type: All Comments
- Description: Comments feed – RSS feed that contains the latest comments posted on your site
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/comments/feed/
- Feed Type: Individual Posts
- Description: RSS feed containing specific items
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/blog-post-title/feed/
- Feed Type: Individual Posts Comments
- Description: Includes the latest comments made on an individual post
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/post-title/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Day – Contains the latest posts in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2014/05/28/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Month – RSS feed displaying latest entries in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2013/04/feed/
- Feed Type: Archives
- Description: Year – Contains latest posts in each archive
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/2016/feed/
- Feed Type: Search Results
- Description: Contains latest items for a search query
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/search/term/feed/
- Feed Type: Custom Post Type
- Description: RSS feed containing the latest post entries for a custom type (e.g. book)
- Example Feed: http://yourdomain.com/feed/?post_type=book
One last thing …
Remember to let your site visitors know that they can subscribe to your feed. Make sure you place your subscribe button or link in a visible location …
(Remember to make your RSS feeds visible your feeds!)
Finally, keep in mind that other website owners will only subscribe to your content if you provide your visitors with very high-quality information that can add value to their sites and benefit their users.
(Add someone else’s content and get others to syndicate your content using 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 🙂
Resources:
- RSS Feed Buttons – Visit online resource sites like FeedIcons or search online (e.g. “free rss icons”, “rss icon”, etc.) for sites containing downloadable RSS graphics.
- RSSBoard.org – The RSS Advisory Board provides useful information and resources about RSS.
- Wikipedia.org/RSS – Learn more about using RSS.
- WordPress.org – WordPress software documentation and reference repository. Visit this site for additional information about RSS 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 add content from other websites to your site via RSS.
Hopefully, now you have a better understanding of issues 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 website or blog please click on links to visit our related posts section.
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)