RSS Creation
The purpose of this article is to show you how to create an RSS feed both manually & automatically, and how to update it.
Sections in this article
Introduction
RSS is a very powerful medium and every website should have one! RSS is extremely simple and will only take about 15 mins to set one up. If you don’t have one then follow this guide.
If you do have an RSS feed then read the article on Content Dissemination to ensure that you are using it to its full potential.
Manual Setup
- Create a folder in your website called rss.
- Create a blank file in that folder and call it rss.xml.
- Amend the bit’s in red below to suit your site, images and message.
- Copy and paste the amended code below into your rss.xml file.
- Upload the RSS folder and its contents.
- That’s it, your RSS feed is live.
- Go to http://www.yourdomain.com/rss/rss.xml
- To make further updates by hand, copy and paste everything between the item tags and place it above the other one, change the details and re-upload the file.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<title>SEO Juice</title>
<description>FREE SEO Advice</description>
<link>http://www.seo-juice.co.uk</link>
<docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs>
<lastBuildDate>Fri, 16 Sep 2011 20:47:29 +0000</lastBuildDate>
<pubDate>Fri, 16 Sep 2011 20:47:29 +0000</pubDate>
<generator>RSS</generator>
<image>
<url>http://www.seo-juice.co.uk/assets/images/seo-juice-logo-small.jpg</url>
<title>SEO Juice</title>
<link>http://www.seo-juice.co.uk</link>
<description>SEO Juice</description>
<width>180</width>
<height>180</height>
</image>
<item>
<title>The power of social media</title>
<description><![CDATA[<table width="600" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><th width="98" scope="col"><div align="left"><img src="http://www.seo-juice.co.uk/assets/images/update-comment.jpg"></div><br/><br /></th><td valign="top" scope="col"><div align="left"><p>Social media is massive all across the world. If something was to happen in America, you could find out about it on social media before it even hit the radio or TV stations. Social media is not to be under estimated!
</p></div></td></tr></table>]]></description>
<link>http://www.seo-juice.co.uk/</link>
<category domain="Update">Update</category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">SEO-2011-0004</guid>
<pubDate>Fri, 16 Sep 2011 20:46:19 +0000</pubDate>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
Automatic RSS creation
The easiest way to get an RSS feed is to download a piece of software that will manage the feed for you as well.
The one I recommend through functionality and ease of use is below. It is free for 30 days then you have to pay a small fee of £25. Well worth the investment though and will save you from having to mess around with the feed by hand.
http://download.cnet.com/RSS-Feed-Creator/3000-10247_4-10711151.html
When you have installed the software, create your feed, put a few updates in to it, enter your FTP details and upload it. If you have content dissemination setup then your blogs will be fed very soon too!
