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Blitz
Ezine #251 July 12th, 2005
How to Make an RSS Feed
The Blitz-Promotions News Letter
Issue no. 251, July 12th, 2005
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Blitz Comments
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We talked some in previous
issues of our ezine about RSS feeds. This issue includes
an article on how to make one.
You
can find our blog at the following URL.
http://smallbizpromo.blogspot.com
Our
next issue will be on August 2nd.
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In this Issue
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-
SEO Tuneup
- Making an RSS Feed
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Food for thought
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If they like you, and they
believe in you, and they trust you, and they have confidence
in you... then they MAY buy from you.
Jeffery Gitomer
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SEO Tuneup Part 2
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Bourbon
Changes -
Unless
you've been living under a rock - or without internet
access you've probably heard about the changes in Googles
Algo. Below is a link where we explain things a bit
on our Blog.
Click
Here
Google
is also now offering a site feed for your site - the
articles below go into some detail on how to set things
up.
http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/050602-195224
If you haven't noticed
yet Google monitors how often you "change"
your site. The fresher it is the better. Some ideas
for fresh content include:
1) Write at least two new
pages for your site each month (if you can do two a
week that would be best). These pages can be - how to
do something pages, product reviews, alternate uses
for a product you sell etc. Add links to these new pages
on your index page and your site map. As you get new
pages remove the old from the index page.
2) Add a "what's on
sale item" to your index page. Change it and the
description each month.
3) Set a goal for the number
of links you want added to your site. Work on it.
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The Making of an RSS Feed
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Everyday
more and more websites, news services and blogs are
adding RSS content. RSS is a method of syndicating
content.The concept of aggregating content in one central
location or repository is very appealing. Consumers
have
become tired of push technology, RSS allows users the
flexibility to regain control of their content. RSS
feed
creators provide content without forcing it on consumers.
In
fact with RSS consumers are able to choose the content
they
wish to view.
How
to Make an RSS Feed
RSS feeds contain what are referred to as "items".
The items
are usually connected in some way and contain a common
theme
or other similarity.
The
following feed http://www.notepage.net/feed.xml contains
eight items. The items are all SMS and paging related
news
articles that would likely benefit someone interested
in the
wireless market.
Each
item contains:
title
description
link
The title and description should be written to describe
the
content and the link should reference the webpage that
contains that actual content.
Like
html, the xml file uses open and close tags to
designate the title, description and link. Tags are
enclosed
in brackets <>, like standard html and the close
tag
contains a forward slash /.
The
following is what an item in a xml file looks like:
<title>The
Title Goes Here</title>
<descritpion>The description goes here</description>
<link>http://www.linkgoeshere.com</link>
As
I mentioned earlier, an RSS feeds contains items and
like
the tags above, an open and close tag is used to distinguish
between items.
<item>
<title>The Title Goes Here</title>
<descritpion>The description goes here</description>
<link>http://www.linkgoeshere.com</link>
</item>
<item>
<title>Another Title Goes Here</title>
<descritpion>Another description goes here</description>
<link>http://www.anotherlinkgoeshere.com</link>
</item>
Now an RSS Feed is a series of items, these items are
chained together to create what is called a "Channel".
The
Channel appears at the top of the file and tells people
how the items relate to each other. Like items channels
use
title, description and link tags to describe its content.
The open channel tag <chanel> occurs before the
first item
and the close tag </channel> occurs after the
last item.
<channel>
<title>The Channel Title Goes Here</title>
<description>The explanation of how the items
are related
goes here</description>
<link>http://www.directoryoflinksgohere</link>
<item>
<title>The Title Goes Here</title>
<descritpion>The description goes here</description>
<link>http://www.linkgoeshere.com</link>
</item>
<item>
<title>Another Title Goes Here</title>
<descritpion>Another description goes here</description>
<link>http://www.anotherlinkgoeshere.com</link>
</item>
</channel>
Finally you will need to designate the file by indicating
it
is an XML file by inserting xml and rss defining tags
at the
beginning and </rss> at the very end.
<?xml
version="1.0"?>
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<title>The
Channel Title Goes Here</title>
<description>The explanation of how the items
are related
goes here</description>
<link>http://www.directoryoflinksgohere</link>
<item>
<title>The Title Goes Here</title>
<descritpion>The description goes here</description>
<link>http://www.linkgoeshere.com</link>
</item>
<item>
<title>Another Title Goes Here</title>
<descritpion>Another description goes here</description>
<link>http://www.anotherlinkgoeshere.com</link>
</item>
</channel>
</rss>
When
you save the file be sure to save it as an xml file.
Warning
If you create the file using Dreamweaver or a similar
tool
becareful that it does not strip out tags it feels are
redundant. In order to be be an RSS feed your file needs
at
bare minimum that tags that were discussed above, and
the
file will not be valid if tags are stripped out.
I
found a cool little free program that helped in xml
file
creation called First Object Editor
http://www.firstobject.com/
Validation
As my math teacher use to say, check your work! Once
your
file is complete and uploaded einter it into the feed
validator at http://feedvalidator.org
Syndication
/ Submission
If you've made it this far you are in good shape it
is time
to "syndicate" your content! Submit your RSS
feed (the xml
file you created) to sites just like you would submit
a web
page. Some of the more popular sites that accept RSS
files
can be found under "Post RSS Feed"
http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/rss-feeds.html
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for NotePage, Inc.
http://www.notepage.net a company specializing in
alphanumeric paging, SMS and wireless messaging software
solutions. Other sites by Sharon can be found at
http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com , and
http://www.small-business-software.net
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Links you can use -
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If you don't want your next car to be
a gas guzzler - you should check out this list.
http://www.geekbooks.com/hybrid_diesel_1000.htm
Speaking of gas - here are some ways
to save some.
http://financialplan.about.com/cs/cars/a/SaveGas.htm
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Fun and Games
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Last
week we were at the beach - here are some interesting
things you can do while your on the beach.
http://www.beachhouse.com/content/activities.asp
http://www.youthonline.ca/seasons/summer/beachfun.shtml
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Ads
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Useful links to our site
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Ezine
Archives links to all our past issues (well most
of them) in one place.
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Next Issues
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August - Summer SEO Tuneup - part 3
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Final Thoughts
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We
hope everyone has a wonderful month.
Tim
and Lisa Hamblin
Tisa Enterprises
PO Box 221
Hazard KY 41702
http://www.blitzpromotions.com
http://www.crochetnmore.com
http://www.webpageplanner.com
http://www.ineedlinks.com
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