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The RSS feed for your blog is a very valuable traffic generation tool. Really Simple Sydication (RSS) makes it really simple to syndicate your blog content all over the internet….for free. Many bloggers tend to over-look this tool because of one simple reason…. they have no idea what RSS is.

Today, as I continue my series on How to Increase Blog Traffic and Improve Search Engine Exposure, let’s take a look at RSS feeds and how they can bring more visitors to your blog.

What is RSS and How Can It Help My Blog Traffic?

I have found a great site that explains all about RSS - www.RSS-Specifications.com. Just reading a little bit about RSS will help conquer the fear of the unknown and help you realize what a powerful traffic generation tool you have.

According to RSS-Specifications.com :

“RSS is becoming increasing popular. The reason is fairly simple. RSS is a free and easy way to promote a site and its content without the need to advertise or create complicated content sharing partnerships.”

Honestly, folks…that’s all you need to concern yourself with unless you really, really want to know how RSS works. In a nutshell, RSS is like another web address to your blog that provides readers with another way to read your blog. When this RSS address is put into an RSS feed reader, your blog posts are shown (either just the title, partial, or full content). These RSS feed readers automatically update each time you post.

Where is the RSS Feed for My Blog?

The basic RSS feed for your blog can be found right in your browser window. Look up at the address in the browser right now… see the orange RSS icon? Click it and you will be taken to a window with what your current feed will look like, and the address in the browser is your RSS feed address. A simple copy/paste is all you need to get started with RSS.

There are programs out there that make syndication of your RSS feed even more cool. FeedBurner.com has some amazing features, among them is the ability to allow your blog readers to sign up to get your posts by email. This works like this…. a reader signs up for your email RSS, you publish a new post, Feedburner picks up this change in your RSS and emails all of your subscribers a copy of your post (or a summary…your choice). Feedburner also tracks subscriber counts and stats as well as MANY other handy features. Now, this is just a very basic description of how all this works. Naturally, it can get much more involved than this =)

What Can I Do With My RSS Feed?

I have had great success by simply adding my RSS feed to my Squidoo lenses. If you have a blog and you have even just ONE lens on Squidoo, you need to have your blog RSS displayed. If not, you are missing out on potential traffic and exposure. Let’s put it this way…. Say you get 10 click thrus from one Squidoo lens to your blog via your RSS feed display per day. That’s not overly special, is it? Now, what if you have TEN Squidoo lenses and each display your RSS and each average 10 click thrus per day. Now we’re talking 100 additional visits to your blog.

Now it’s getting special, isn’t it? =)

Best part is - this is ’set it and forget it’ blog promotion. Each time you post, every single one of those RSS feeds on your Squidoo lenses updates, too. Fresh content for your lens…..increased exposure for your blog. Win-Win!

How Do I Add My RSS Feed to a Squidoo Lens?

Adding your RSS feed to a Squidoo page is easy, easy, easy. Go into ‘edit’ mode for your lens. Choose to “add modules”, and right there you will see “RSS- Add Your Own Feed”

Click to Add a RSS module, then click save.

Now, when you are back in the edit/workshop mode for your lens, look for your new RSS module. Open the module to edit, and fill in the needed information.

Fill in like this:

Now click ’save’ and you’re done!

Do this on all your lenses. Remember, when trying to get traffic to your blog, the best way is to generate exposure everywhere you can. Every visitor helps. And who knows? One visitor might tell a friend, and they’ll tell a friend, and so on and so on….

Where Should I Submit My RSS Feed?

For a long list of places to submit the RSS feed for your blog, also visit this page on RSS-Specifications.com.

To learn more about how to use RSS feeds to improve blog traffic and search engine exposure, visit this section of W3Schools.com and learn all you could want to know…and then some!

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