Syndicate Your ActiveRain Blogs with RSS
What is syndication and why should you "Syndicate Your ActiveRain Blogs?" Driving traffic and exposure to your Blog is the primary reason. RSS - Really Simple Syndication is a great way to connect your ActiveRain Blog to other Blogs and websites. Members on ActiveRain have an RSS feed button located on the sidebar of their Blog. Click on it to see your options and how it can be used to expand your reach to a larger audience via other sites and locations on the web.
Adding an RSS feed to your ActiveRain Blog on your ActiveRain Blog is nice, but no where near the value and benefit of having an RSS feed in other locations. Do you have a website? Do you use an email signature? Are you utilizing online marketing? Take advantage of this tiny little tool so you can get BIG results. That's why it's here. If you're not familiar with RSS Feeds, Readers, and tools etc., here's a really good post that will give you more details and an explanation.
RSS is a great way to syndicate your Blog posts 
and get them out there and in front of a larger potential audience. Using RSS feeds is also a great way to have information and great content delivered back to you without having to go out and look for it. This will save you valuable time browsing the web for content and information that you might be interested in.
Personally, I use Google Reader for all my RSS feeds to the sites I like to get updates and new information from. This allows me the ability to scroll through hundreds of articles from various sites and blogs easily and conveniently without having to go to each site and see what's newly published. You can also share certain posts and articles with others that you follow, and they can share with you.
If you're looking for some ways to get back-links and Web Traffic, I just watched THIS VIDEO that explains how to do this using FeedAgg.com. You can see how many other RE professionals have done this already by Clicking Here. You can search their site for various Real Estate type RSS feeds that have already been added to the site. Why not add yours while you're there. It's just one more way to syndicate your ActiveRain Blog.
Teaching your clients how to subscribe to your Blog via RSS is a valuable tool, both for them, and for you.
DON'T FORGET TO DO THIS WITH THE RSS FROM YOUR ACTIVERAIN OUTSIDE BLOGS TOO.
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Very good information, thanks for sharing it with us! I'm going to look into creating feeds on my sites now!
Sincerely,
Kathleen
I appreciate the info. Honestly, I'm so SEO'd, Social Media'd and RSS'd out from info overload.
Its like being a mosquito in a nudist colony, so many tempting targets, you don't know where to bite first!
Brad - This is interesting timing. I was just thinking yesterday that I need to add my RSS feed to my AR automated signature. Also, I was thinking that it would be nice if the tiny RSS button was moved up from the bottom of the right-hand column and made larger, since I doubt many people find it currently. Just my two cents -
Brad..WOW..that is fantastic..I am going to sit down and try to do this tonight..Thanks for this tip..you ROCK
HELPFULHANNAH
Jason - this was my observation as well, hence bringing it up in this post. I would also like to see a more standardized button like those used in this post so it stands out with a bit more familiarity. I'll see if there is something our programmers and tech team can do about that.
Thanks for the 2 cents, it's always worth a million bucks my friend. :-)
Brad,
I'm going to do it! thanks!
Mike in Tucson
Excellent information...thank you for the invaluable tips.
Brad, Thanks for this information. Now I just need to try and implement it. I am learning this stuff slowly but surely.
Thank you for the post Brad, usually RSS makes my eyes glaze over......ditto to moving the button! You are always thinking!
Brad - THANK YOU! This is EXACTLY what I was looking for the other day. As always, you delivered. :) Glad you're here.
Blog-N-Roll Brad...
I also use Google Reader. The only problem I have with it is that other people add the sites they like to my reader. I still haven't figured how they do that. Don't tell me how. I love a good challenge :)
How about a song:
P.S. I bet you thought I would outgrow the music. Nope. Not yet :)
TLW...ROAR!
Thanks for the info. I'm going to check this out right away.
Brad...
I have been using Google Feedburner to broadcast my AR blog on other sites. Feedburner converts RSS into HTML which can be very useful!
Brad...
I have been using Google Feedburner to broadcast my AR blog on other sites. Feedburner converts RSS into HTML which can be very useful!
TLW - love the song, thanks. You can select which followers you want to allow to add to your "Sahred" google reader. But since you like a good challenge, I'll let you explore and figure it out. :-)
Thanks for the info Brad. I'm needing all the help I can get with RSS.
You can also use the RSS icon located in the URL or Address bar to create feeds and use your favorite "Reader of Choice."
Hi Brad: Great advice - thanks for sharing it with us.
:)
I am using RSS feeds and XML as well to market my properties in Europe.
Brad, is there actually a way to import RSS into our ActiveRain blogs?
Brad - Thanks. I need to check this out when I have more time.
Hi, Brad. There's always something new to learn! I really appreciate the simple way you break this info down so we don't feel overwhelmed. Appreciate the link to the "really good post" that explains it further!
Ah Ha...
I just love a good snipit :)
TLW...ROAR!
thanks Brad, just added my feed to feed agg!
Brad thanks for the post and just when I figured out mp3's you have given me another hill to climb. Thanks , I think
This is going to be my thing to do for today. Not something I had ever really thought about but makes much sense, thanks.
Hi Brad ~ You guys are killing me...Just when I think I'm over the hump with all this learning you come with something else and remind me just what a long way I still have to go...I hope you recognize that for the sarcasm it is...:-) Just keep it coming.
Denise
Thanks Brad for the great info and valuable links. I'm off to set it up!! :)
I agree with Jason! larger button up top!
I agree with every post above ; )..........but what I really want to know is WHY did you change your picture.....and is it really YOU?
I use RSS quite often but never thought about adding into my email signature, nice.
thanks for the info...bookmarked for later, It's Friday and I'm all but mentally spent at this point
Where'd you get the RSS icon on the pot? Oh that is perfect.
Great idea, thanks
LOL @ Steve...
I am going to have to with hold the song I have in my head for that remark :)
TLW...ROAR!
Hi Brad. I have RSS feeds for my WP blog too and it is fantastic.
Thanks, Brad. Syndication has been on my mind for awhile. So, I'm putting it on my to do list for the weekend!
Ah, so much to learn. I really relate to Mike's (#2) analogy of a mosquito in a nudist colony.
-Scott
Great tips and advice Brad on where to send out rss feeds. Any advice on how to drive more readers to our outside blogs is always greatly appreciated!
Something else for my toolbox. Thanks Brad. I don't need to buy any books. All the information I needs is at AR with easy to follow instructions.
Google alerts are another way to have the information you are looking for sent to you without having to go out and look for it.
Good post I have not watched the video yet so off to do that ;-)
Good thoughts about putting RSS feed in all the right places. Reminds me of a song in Urban Cowboy turned around.
Thanks for info, Brad! I use Bloglines to find good info to blog about. I really like the idea of adding the RSS feed to an email signature - definitely something to look into!
Thanks for the information. I didn't even know the RSS button was there.
Thank you Brad for the tips today. I look forward to your posts.
Patricia
Brad, I listened to the Agg guy. I'll have to bookmark this and come back in the morning.
Brad - It's a great idea to add RSS. I've bookmarked this post as another item in my to do list.
Brad
Thanks for the great info. have to incorporate this one.
Best Regards
Great Post. I was told a few months ago that RSS feeds are going to be huge in our future. I'm doing it. Thanks.
Brad,
Thank you for this information. I know this is something I need to be working on more.
Another great lesson, Brad. I LOVE Google reader but find it hard to keep up with everything. I clrealy can, and should, do more with RSS, and you provided some great suggestions. Off to visit FeedAgg.
Jeff
I hate to admit this, but while being a huge technology geek, and constantly trying new things, RSS feeds are the one area where I've always had trouble. I can never figure out how to setup the darned things! I'll follow the links you provided. Because I really do want to add RSS feeds to my blogs and web site!
Brad: I've been wondering about this. I'll have to dig depper and figure out how to feed my blog to my website.
Brad,
Thanks, I am adding this to my task list. It always amazing me how the rain offers so much great information and tools for the taking. My appreciation goes out to you.
Thanks for this awesome information. I was just asking my team how this could be done this week. Then I logged on and found this blog thanks again. Have a restful and blessed weekend.
Ok, Brad, so let me ask this...
In my signature, I have a icon that says subscribe to my ActiveRain blog...the link is my rss feed for my outside blog, so is that sufficient, or do I need to do more?
Brad:
Again thank you for a way to improve my posting. I will be checking this out shortly. Like Kathryn above (#57), I am appreciative of the may suggestion from the rain.
Brad - Im going to have to play with this option. I've wanted to add an RSS feed to my website for quite some time, but haven't done so. This was a nice reminder that I still need to do it. Thanks!
Brad,
Now that you brought it up here I guess it's time to give the idea a deeper look. The benefits are obvious, so, let's get with the program.
LOL Blog-N-Roll...
Just goes to show that deep down inside we all care about the points.
I never said that. I was never here :)
TLW...ROAR!
Brad:
This is timely. I have set aside tomorrow (Sunday) to implement this into my blog. I just printed it out. I also have Richard's post on Feedburner that I printed out last week. We will see how this goes...
Thank you, as always.
Thank goodness for the bookmark button. This will be my next step but I may be calling you.
Great basic information on how to set up and utilize RSS feed. You cleared up a few points of confusion that I have had.
Brad, another stellar post to help us to the next level - where you already are, BTW!
Brad, see you at rain camp in Seattle.
Thanks for sharing and explaining I appreciate it.
thanks for sharing..I'll start working on it!
Truly helpful info. Thank you!
Jeana Cowie, Broker Associate, Re/Max Real Estate Ltd. Bergen County, NJ
Thanks for the information. Active Rain is great for getting exposure for your business.
I have bookmarked this for future reference. Thanks for shairng this information.
Hello Brad, I tried this last year with my AR blog and it seems some "bad code" (probably from MS FrontPage) is in my blog, disabling the ability of the RSS to work. I then gave up.
How does one go about identifying and purging this bad code in their AR blog effectively to allow the RSS to work?
Thank you! John
Brad: This is great info ... I too am on info overload ... there is so much to do ... and finding a balance between selling activities and blogging and keeping up on social media ... yikes!
John - the best way is to remove any bad code copied from any third party applications to your Blog posts, this will ensure that your RSS feeds will be clean of any misc. code they're currently showing. The problem with copy and pasting from some of these outside sources is that they do add some hidden HTML that often time may be incompatible with the AR network. I know that some folks using the copy and paste feature from MS Word have some of these same issues.
I always create my posts in AR using the AR editing tools and then save them in draft mode until ready to publish. On occasion, I will use scribefire.com in conjunction with the Firefox browser to add color and different sizes to the fonts as opposed to copy and pasting from third party sources. Hope that helps. :-)
Hello Brad, unfortunately for me I don't know what the bad code looks like or, how to ID the older posts where it resides. I tried a techie program call TidyATL but that was very cumbersome. Any insights on a better "cleaner app" would be a thing of beauty. Thanks! John
Thanks Brad for some reason this seems to have been a bit of an issue for us. Hopefully my husband can figure it out for me - it's so nice to have a man around the RSS feed!! Ok - I could figure it out but he loves these kind of things!
Brad, Thanks again, I appreciate not just your how-tos but the creative suggestions as well.
This is so helpful.. thanks and I need to do this. I have bookmarked this post so I can do this when I come up for air.
great info thanks for sharing. We have been talking about just this and need to go through all of this.
Thanks again Brad. I am new to the whole RSS topic - but I find it very intriguing and want to spend more time studying it - so - another bookmark. Thanks!
i have always wondered about the RSS feeds and just needed more info to realize their importance. thanks!
i have always wondered about the RSS feeds and just needed more info to realize their importance. thanks!
Hello Brad, looks like I have a lot of posts to clean up. To make the most of my efforts (with respect to better SEO juice) please let me know what I should change to this protocol:
1) Use better key words and phrases in the re-write
2) better anchor text for my links
3) put these posts in an Active Rain Channel for 25 pts. each
4) smile because Brad says doing this is a good thing :)
How many of these a day should I limit myself to, as I've heard Google may not like too much tinkering all at once?
Thanks! John
Brad - Now that I have a few posts under my belt, and am getting more consistent, I really do need RSS to syndicate my blog.
Brad,
Thank you again for another great post which I am adding to my Bookmarked Library.
Sharon
@John - all the above! :-) The channels are for more than just 25 points, and topics are very important too. They show up as categories on your outside Blog. As far as how many a day? Whatever you have time for my friend, you don't need Googles permission. :-)
Wow, glad I found your blogs. The "techy" agent in my office never told me all this great stuff. Is it because we sell in the same market?
Hmmm. Oh well, now I can do all those wonderful links I've heard about but nobody could explain to me.
Thanks!
Wow, glad I found your blogs. The "techy" agent in my office never told me all this great stuff. Is it because we sell in the same market?
Hmmm. Oh well, now I can do all those wonderful links I've heard about but nobody could explain to me.
Thanks!
Michael - you'll find a ton of helpful posts and members here on AR, it's the largest library of content and members in our Industry. Enjoy my friend and best of luck to you and your business. :-)
Hi Brad ~ I have to come back soon to start syndicating my AR blog. Today my mission is the Scavenger Hunt :)