Creating valid RSS feeds

Let's consider the simplest way to create a news feed for your web site or blog.

What Is RSS?

Basically, an RSS feed or news feed is just an XML file with a specific structure that can be read by so-called RSS readers. You need to upload your news feed to your web server so that anyone can access it. An RSS feed can contain any kind of information, such as news about your company or your pet, whatever. Any news feed must comply with the RSS specifications so that it can be downloaded, parsed, and displayed by a new reader (such as Google Reader, FeedReader, or GreatNews).

Why Do I Need RSS?

If you have a web site, an RSS feed can help you attract more visitors and improve your site's quality. Some sites have even gained popularity thanks to adding an interesting RSS channel. Nowadays, using RSS is considered a good thing. To make things better, adding a news feed on your site is a piece of cake. Just remember to update your feed regularly, and you will certainly reap the fruits!

How to Create an RSS Feed?

There are many applications for creating RSS feeds. Let's take a look at one of the most popular RSS editors, Extralabs RSS Creator. It is user-friendly yet very powerful, so don't miss the opportunity to try it out.

Create your first RSS channel:

1. Download Feed Editor RSS Creator from our site, and install it.

2. An RSS feed consists of items and topics. Usually each topic contains one piece of news. To make things simpler, think about RSS topics as posts in your blog. Each topic must have these mandatory fields: title, description, and URL of the web page that contains the full article the topic refers to. To create a new item, go to the "Feed Items" tab in the Feed Editor window and click the "New topic" button. Then enter Title, Description, and URL in the editing area on the right: (image).

3. Repeat the above step as many times as necessary.

4. Then fill in other important RSS fields. Go to the "Feed" tab and enter Title, Description, and URL: (image).

5. To preview what you've created, click the "Preview Feed" button on Feed Editor's toolbar.

6. That's all! Your RSS feed is ready, and you can publish it. If you have access to your web server via FTP, click the "FTP upload" button on Feed Editor's toolbar. Otherwise, select the "File" –> "Save As…" menu and save your RSS feed on your computer (for example, on your desktop). Then you can upload it manually (for example, via CPanel).

7. After uploading your RSS feed, you can link to it from your site.

8. Any problem? No big deal, you can always visit our support forums or contact our technical support.

How to Promote an RSS Feed

After creating an RSS channel, do a few simple things to let search engines index it. For starters, add your RSS feed to Google by following this link. Besides, we recommend adding your feed to special catalogs and ratings. Read more in this article: How to Promote an RSS Feed.

Conclusion

You have learned to create a simple RSS channel in our great WYSIWYG RSS editor. Using our application, you can create professionally looking new channels, RSS feeds with attachments, or iTunes-compatible podcasts. Start using Extralabs Feed Editor and find out its huge capabilities!