(Reading time: 2 – 3 minutes)
RSS is an incredibly efficient method for keeping track of blogs.
Given millions of blogs on the internet, how in the world can anyone keep up with all that information?
It’s not that hard.
The first and by far most important action you can do with your RSS feed is learn to clean it up fast. Here’s how I do it:
Marking All Read in Google Reader
Here’s some helpful tips:
- Not every post on every blog is worth reading or commenting upon. Don’t leave dumb comments! Just move to the next.
- For most blogs, you will find there’s a certain “periodicity.” That is, you’ll be interested in every 3rd, 4th or 5th article published on the blog, not every single article. Hubspot Inbound Marketing is a perfect example for me. They publish at least daily, but pique my interest about once a week. They know their business, so I continue to follow their feed.
- You will see that titles matter a lot. When you’re scanning 100s of titles, what doesn’t stand out doesn’t get read. There are exceptions. Hazel Dooney’s articles (NSFW) have very short titles, but I read them all. Other blogs post really long titles, but I’m not interested in another “313 SEO Tips to Make You Sexier, Better Looking and Cure Insomnia.”
- You need to clean your feed regularly. See instructions above. When you have a clean feed, you can run your reader continuously during the day, and comment on articles as they get posted. Very convenient. Before you shut down for the day, clean your feed again.
- Some feeds are title only. I’m watching uncrate, zappos and gearculture for a client in the retail travel luggage space. Retail travel luggage is her bailiwick, but I need to know just a little bit about what’s being marketed, and how it’s being marketed, to better help her.
I bet you have a tip or two of your own. Would you like to share in the comments?
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
we surely must use our feed in optimum way. I usually use my feed readers to screen the article. If i find the article is interesting or useful, then i visit it but if not, i pass it. That surely make my blogging more effective.
Dana @ Blogging Update´s last blog ..How To Get Google AdSense Code
That first one was key for me. It eliminates the pressure and the guilt of unread items in my inbox. I think I’ll log on and do the same to Outlook before I go back to work on the 4th!
Holly Jahangiri´s last blog ..Monday News & Views
That’s what I recommend for people with hundreds of emails: “Select All; Archive.”
Dr Wordpress!´s last blog ..Google AdSense: text vs. image ads, which is best?
What the heck is “5834d18a7674ce23c51746bb07a83b4c”? If I have to enter the checksum to my comment before your blog will…
Oh, never mind. Looks like the comment went through. Is that thing just a cruel joke? I have trouble enough with 6+7 – don’t give me higher math and hexadecimals!
Holly Jahangiri´s last blog ..Monday News & Views
I haven’t figured this one out. It just appeared magically one day. Weird. As if I don’t have a zillion other things to do.
Dr Wordpress!´s last blog ..Whose in Charge Here? You, or your blog?
I only keep 10 RSSs with me. Hard to follow too many.
Jayce´s last blog ..How to hack Facebook account profile
Jayce, it does take some practice to be sure.
Dr Wordpress!´s last blog ..Life is Short. What Do You Have to Show for Yourself?
I actually do the same. Reading all of the stuff is counterproductive. Aside from doing #1 and #2 I make sure I comment some of those posts I’ve read. I also regularly share very informative posts over social network sites as well. And, it really helps to have the skill of being a fast reader!
Cleaning the feeds is easy for me – the trends inside the reader are very helpful!
Gem´s last blog ..Mid-afternoon Snack with the LunchBreakBlogger