RSS feeds question

1. 74

   Julie DeNeenposted 11 years ago

   So I know the RSS capsule has to have related hubs...i.e - make a RSS feed with recipes if you've just published a cake hub. However, if you just add your standard RSS feed to the bottom (I think its your latest hubs)...it won't get flagged right?
   
   I got flagged for having a food RSS feed on a hub that wasn't about food, and that makes perfect sense to me (I did it awhile back before I understood the RSS capsule well), but now- I'm wondering if I add the latest RSS feed to each hub, it's bound to have unrelated hubs at the bottom. I haven't been flagged yet, so I assume that is considered okay...though better to categorize your RSS feeds to the topic at hand.
   
   They wouldn't give you the option for a latest, best, or hot RSS feed if it wasn't allowed right?
   
   Feeling paranoid that I missed a memo somewhere.

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   1. 89

      GA Andersonposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Julie,
      
      Just some thoughts...
      
      The proper use of RSS feeds has matured, as it needed to.
      
      If you are using the "latest" RSS feed to promote your hubs - consider this, is that serving your reader? Or you? If they are reading about cupcakes, is a link to hair styles helpful - just because you wrote it?
      
      A much better use of the rss feed is to use it for related articles, and you can do this using tags.
      
      for example; I write a lot of politics articles, and common themes have common tags. ie. all articles on Obamacare will have the tag "obamacare" (ps. any tag will work)
      
      then at the end of the hub I use an RSS capsule titled "Related articles:" then I use a custom RSS link to feature only related hubs I wrote.
      such as: (note: the * is a backslash in the real link) http:**hubpages.com*author*ga+anderson*obamacare*hot*?rss. (this is the exact RSS link to use - with your data substituted for mine of course)
      
      Then, to promote your writings - end with an "About the Author" text capsule. If readers really want to see more of your writings they will click the link to check you out. I think this is a really useful tool you, (and every author), should be using - if they liked your writing you have put a link to more right where it would be most effective for them to see it. I looked at a few of your hubs and did not see an "Author"  link anywhere - except the template listing hubpages includes at the top.
      
      If it doesn't get snipped for being overly promotional, here is a link that illustrates the related article RSS feed, and the "About the Author" capsule. - http://gaanderson.hubpages.com/hub/Figh … nt-Exposed
      
      Hope this was helpful
      
      GA

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      1. 74

         Julie DeNeenposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Wow! Thank you! I was originally using an RSS feed mainly because I was told that Google likes to see regularly updated pages and a RSS feed is constantly updating. So that was my initial reason, though the extra publicity helped too...but this answer was so helpful. Tell me, can I create a link to this forum discussion on my hub so people can read it or will I get flagged for doing that? I'm so nervous about getting my hand slapped for anything because I don't mean to break any of the rules!!

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2. 89

   GA Andersonposted 11 years ago

   @Julie
   
   as mentioned, RSS feeds use has changed - the Google "freshness" and "updating" benefits of an RSS feed is a lot less important now than it used to be. Google caught on to this use of feeds and now their algo applies less importance to feed updates - plus there is the penalty of "unrelated" linking - which Google and Hubpages really frown upon.
   
   A better option is a comments capsule;  this allows for "freshness and updating" with each new comment, plus, comments tend to use wording related to your content keywords - much better than an RSS feeds
   
   again, it seems like I am promoting my hubs, but do a hub search for "comment capsule SEO" and you will find plenty of examples of beneficial ways to use a comment capsule to help your hub views.
   
   as for linking to this forum topic - I don't know. I'm not sure of your intent for the linkage - so I can't see the benefit. But, HP doesn't usually have a problem with inter-site links, so I would guess you would be fine doing it.
   
   GA

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