How to Create an RSS Feed

If you want to improve the number of visitors to your website or upgrade your website with an audio program (podcast), then an RSS feed (RSS feed) is indispensable. RSS feed keeps users up to date with all the latest articles or events and generates a huge increase in traffic. Whether you’re using a dedicated program or writing your own, creating an RSS feed is quick and easy. Take a look at the instructions below.

Table of Contents

By software to create RSS

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/4/47/1650234-1.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-1.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https:// www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/4/47/1650234-1.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-1.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,” bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div>”}

Find an RSS generator. There are a few options when it comes to RSS services. You can pay a monthly web service fee for creating and updating RSS feeds automatically, or download a dedicated program to update RSS feeds manually. Popular programs include: ^{[1] X Research Sources}

RSS Builder – This is a free and open source RSS generator that allows users to create RSS files and upload them to websites. The software also automatically manages RSS feeds on your website so you don’t have to upload files every time.
Feedity and rapidfeeds – These two web services allow you to manage multiple feeds with automatic updates. You won’t need to do it manually every time you want to update website content. Feedity will generate the RSS file and you do not need to import each item.
FeedForAll – This paid program allows users to create RSS feeds for upload to websites. The software also has dedicated tools for creating podcast feeds for iTunes.
RSS.app – This site helps users to create RSS feeds from any website and social network. RSS.app also allows us to import this feed into all RSS Reader software.

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/f/fd/1650234-2.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-2.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https:// www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/f/fd/1650234-2.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-2.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,” bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div>”}

Create a data feed. After choosing a service, you can create your first feed. The process will vary from program to program but is essentially the same. All feeds need some of the following metadata:

Create a title for the feed. This title is similar to that of a website or podcast.
Enter the URL for the website. This URL will take the viewer back to the homepage.
Enter a description for the feed. This section describes an overview of the feed and should consist of one or two sentences.

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/6/61/1650234-3.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-3.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https:// www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/6/61/1650234-3.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-3.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,” bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div>”}

Add photos to the feed. You can add a profile picture for your RSS feed. The image file needs to be uploaded to the website to be loaded into the feed. While images are optional, they are highly recommended for podcasts.

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/9/9d/1650234-4.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-4.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https:// www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/9/9d/1650234-4.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-4.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,” bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div>”}

Add content to the feed. After entering the information for the podcast, you can start filling in the content. Enter an article title, blog post, podcast episode, and more. Then enter the URL that links directly to the content as well as the date it was published. With Feedity, after you enter the website URL, the content will automatically be published.

Each item should be described briefly and easily understood. This is what viewers will see on an RSS reader before deciding to click.
The GUID is a unique identifier for your content. You can insert a URL into this field at any time. If two assets have the same URL, they will need separate formats.
You can add author information (Author) and interpretation (Comments).
Add a new entry for each content you want to publish.

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/0/05/1650234-5.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-5.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https:// www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/0/05/1650234-5.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-5.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,” bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div>”}

Create XML file. Once you’ve finished importing all the content into your feed, you’ll need to export them to an XML file. The XML file will allow viewers to subscribe to this RSS feed.

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/e/e4/1650234-6.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-6.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https:// www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/e/e4/1650234-6.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-6.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,” bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div>”}

Publish the feed. Upload the XML file you just created to your website and include it on the homepage. Or some sites will generate a URL to the feed that you can insert into your website.

With RSS Builder, you can import your website’s FTP information so that the feed is updated automatically each time you edit it. To do this, click the FTP button in the top toolbar, then click the New Site button and enter the website’s FTP information. Once you’re ready to update the XML file on your website, click the Publish Feed button.

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/4/4c/1650234-7.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-7.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https:// www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/4/4c/1650234-7.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-7.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,” bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div>”}

Submit RSS feeds. There are many aggregators that you can submit RSS feeds to. These pages aggregate articles on the same topic and can significantly increase traffic. Find the RSS feed directories (Feed Directories) that match the audience of the feed and then submit the URL to the XML file.

If the feed is a podcast, you can submit it to iTunes for iTunes users to find and subscribe to through the program. Podcasts need to be approved to show up in search results. ^{[2] X Research Source}

Write your own feed

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/e/e0/1650234-8.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-8.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https:// www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/e/e0/1650234-8.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-8.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,” bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div>”}

Compile the content list. Use a word processor and create a simple list of about 10-15 items (more or less depending on your preference) of the most recent content. You then copy the URL to the list, add a title and short description, and then select a publication date.

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/8/89/1650234-9.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-9.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https:// www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/8/89/1650234-9.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-9.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,” bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div>”}

Create XML files using Notepad (Windows) or TextEdit (Mac). Before you start importing content, you need to add the RSS header information. Enter the following code at the top of the text file:

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <rss version= "2.0" > <channel> <title> Feed title </title> <link> http://www .website.com/ </link> <description> Description of the feed. 
Write about 1-2 sentences. </description>

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/3/3e/1650234-10.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-10.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https:// www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/3/3e/1650234-10.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-10.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,” bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div>”}

Start typing. Each asset will be distinguished by an <item> section below the title. Copy the following code with each entry to create and replace it with your own. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

 <item> <title> Content title </title> <link> Direct URL to the asset </link> <guid> The asset's own ID. Paste the URL again </guid> <pubDate> Wed, Nov 27, 2013 15:17:32 GMT 
(Note: the date must be entered in this format) </pubDate> <description> Content description. </description> </item>

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/b/b9/1650234-11.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-11.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https:// www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/b/b9/1650234-11.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-11.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,” bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div>”}

Close the tag at the end of the feed. After importing all the items, you need to close the <rss> and <channel> tags before saving the file. Here’s an example of a sample feed with three items:

 <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <rss version= "2.0" > <channel> <title> My Cop Blog </title> <link> http://www.yourwebsite.com / </link> <description> My latest cop articles </description> <item> <title> Article 3 </title> <link> example.com/3 </link> <guid> example.com/3 </ guid> <pubDate> Wed, 27 Nov 2013 13:20:00 GMT </pubDate> <description> My newest article. </description> </item> <item> <title> Article 2 </title> <link> example.com/2 </link> <guid> example.com/2 </guid> <pubDate> Tue, 26 Nov 2013 12:15:12 GMT </pubDate> <description> My second article. </description> </item> <item> <title> Article 1 </title> <link> example.com/1 </link> <guid> example.com/1 </guid> <pubDate> Mon, 25 Nov 2013 15:10:45 GMT </pubDate> <description> My first article. </description> </item> </channel> </rss>

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/e/e5/1650234-12.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-12.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https:// www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/e/e5/1650234-12.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-12.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,” bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div>”}

Save file. Once created, save the feed as an XML file. Click File and select Save As. On the file type menu, select All Files. Change the extension from .TXT to .XML and name the file the same as the header of the feed. Make sure the filename has no spaces.

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/7/79/1650234-13.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-13.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https:// www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/7/79/1650234-13.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-13.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,” bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div>”}

Publish the feed. Now you can proceed to upload the XML file to the website. Use an FTP program or cPanel to put the XML file on the website homepage. You must create a link to the XML file so people can sign up.

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/7/7a/1650234-14.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-14.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https:// www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/7/7a/1650234-14.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-14.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,” bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div>”}

Contribute feeds. Once the feed has been uploaded online, you can start spreading links across multiple Feed Directories pages. Look online for directories that match the feed’s topic. Regularly spreading the feed all over the network will significantly increase website traffic.

With playlists of music, you can submit feeds to iTunes. As such, iTunes users will find this feed through the iTunes store. See more online about how to send XML files to iTunes. This file will be moderated before appearing in search results.

{“smallUrl”:”https://www.wikihow.com/images_en/thumb/9/99/1650234-15.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-15.jpg”,”bigUrl”:”https:// www.wikihow.com/images/thumb/9/99/1650234-15.jpg/v4-728px-1650234-15.jpg”,”smallWidth”:460,”smallHeight”:345,”bigWidth”:728,” bigHeight”:546,”licensing”:”<div class=”mw-parser-output”></div>”}

Update feed. If you create and maintain your RSS feed manually, it will need to be updated every time there is new content to publish. To proceed, open the latest version of the XML file in a text editor and add the new content to the top of the list using the code above. You can then save the file and upload it again to the website.

Try to keep the feed not too long. This will help shorten the page load time of the reader. When you add new content to the feed, remove the last entry. If you prefer to add new entries to the top of the list, you can quickly remove the last entry to keep the feed concise.

Warning

You need to double check the tags when using Dreamweaver or similar web design programs. Sometimes Dreamweaver may remove tags that appear repeatedly. All tags must be appropriate and in place for an RSS feed to be valid.

Steps

By software to create RSS

Write your own feed

Warning

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