Beginners Guide To Using
RSS Feeds at Squidoo
This is where we talk about how to add an RSS feed to your Squidoo lens, but before that...
What is RSS? - A very simple explanation
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and it allows you to add content from other websites to your lens, by doing nothing more complicated than copying & pasting a single line of code into your Squidoo lens.
Lensmasters appreciate RSS because the content from the other site is automatically updated on your lens whenever it changes at the source site. Lovely piece of work indeed.
Why use RSS feeds?
1. New fresh content is added to your lens frequently, without you doing a thing. Search engine spiders love fresh content.
2. Squidoo won't even list your lens until you have 4 or more modules. That is, 4 blocks of information on your page. Writing several short articles is one way to achieve that. Adding an RSS feed is an easier way. I recommend both.
Where do you get RSS feeds from?
Today almost every publisher & blogger provides a feed expressly so you can publish their content on your site. Look for the orange XML rectangles or the more recent square orange RSS logos, and click on them. They are RSS feeds. Just copy these URLs (web addresses) into your lens -- details coming right up.
If you're stuck and all you want is to add something relevant to your lens, then here is the code for a Yahoo News feed about Seth Godin, the creator of Squidoo:
http://jeremy.zawodny.com/ynews-search-rss.php?q=seth+godin&go=go
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There's more to Squidoo success than RSS.Dont leave home without it! |
How to add RSS feed into your lens?
Step 1. Login to your Squidoo account. Click on 'Edit this lens'.
Step 2. Click on 'Add Modules'. Click on 'RSS: Add your own feed'.
Step 3 (Optional). If you want to move the new module up from the bottom of the page, click on 'Preview Lens Layout' and when the page reloads hover your cursor over the new module, left click to grab it and then drag it upwards. When it's where you want it, release your mouse.
Step 4. Click Save.
Step 5. Scroll down your lens again. You are still in edit mode, so find the new RSS module you just added and click on Edit. Write a title. Your title should include your main (primary) keywords. In the URL panel, paste this:
http://jeremy.zawodny.com/ynews-search-rss.php?q=seth+godin&go=go
A quick look at that code shows you that you can add a 3rd word by doing this at the end of the line: +godin+newword&go=go
And of course, you can change the words it's pulling up news for.
I will let you experiment with the other options. See what each of them does. Anytime that you are not sure of what to select, use the default settings - that's a good rule of thumb with computers.
For frequency of updates, I often use either 6 hours or 12 hours. Because I want a frequently updated lens.
Step 6. Click Save.
Step 7. If you want to chane what you see or try the other options, click on Edit again (as in step 5). Continue experimenting until you're happy. Then scroll to the top of the page and click Publish. When the page refreshes, click on 'View this page' to see your handiwork.
How hard was that?
You have just produced a lens (a website) that gets automatically
updated with fresh content every 6 or 12 hours. Nice work.
Come back tomorrow and add something new to your lens.
By the way, since you are interested in how to succeed with Squidoo, I have a FREE email series you might like. You'll get my tips on how to improve your lensrank, how to generate traffic with Squidoo and how to make money with Squidoo.
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