Most sites on the web were built before the invasion of the wordpress blogging platform was in general use. Using a html editor created functional and beautiful sites. However they do not provide for the ease of traffic generation that a wordpress blogging platform provides.
The wordpress platform allows for more social traffic in many ways. Three of which are:
1) The use of automatic pinging when new posts are made to the blog.
2) Provides a continuously updated rss feed for visitors to add to their favorite feed readers such as Google, Yahoo and Bloglines, inviting returning visitor traffic.
3) Automatic updating of the rss (really simple syndication) feeds that can be submitted to rss feed directories.
Meanwhile, sites created with html editors, static page sites or adsense template sites, have become the poor cousin to the blogging sites when it comes to traffic generation.
It is not that these sites cannot achieve the traffic generating results of the wordpress blogging platform. They can, but it will require more knowledge and more work to achieve the same result. For example, how do you acquire rss traffic when a static or adsense template site cannot generate a rss feed automatically? Simple answer, create a rss feed manually.
It may sound like a daunting task, at first, but keep reading. Its as simple as basic html, with the use of open and close tags.
Basic html code:
XXhtmlXY
XXheadXY
XXtitleXYINSERT TITLE HEREXX/titleXY
XX/headXY
XXbodyXYINSERT BODY CONTENT HEREXX/bodyXY
XX/htmlXY
Go to any blog, click on the rss icon and take a look at the rss feed structure. It should look like this:
XXrss version=”0.91″XY
-
XXchannelXY
XXtitleXYINSERT RSS FEED TITLE HEREXX/titleXY
XXlinkXYhttp://www.YOURSITEURLHEREXX/linkXY
XXdescriptionXYINSERT RSS FEED DESCRIPTION HEREXX/descriptionXY
XXlanguageXYen-usXX/languageXY
-
XXitemXY
XXtitleXYINSERT ITEM TITLE HEREXX/titleXY
XXlinkXYhttp://www.YOURSITEURLHEREXX/link>XY
XXdescriptionXYINSERT ITEM DESCRIPTION HEREXX/descriptionXY
XX/itemXY
XX/channelXY
XX/rssXY
If you would prefer a little automation then Internet.com has a great free tool, just search for ‘channel editor” on their site or go to:
http://www.webreference.com/cgi-bin/perl/rssedit.pl. This tool will generate the out put you need.
Creating a rss feed is simple and easy once you understand the structure. Now you can see the potential for your static and adsense template websites. Copy the above code or what you automatically generated into notepad and save as whatever name you would like for your feed page name. Upload this text file to your site folder and rename the .txt extension to .rss.
That is all. You now have a rss feed for your static site. In part 2 of this article, you will learn what comes next and what you need to do with the rss feed you just created to drive more traffic to your static web pages and adsense template sites using rss feeds.
Now you will need to edit your home page to link directly to your rss page. The optional use of a rss icon of your choice will help your readers easily find your feed. Copy and paste the code below for linking from your home page to your rss page. Add the code to your home page where you want the link to your rss feed to appear.
Xa href=”http://www.FULL-URL-TO-FEED.rss”YXimg src=”http://www.FULL-URL-TO-ICON-USED”border=”0″ width=”SIZE” height=”SIZE”YX/aY
Do not forget to upload your icon to your site folder. If you decide not to use an icon with your rss feed, then use the code below:
Xa href=”http://www.FULL-URL-TO-FEED.rss”YGET RSS FEED HERE X/aY
That is it. The information this far has shown you how to create your own rss feed for all your static and Adsense template web pages. You should now have your rss feed uploaded to your site and it should be accessible to your visitors from your home page. Not difficult at all.
A couple of points to mention:
1) Try to use only 10-12 items in your rss feeds. The point is to generate interest and traffic back to your site, not to bombard the readers with everything you have on your site, at least not all at once.
2) Keep your rss feed up to date by editing the code with your latest content. Use the code below to insert the new item below the close language tag and above the last updated item in your feed.
-
XitemY
XtitleY INSERT ITEM TITLE HERE X/titleY
XlinkY http://www.YOURSITENAMEHERE X/linkY
XdescriptionY INSERT ITEM DESCRIPTION HERE X/descriptionY
X/itemY
Remove the last item from the bottom of your feed if it puts the 10-12 item limit. Remember to replace all the capitalized text in the code with your own information.
Now that you have your feed set up on your site, start submitting your feed to feed directories. Here are a few to get you started:
http://www.feedage.com
http://www.myfeedz.com
http://www.freefeedsdirectory.com
You can add images and other features such as ads into your feeds as well. For these and other more advanced techniques, just do a Google search for rss feed and this should bring up an abundance of information. If you want more rss feed directories, a simple Google search will help as well.
Creating a rss feed for your static web pages and Adsense template sites is simple once you know the process. Submitting your feed to feed directories about once a month will help to increase traffic to your site. Now it will be easier than ever to get traffic to your static html and Adsense template sites. Go ahead, create your rss feed now and let the traffic flow.