Google Feedburner - High Octane RSS Feeds

Google Feedburner provides the small business owner a method of powering up and managing website RSS feeds.

If you've never heard of Feedburner, you're in for a real treat. The service is 100% free and will allow you to track all your RSS subscriptions as well as build additional website traffic.

You need to already have an RSS set up before you use the Feedburner service. If you haven't set up an RSS Feed for your site yet, please read RSS Data Feed Essentials.

Once you have your RSS feed, you'll be ready to run it though Feedburner in order to use their optimization tools.

Analyzing Your RSS Feed

Google Feedburner gives you access to basic tracking and subscriber stats. You'll be able to view the following:

Number of feed subscribers
Page content viewed
Geographical location of subscribers
The RSS readers your subscribers are using to view the feed
Number of page views and clicks

Below is a screenshot showing basic subscriber and reach stats for a particular RSS feed.

Optimizing Your RSS Feed

Google Feedburner provides a rich toolset for RSS optimization. Here's a list of some of the more important optimization tools.

Feed consolidation (if you have multiple feeds)
Setting up Podcast feeds
Ability to include photos from Flickr or Buzznet
Publicizing your location using latitude and longitude Geotags
Visual formatting options for your feed
Social media integration
Ability to brand your feed by including your company logo
Easily change your feed title and subscription

Below is a screenshot showing options for changing the visual formatting of your feed.

Publicizing Your RSS Feed

Feedburner has a great toolset for publicizing your RSS feed. Below is a summary of the more important tools.

Create ads showing the most recent headlines from your feed
Tools for promoting your RSS feed on other websites
Ability to create email subscriptions for your RSS feed
Ability to "ping" RSS reader services when you post new content
Tools for promoting your feed circulation
Allowing others to distribute your content while retaining copyright privileges
Feed protection services

Below is a picture of my SmallBiz Blog showing how I have set up both a regular RSS feed and an Email subscription feed using Google Feedburner.

Monetizing Your RSS Feed

Because Google owns Feedburner, they have integrated the Adsense platform into the RSS feed creation for monetization purposes.

You can easily set up and integrate targeted Adsense ads within your feed. As people click the ads, you rack up profits. To activate Adsense within your feed, you simply create an Adsense account (or log into your existing one) and configure your ads.

Be sure not to overdo it. While this is a very simple way to monetize your RSS feed, adding lots of adsense ads might get visitors clicking the 'Unsubscribe' button. Less is definitely more in this case!

Troubleshooting Your RSS Feed

Feedburner features a report called "FeedMedic."

FeedMedic reports any general problems with your feed's technical validity or FeedBurner's ability to connect to your server. It's a quick and simple way to uncover any technical issues or problems with your feed.

Below is the screen you will see when your feed is healthy.

Conclusions and Final Recommendations

It's time to give your old wimpy XML feed a shot in the arm. Google Feedburner is the quickest and easiest way to do this.

All you need to get started is a free Google account, If you don't have one yet, click on the link below to get started.

Create a Google Feedburner Account

Once you have logged into your new (or existing) account, you'll see Google Feedburner listed in the "My Products" section. Click on the Feedburner link and follow the step-by-step instructions to transform your ordinary RSS into a high-powered marketing machine!