Full RSS or Summary Feed
Full RSS or Summary Feed
*** Full RSS feeds are better than summary feeds. ***
Why?
I can answer that only from the perspective of a skimmer and scanner. When I browse through my RSS feeds, I'm first looking for titles that draw my interest. If your title doesn't make me want to read I scroll right past it. But that doesn't necessarily mean you have a bad title, not every title is going to make everybody want to read. There are just a lot of things that I don't care about and many feeds I read don't always have posts that strike my particular fancy.
Once I see a title that makes me think I might want to read on, well, then I start skimming through the post. I might read a few of the first sentences and then start skipping down to link text, headings, boldings, and use those to create a judgment of whether I should take time to actually read the full post.
*** Summaries don't have eye appeal ***
What? Your summary feed doesn't have headings, boldings, bullets or anything else that catches my eye? Well, you better hope that your first few sentences really grab me. And I mean I really have to be convinced to click through. It's a mental thing really. I don't mind clicking if I know I want to read something, but not if I just think I might want to read it. The summary may be partially convincing, but not totally. I'm then forced to move away from my primary screen to another screen because I think I might be interested. You're making me think to hard.
Countless times, after reading a summary, I've been on the edge. I think I'm interested, but not entirely sure. Do I click or do I keep scanning available blog posts. Sometimes I opt for the former, wishing I opted for the latter. Now, more times than not, now, I opt for the latter. If the summary isn't entirely convincing I won't click.
It's a shame really because there are probably some decent insights in there somewhere. But you hid them all behind a not-so-telling summary. Or heck, maybe your summary was dead on and your information just isn't my cup of tea... if you had a full feed I still might have gleaned a little something of value from your insight.
Are you missing anything by providing a full feed? Sure, you got the click, right? Your traffic numbers go up and maybe you can sell your ad space for a few cents more this month from last... but there is not always value in it for me, which means there is often no real value in it for you.
Do you want to be read or do you want to be visited? Do you want people to hear what you have to say or do you just want your page numbers to go up? Do your yourself a favor, provide a full feed. You'll be less likely to lose subscribers and you'll definitely gain more readers.
Full RSS or Summary Feed - To learn more about this author, visit Stoney G deGeyter's Website.
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I'm not the first one to chime in on this topic, mostly because I've gone both ways and I can make pretty valid arguments from either side. But I've finally settled it in my mind which is "best".
*** Full RSS feeds are better than summary feeds. ***
Why?
I can answer that only from the perspective of a skimmer and scanner. When I browse through my RSS feeds, I'm first looking for titles that draw my interest. If your title doesn't make me want to read I scroll right past it. But that doesn't necessarily mean you have a bad title, not every title is going to make everybody want to read. There are just a lot of things that I don't care about and many feeds I read don't always have posts that strike my particular fancy.
Once I see a title that makes me think I might want to read on, well, then I start skimming through the post. I might read a few of the first sentences and then start skipping down to link text, headings, boldings, and use those to create a judgment of whether I should take time to actually read the full post.
*** Summaries don't have eye appeal ***
What? Your summary feed doesn't have headings, boldings, bullets or anything else that catches my eye? Well, you better hope that your first few sentences really grab me. And I mean I really have to be convinced to click through. It's a mental thing really. I don't mind clicking if I know I want to read something, but not if I just think I might want to read it. The summary may be partially convincing, but not totally. I'm then forced to move away from my primary screen to another screen because I think I might be interested. You're making me think to hard.
Countless times, after reading a summary, I've been on the edge. I think I'm interested, but not entirely sure. Do I click or do I keep scanning available blog posts. Sometimes I opt for the former, wishing I opted for the latter. Now, more times than not, now, I opt for the latter. If the summary isn't entirely convincing I won't click.
It's a shame really because there are probably some decent insights in there somewhere. But you hid them all behind a not-so-telling summary. Or heck, maybe your summary was dead on and your information just isn't my cup of tea... if you had a full feed I still might have gleaned a little something of value from your insight.
Are you missing anything by providing a full feed? Sure, you got the click, right? Your traffic numbers go up and maybe you can sell your ad space for a few cents more this month from last... but there is not always value in it for me, which means there is often no real value in it for you.
Do you want to be read or do you want to be visited? Do you want people to hear what you have to say or do you just want your page numbers to go up? Do your yourself a favor, provide a full feed. You'll be less likely to lose subscribers and you'll definitely gain more readers.
Full RSS or Summary Feed - To learn more about this author, visit Stoney G deGeyter's Website.
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
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