Hi There - In thinking conceptually about the comparisons of a blog vs. an RSS/XML feed I cannot really see the difference. If the RSS is updated regularly and has been submitted to the RSS and Blog engines and also has an html version of the document, would a blog be more effective in improving a websites' positioning or is an RSS feed just as good keeping in mind the RSS is regularly updated. If I end up getting a blog service, what would you recommend. I would want it to resolve to the clients domain and be able to run on a php server. I am looking at different blogs, but just thought I would put this out there for some feedback. Thanks so much!! Also, Happy 2008. -Beth :)

RSS is short for "Really Simple Syndication" and RSS is coded in XML.

RSS is XML but XML may or may not be RSS because XML can also be used for other things, like "xml sitemaps" for example.

RSS is a format for syndicating content that updates regularly like a blog or news. As previously mentioned a blog or "web log" is a website where authors can post information of various sorts. Because a blog is updated regularly, most "Blog platforms" (blog software installed on a site) produce their own RSS feeds in XML.

In answer to your question, which is better a Blog or RSS Feed?
Neither one but, most blogs produce RSS feeds in XML. Why not have it all and go with a blog and/or blogging platform on your site, that has both? It's best to put your blog on the root of your domain in a folder named "blog".

Some sites to check out and blogging platforms to consider are Blogger.com, WordPress.com, TypePad.com and/or other.

Hope that helps and best of luck to you!

:)

Thanks! But wouldn't that be in a sense a duplication of content i.e. static webpages and blog entries? :)

I'm not sure what you mean, there would be no static pages? :confused:

There is no real static "HTML" version of an RSS page in XML. Rather the XML appears to be HTML due to XSLT, AJAX, aggregator, feed reader and/ or other. Either way, it's a good idea to include a link back to the source in your feed.

Google's Googlebot for feeds is called, Feedfetcher. Feedfetcher obtains content from feeds subscribed to by users in iGoogle and Google Reader either of which also support searching for feeds.

As far as duplicate blog page vs it's own associated RSS feed, Google prevents RSS feeds in XML from appearing in their SERPs.

As far as duplicate content issues between blog homepage and category/post page, each blogging platform can have different issues if not setup properly. I'd pick a platform and come back!

I know how confusing all this can be, does this all make sense?

:)

When preparing an XML feed, I was advised to create a static html webpage for the feed as well. I am pretty sure that you have to do this for the readers to display the content properly. This said, if I create a blog that has the same content as the webpage url that is associated with the xml document, wouldn't that be considered duplicative content on a website and devalue a sites' search engine ranking positions. Perhaps it would be best just to create the blog and forget the xml. Perhaps I should pick a blog that does not offer xml feeds? Either way, it would be my feeling that in terms of search engine saturation i.e. the more webpages on a website, the (slightly) higher a site will rank on the search engines. In looking at sites search engine ranking positions with blogs rather than the RSS/XML feeds, it would be my feeling that the sites with the RSS feeds rank more highly. The ones with the blogs are slipping down. That is just from a review in my market place. Anyway, any additional feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks so much!! :)

When preparing an XML feed, I was advised to create a static html webpage for the feed as well.

Why would you create a static page for something designed to change?

I am pretty sure that you have to do this for the readers to display the content properly.
If that were the case which one would they display, the xml RSS feed or the static html webpage? Which one would you update first? Why make more work?

This said, if I create a blog that has the same content as the webpage url that is associated with the xml document, wouldn't that be considered duplicative content on a website and devalue a sites' search engine ranking positions.

A Blog page is a webpage with a URL. RSS feeds in XML are not included in SERPS.


Perhaps it would be best just to create the blog and forget the xml.

Most blogs automatically include RSS feeds in XML.


Either way, it would be my feeling that in terms of search engine saturation i.e. the more webpages on a website, the (slightly) higher a site will rank on the search engines.

Yes, content is very good!


In looking at sites search engine ranking positions with blogs rather than the RSS/XML feeds, it would be my feeling that the sites with the RSS feeds rank more highly.

Chances are the blogs you see have RSS feeds that your browser detects but, that you may not see.

For all you want to know about RSS see:
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rss/rss.html

--------------------------
Examples:

Matt Cutts is head of Google's Webspam team, check out his personal blog http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/
here are his feeds:
http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/feed/
http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/feed/rss/

Here is Google's blog:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/
Here is the RSS feed for Google's Blog:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/MKuf

Here is SearchEngineWatch's Blog
http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/
Here are SEW's RSS feeds:
http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=sew_feeds

You can view SEW's RSS via:
- Google
http://www.google.com/ig/add?feedurl=http%3A//feeds.searchenginewatch.com/sewforums
- Yahoo
http://e.my.yahoo.com/config/cstore?.opt=content&.page=&.url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds%2Esearchenginewatch%2Ecom% 2Fsewforums
- FeedBurner
http://feeds.searchenginewatch.com/sewforums



:)

I had some emails with Danny S. years ago and the SEW blog has been developed in a custom format. Link expert Eric W. said the way to do the RSS was to create an html document to go with it. In looking at the various readers, even Matt Cutt's blog, there is always an html document that is associate with the RSS feed. Again, still helping with more pages. Anyway, let's keep this chat going. Can you give another example of a site with an RSS feed that does not have an html document associated with the post? Maybe that would help with my understanding. Thanks so much. I do appreciate it.

Can you post links to your examples and what you are reading? SEW's RSS feeds are pretty standard. That said, almost all blogs are customized in some way. Matt's blog is WordPress and creates dynamic pages with associated RSS the same as other WordPress blogs.

Hi There - I am wondering, if I already have an RSS feed setup for a website, should I also consider setting up a wordpress blog? As long as the content is unique would this be o.k.? Also, do you know if the setup of the url to reside at the domain and the customization of the blog is difficult. I can probably figure it out, but don't want to get in over my head. Thanks for your advise. I really appreciate it. -Beth :)

No problem Beth, always happy to help!:)

A blog is never a bad idea and it's RSS would only reflect content posted in the blog. For several reasons including branding and security, it's best not to put your blog on the root but rather in a folder on the root. Matt offered a number of suggestions at wordcamp last year.
http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/whitehat-seo-tips-for-bloggers/

As far as the URL you would want to do a simple rewrite and WordPress directions are provided on WordPress's website.

If you are able to code html, css, some php and perhaps know a little photoshop, customization is simple enough. Be sure to check out links in Matt's post above for plugins to make customization easier.

Also wanted to mention the following when it comes to "duplicate content":

"Syndicate carefully: If you syndicate your content on other sites, Google will always show the version we think is most appropriate for users in each given search, which may or may not be the version you'd prefer. However, it is helpful to ensure that each site on which your content is syndicated includes a link back to your original article. You can also ask those who use your syndicated material to block the version on their sites with robots.txt...."

"Duplicate content on a site is not grounds for action on that site unless it appears that the intent of the duplicate content is to be deceptive and manipulate search engine results. If your site suffers from duplicate content issues, and you don't follow the advice listed above, we do a good job of choosing a version of the content to show in our search results..."

- http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=66359

Hi There - I have gotten two blogs setup in wordpress. Thank you for all of your help!! :) I was wondering will Google include blog entries for a site in their index? Wordpress and http://urbangiraffe.com/plugins/headspace2/

both have plugins so that you can add Titles, descriptions and keywords, etc. for the blog entries.

but .. if Google won't include the blog entries, perhaps these plugins are necessary, just wondering?

I think this might have been sort of answered in this thread, but I am just a little unclear :confused:

i.e. You had indicated that "Google's Googlebot for feeds is called, Feedfetcher. Feedfetcher obtains content from feeds subscribed to by users in iGoogle and Google Reader either of which also support searching for feeds."


Thanks so much in advance. -Beth

Sure Beth, happy to help!

There are blogs and there are RSS feeds in XML produced by blogging platforms.


For the purpose of this illustration, common blogging platforms produce primarily two different things:


1. blog (content output = php, html, css, javascript, jpg, mpeg, others)


2. rss aka "feed" (content output = xml)



Point being, blogs and feeds are two different things although they are in some ways they are related in this case because blogs can be set to produce feeds.

In answer to your questions:
Blogs are included in Google as well as Google Blog Search. What is not included in Google SERPs are RSS feeds in XML that are produced by the blog. Also, technically blogs aren't picked up by Feedfetcher to my knowledge but their RSS feeds in XML are when subscribed to by users in iGoogle and/or Reader. (key to RSS / Feedfetcher is subscribers)

The plugins you mentioned seem to be designed for other blogging platforms and not Google's Blogger unless otherwise stated. I've never tried to use a WordPress plugin with Blogger so I don't know what would happen. I suspect nothing would happen and that the plugin wouldn't work unless designed for Blogger.

Either way, plugins that customize the TITLE, meta description and keywords are more designed for organic optimization and wouldn't have much impact on RSS feeds in XML unless stated.

To be included in Google Blog Search:
http://blogsearch.google.com/
Submit your blog URL to:
http://blogsearch.google.com/ping

To help Feedfetcher find your RSS feed in XML you would want to "subscribe" in your iGoogle account or Google Reader account and you would want to encourage other to do the same possibly by offering users the means to do so via Google icon or text link. I would also suggest Feedburner.com which is owned by Google and offers options to help advertise your feeds.

Hope that helps and sorry if I seem vague on plugins but there are tons and tons available and they are constantly being updated as well as offering new options. It's nearly impossible to keep up with all the plugins being offered what they do and updates for each version.

:)

Thanks!! :)