Many websites and blogs are constantly updated with articles or announcements, so much so that it becomes quite difficult for readers to keep up with everything, especially when they’re trying to follow multiple sites. One solution is for the site administrator to set up a way for readers to subscribe to an RSS (really simple syndication) feed. For this, the reader must first be familiar with how feeds work and like to follow information through a feed reader.
However, feed readers are complicated to set up and aren’t that popular anymore. Readers would much rather get updates in their email, so that they can keep track of them on the move.
In this article, we’d like to show you several ways to send your site’s daily RSS in email format. We will be sharing several methods push updates via RSS by email and follow each method with a list of possible services or tools, making it possible.
1. Through the website CMS itself
Many CMS’s (CMS stands for “Content Management System; software that helps site administrators manage content) have integrated methods to allow readers to subscribe to RSS by email, while others have plugins developed by third parties making it possible. Some blogging services that allow you to send RSS by email are:
- Posterous
- Tumblr (if reader registers on site)
- WordPress.com
This handy plugin enables you to send full HTML posts from your RSS in email format to subscribers. In addtion to that, your readers can also get email notifications when you’ve updated your site through this plugin.
2. Through RSS services
There are services out there that can take your RSS feed and make it into an email subscription form for you, no real fuss. You just sign up for their service, enter your RSS feed (sometimes just your site’s address will do and they’ll find the feed for you), and then all you need to do is grab the code and enter in your site. There are several services that major in this:
- Feedburner (owned by Google)
- Feedmyinbox (no signups needed, just enter your feed address and grab code)
Many, but not all, newsletter services offer the ability to send your site’s RSS in email format and in properly designed template as well (take TheDailyBuggle’s newsletter, for example). This way all you need to do is set up the newsletter template, provide a feed link and publish away. Many of them also offer the ability to modify the email schedule. Many other handy features usually accompany a newsletter service. Check out this short list:
- Aweber (not free but loaded with a lot of flexibility – the defacto choice for many big-time bloggers)
- MailChimp (free up to 2,000 subscribers and 12,000 monthly emails – also is feature rich making it one of the best, free options for bloggers and gorilla marketers)
- Nourish (a free service up to 1,000 monthly emails)
In this article, we’ve listed three methods of getting your site’s daily RSS feed out to your readers’ email inboxes: built in CMS ability, several RSS services, and finally a few newsletter services. I hope one of these solutions will work for you.
If you happen to know of any more services that are able to send RSS in email format, please feel free to mention in the comments any solution you feel we have missed.
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