Site Feeds

Site Feeds

Site feeds have been around for years in one form or another, but their methodology is still morphing. Available in various forms, they are Eternally Helpful for large or frequently updated sites. Just as you may use a feed reader to be notified of your favorite blog or news topic, the search engines use site feeds to sit back and receive information from websites without sending spiders out to constantly gather, gather, gather. Feeds work well for regularly edited websites such as blogs and news sites (feeding the content of their daily posts), online sellers (feeding up-to-the-minute commercial information such as product descriptions and prices), and media-rich websites. You may also have heard of trusted feed or paid inclusion programs where search engines allow certain “trusted”—and, usually, paying—websites to send the engines regular updates. Generally, these types of listings get thrown into the mix with robot-gathered sites and have to fend for themselves, with no special status in the ranking algorithms.