How Can a RSS Filter Help a Blogger?

Bloggers fall into two categories; a blogger who writes about their personal experience and a blogger who writes about a niche market or specific expertise.  However, both bloggers share a similar characteristic:  “they like what they like.”  For those bloggers it’s important to stay up-to-speed on the things which interest them most.

With RSS becoming the main stream method of information gathering, RSS quickly becomes the main stream channel of information overload.  RSS allows a blogger or webmaster to receive the most current information from the sites they enjoy the most.  However, not all the information is relevant to the bloggers interests.  This is where a RSS filter or feed filter becomes an invaluable asset to the blogger.A feed filter service does the very obvious, filters a feed’s content to push through only the information which is important to the reader.  A feed filter works off keywords which act as a gatekeeper to what information reaches the subscriber.  There are several RSS filter websites such as www.filtermyrss.com, www.feedrinse.com and www.feedshake.com which provide free filter services.

Beyond the simple RSS filter service, have you ever thought about the additional benefits of using an RSS filter?

Using a feed filter gives you the ability to organize information and search for new sites to resource.  As I mentioned earlier, with RSS being the primary tool for information gathering it becomes an overload of information.  By taking out the items you don’t read, one doesn’t end up with hundred’s of unread articles - which didn’t pertain to your interests in the first place.  Running a clean feed reader means you’re more likely to continue sourcing additional feeds rather than feeling content (and probably overloaded).

Another advantage with using a feed filter is keeping up with your competition.  True, you probably already subscribe to your competition’s feed, but using the RSS filter help zero in on the topics which relate to you.  Through simple observation you can get a feel for how timely a website is about publishing new information.  If you observe some website have a one or two day delay on current news, this gives you the opportunity to post an article, send an email to other sites and transforms your blog into the “source” for those in your niche.

By reporting news and events before similar sites it increases a natural link back when these sites source your web material.  This ultimately builds bigger readership, branding and strong web presence in the blogisphere.

Another advantage with using a feed filter is the ability to republish the feed as html for a live-feed on ones site.  The advantage of filtering your source is again, to publish the specific information which your reader base is most interested in.  Web page real-estate is valuable and filling up a sidebar or dedicated page with feed information which isn’t relevant to the reader base is a misuse of assets.

With feed filters the bottom line is this:  You become more proficient in gathering information.  This develops a more focused blog.  The blog becomes more current and timely because your source information is spot-on for what you need.  So, whether you blog about personal interest or blog about specific topics adding a feed filter to your arsenal of tools can really help.

Mr. Morris developed and published a [http://www.filtermyrss.com]RSS filter service [http://www.filtermyrss.com/]FilterMyRSS to provide on-line services to bloggers and webmaster looking to stream line their information gather techniques.

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