What Is a Post Feed Footer in Blogger?
Blogger.com is Google's web publishing tool. By signing up for a free Google account, you get access to Blogger. After you sign up, you can choose your own web address -- which will end in "blogspot.com" -- and design, write and publish your own blog. One of Blogger's features is the Post Feed Footer, which you use if you publish your Blogger blog on a feed.
Post Feed Footer Defined
A "post feed footer" is exactly as it sounds: a message that appears at the end of each post on any feed linked to your Blogger.com site. For example, say you want to include a signature image or a link to your blog's home page with every post to your feed. You would type this information -- either using plain text or HTML code -- in the text box provided inside your Blogger.com settings menu. This information will now appear at the end of every post published from your Blogger.com account to your feed.
Examples Of Feeds
Just as Google operates Blogger.com, it also operates its own feed service: FeedBurner. By clicking on the "My Account" link at the top right corner of your Blogger homepage, you'll see an icon for FeedBurner. If you click on this link, you'll be able to sign up for free service that will publish your blog not only on your blogspot.com web address, but also to a subscription-based service readers can sign up for -- separate from your blog's URL. In addition to Google's FeedBurner service, there are also other types of feeds out there, such as RSS and Atom. All these feed services do essentially the same thing: expand the potential readership for your blog, both to readers and potential advertisers. Websites such as CNN, The New York Times and even Flickr publish feeds to increase their readership.
Creating Your Post Feed Footer
Before you create a post feed footer, you must first find this section inside your Blogger account. Start on your Blogger homepage. Click on the "Settings" link found underneath your blog's name. Next, click on the "Site Feed" tab. Scroll down to the bottom of this section, where you'll find a text box to insert your post feed footer. You can type anything you want in this box. It could be plain text, such as "Thank you for reading." It could be your name. It could be HTML, such as a link to your blog's URL. The content of this section is up to you. In order for others to see this post feed footer, you must first link your feed to your blog. After visiting the FeedBurner site and setting up your feed, you'll be given a redirect URL for your feed. Copy this web address, and paste it into the text box located directly above the post feed footer box inside the Site Feed section. Next, select "Full" from the "Allow Blog Feeds" drop-down box at the top of the Site Feed section. Finally, click on the "Archiving" and change the "Enable Post Feeds" setting to yes. Your blog is now ready to publish not only a feed, but the post footer as well.
Difference Between Post Feed Footer And Post Template
You may notice another text box inside the settings section on Blogger that looks similar to the post feed footer. This is the "Post Template." It's located at the very bottom of the "Formatting" tab. Just as with the post feed footer, you can include plain text or HTML inside this box. The difference comes between where this information is published. With the post template, whatever you type into this box will be used to create a template for all your future blog posts, so you could type in a text or HTML signature that would publish at the end of each and every published post. This content will not publish to your feed, so if you want to include that signature -- or any other information included in that template -- you'll have to copy it and paste it into the post feed footer text box.
Add a Custom Footer to Your Post Feed
Ever wonder how those big bloggers add a custom post feed footer and if you could create something similar on a blogger blog? Well you can and its super easy too.
By creating a custom post feed footer you can display your copyright information, advertise an upcoming event, link to other posts you think your readers may be interested in, provide links to documents and giveaways available only for feed subscribers and more.
It’s something very simple yet very effective in presenting a professional front without much upkeep. So without first ado, let’s create a post feed footer.
1. Go to your blogger dashboard and select “other” beneath the “settings” tab.
2. Type the text you would like to see in the feed footer in the box next to “post feed footer.” Be sure to use the html code
and
to begin and end each paragraph.
3. Select “save settings.”
That’s it. See, I told you that was simple. Now, the next time you send out a new feed post the text you included in the box above will appear at the bottom of the feed.
Want to know what it will look like on your feed before it is sent out? Copy the html code and text you put in the box above and paste it into the html code checker on Duketown. Select “show” and Duketown will show you the test exactly as it will appear on your feed. It’s great!
By the way, have you subscribed to Cornerstone Confessions’ RSS or e-mail feed yet? If not, I certainly hope you will do so. I will be giving a free gift to all my subscribers soon via a post feed footer link and you won’t want to miss out!
Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the LORD your God has blessed you.
RSS feed links allow your site readers to easily subscribe to your RSS feed. This feature is compatible with Google's Blogger service. Blogger has a built-in subscription widget that lets users add your site feed to their choice of feed reader. It also lets them access the raw XML feed if their feed reader isn't displayed.
Add a Footer to Your RSS Feed: 7 Practical Examples
Steven Snell
footerrssfeed.gif
The bottom of your RSS feed is valuable real estate. Some bloggers use this space effectively and some choose not to use it at all. Many of your subscribers will not read all the way to the bottom of your feed, but for those that do you can add to the value of the post be utilizing this space.
Different bloggers use this area for a very wide variety of purposes. There is no right or wrong method, so try to find one that you think will enhance your feeds the most. Here are some real-world examples of what you can do with the bottom of your RSS feed.
1. Sell Ad Space
If you are trying to monetize your blog, consider selling ads at the bottom of your feed. John Chow is a goog example. Each of his RSS feeds includes sponsored links at the bottom (be careful with how many ads you insert on your feed, though). John is the master of monetizing a blog, and this idea is no exception. An alternative to selling ad space is to use your own affiliate links at the bottom of feeds.
2. Special Bonuses for Subscribers
One proven method for increasing subscribers is to give away something of value as a gift or bonus to subscribers. Chris Garrett uses the bottom of his feeds to provide a link to his bonus e-book download. This way the subscribers are able to see the link and download the e-book, but it is not visible on the blog itself.
3. Include Copyright Information
Plagiarism is a serious problem for a lot of bloggers. You can help to discourage others from stealing your content by including the copyright information at the bottom of your feeds. If another blogger scrapes your feed your copyright info will show up on their blog (so be sure to include a link to your blog along with the copyright). This strategy is used by Daniel here at Daily Blog Tips.
4. Links to Other Articles on Your Blog
Your RSS subscribers are most likely interested in many of the other articles available on your blog; however, they’ve probably missed several of them. One method used by a lot of bloggers, including me on my own blog, is to use the bottom of feeds for linking to other posts that may interest subscribers. This may help to increase the number of subscribers that click through to your blog.
5. Provide Additional Author Information
Building credibility with your readers and helping them to feel more connected to you is critical if you want to build a large and responsive subscriber base. Andy Beard includes a picture of himself and some very brief information about his blog. This is an interesting idea that not many people are doing yet. Andy also includes links to other posts on his blog at the bottom of the feed (once again, be careful with how much information you insert, you do not want to clutter the RSS feed).
6. FeedBurner Ads
If you are a FeedBurner user you have the option of placing pay-per-click ads at the bottom of your feeds. The FeedBurner ad program is similar to other leading PPC programs like Google AdSense. Andy Beal of Marketing Pilgrim uses FeedBurner ads.
7. Contest Information
Contests are very popular right now among bloggers who are trying to gain some publicity and grow their subscriber base. One method is to run a contest that involves placing information at the bottom of your RSS feed that can be used by subscribers to win the contest. David Culpepper of PureBlogging recently ran a contest like this.
To see these examples in action you can subscribe to any of the blogs mentioned here.
Now that you have some examples of what you can do with the bottom of your feeds the next question you may be asking is…
How Do I Get Content to Appear at the Bottom of My Feeds?
WordPress users have a few different plugins to choose from. The options include:
RSS Signature (formerly known as sig2feed)
PostPost
Better Feed
Use any of these plugins to enhance your RSS feeds and make them more effective.
Blogger.com is Google's web publishing tool. By signing up for a free Google account, you get access to Blogger. After you sign up, you can choose your own web address -- which will end in "blogspot.com" -- and design, write and publish your own blog. One of Blogger's features is the Post Feed Footer, which you use if you publish your Blogger blog on a feed.
Post Feed Footer Defined
A "post feed footer" is exactly as it sounds: a message that appears at the end of each post on any feed linked to your Blogger.com site. For example, say you want to include a signature image or a link to your blog's home page with every post to your feed. You would type this information -- either using plain text or HTML code -- in the text box provided inside your Blogger.com settings menu. This information will now appear at the end of every post published from your Blogger.com account to your feed.
Examples Of Feeds
Just as Google operates Blogger.com, it also operates its own feed service: FeedBurner. By clicking on the "My Account" link at the top right corner of your Blogger homepage, you'll see an icon for FeedBurner. If you click on this link, you'll be able to sign up for free service that will publish your blog not only on your blogspot.com web address, but also to a subscription-based service readers can sign up for -- separate from your blog's URL. In addition to Google's FeedBurner service, there are also other types of feeds out there, such as RSS and Atom. All these feed services do essentially the same thing: expand the potential readership for your blog, both to readers and potential advertisers. Websites such as CNN, The New York Times and even Flickr publish feeds to increase their readership.
Creating Your Post Feed Footer
Before you create a post feed footer, you must first find this section inside your Blogger account. Start on your Blogger homepage. Click on the "Settings" link found underneath your blog's name. Next, click on the "Site Feed" tab. Scroll down to the bottom of this section, where you'll find a text box to insert your post feed footer. You can type anything you want in this box. It could be plain text, such as "Thank you for reading." It could be your name. It could be HTML, such as a link to your blog's URL. The content of this section is up to you. In order for others to see this post feed footer, you must first link your feed to your blog. After visiting the FeedBurner site and setting up your feed, you'll be given a redirect URL for your feed. Copy this web address, and paste it into the text box located directly above the post feed footer box inside the Site Feed section. Next, select "Full" from the "Allow Blog Feeds" drop-down box at the top of the Site Feed section. Finally, click on the "Archiving" and change the "Enable Post Feeds" setting to yes. Your blog is now ready to publish not only a feed, but the post footer as well.
Difference Between Post Feed Footer And Post Template
You may notice another text box inside the settings section on Blogger that looks similar to the post feed footer. This is the "Post Template." It's located at the very bottom of the "Formatting" tab. Just as with the post feed footer, you can include plain text or HTML inside this box. The difference comes between where this information is published. With the post template, whatever you type into this box will be used to create a template for all your future blog posts, so you could type in a text or HTML signature that would publish at the end of each and every published post. This content will not publish to your feed, so if you want to include that signature -- or any other information included in that template -- you'll have to copy it and paste it into the post feed footer text box.
Add a Custom Footer to Your Post Feed
Ever wonder how those big bloggers add a custom post feed footer and if you could create something similar on a blogger blog? Well you can and its super easy too.
By creating a custom post feed footer you can display your copyright information, advertise an upcoming event, link to other posts you think your readers may be interested in, provide links to documents and giveaways available only for feed subscribers and more.
It’s something very simple yet very effective in presenting a professional front without much upkeep. So without first ado, let’s create a post feed footer.
1. Go to your blogger dashboard and select “other” beneath the “settings” tab.
2. Type the text you would like to see in the feed footer in the box next to “post feed footer.” Be sure to use the html code
and
to begin and end each paragraph.
3. Select “save settings.”
That’s it. See, I told you that was simple. Now, the next time you send out a new feed post the text you included in the box above will appear at the bottom of the feed.
Want to know what it will look like on your feed before it is sent out? Copy the html code and text you put in the box above and paste it into the html code checker on Duketown. Select “show” and Duketown will show you the test exactly as it will appear on your feed. It’s great!
By the way, have you subscribed to Cornerstone Confessions’ RSS or e-mail feed yet? If not, I certainly hope you will do so. I will be giving a free gift to all my subscribers soon via a post feed footer link and you won’t want to miss out!
Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the LORD your God has blessed you.
RSS feed links allow your site readers to easily subscribe to your RSS feed. This feature is compatible with Google's Blogger service. Blogger has a built-in subscription widget that lets users add your site feed to their choice of feed reader. It also lets them access the raw XML feed if their feed reader isn't displayed.
1.
Log in to your Blogger admin panel, and then click on "Design."
2.
Click on "Page Elements" to display the page template.
3.
Scroll down to the footer and click on "Add a Gadget."
4.
Click on "Basics."
5.
Click on the "Plus" sign next to "Subscription Links." This adds the feed button to your Blogger post footer.
6.
Title the box, if desired. The default name is "Subscribe To." Click on "Save."
Steven Snell
footerrssfeed.gif
The bottom of your RSS feed is valuable real estate. Some bloggers use this space effectively and some choose not to use it at all. Many of your subscribers will not read all the way to the bottom of your feed, but for those that do you can add to the value of the post be utilizing this space.
Different bloggers use this area for a very wide variety of purposes. There is no right or wrong method, so try to find one that you think will enhance your feeds the most. Here are some real-world examples of what you can do with the bottom of your RSS feed.
1. Sell Ad Space
If you are trying to monetize your blog, consider selling ads at the bottom of your feed. John Chow is a goog example. Each of his RSS feeds includes sponsored links at the bottom (be careful with how many ads you insert on your feed, though). John is the master of monetizing a blog, and this idea is no exception. An alternative to selling ad space is to use your own affiliate links at the bottom of feeds.
2. Special Bonuses for Subscribers
One proven method for increasing subscribers is to give away something of value as a gift or bonus to subscribers. Chris Garrett uses the bottom of his feeds to provide a link to his bonus e-book download. This way the subscribers are able to see the link and download the e-book, but it is not visible on the blog itself.
3. Include Copyright Information
Plagiarism is a serious problem for a lot of bloggers. You can help to discourage others from stealing your content by including the copyright information at the bottom of your feeds. If another blogger scrapes your feed your copyright info will show up on their blog (so be sure to include a link to your blog along with the copyright). This strategy is used by Daniel here at Daily Blog Tips.
4. Links to Other Articles on Your Blog
Your RSS subscribers are most likely interested in many of the other articles available on your blog; however, they’ve probably missed several of them. One method used by a lot of bloggers, including me on my own blog, is to use the bottom of feeds for linking to other posts that may interest subscribers. This may help to increase the number of subscribers that click through to your blog.
5. Provide Additional Author Information
Building credibility with your readers and helping them to feel more connected to you is critical if you want to build a large and responsive subscriber base. Andy Beard includes a picture of himself and some very brief information about his blog. This is an interesting idea that not many people are doing yet. Andy also includes links to other posts on his blog at the bottom of the feed (once again, be careful with how much information you insert, you do not want to clutter the RSS feed).
6. FeedBurner Ads
If you are a FeedBurner user you have the option of placing pay-per-click ads at the bottom of your feeds. The FeedBurner ad program is similar to other leading PPC programs like Google AdSense. Andy Beal of Marketing Pilgrim uses FeedBurner ads.
7. Contest Information
Contests are very popular right now among bloggers who are trying to gain some publicity and grow their subscriber base. One method is to run a contest that involves placing information at the bottom of your RSS feed that can be used by subscribers to win the contest. David Culpepper of PureBlogging recently ran a contest like this.
To see these examples in action you can subscribe to any of the blogs mentioned here.
Now that you have some examples of what you can do with the bottom of your feeds the next question you may be asking is…
How Do I Get Content to Appear at the Bottom of My Feeds?
WordPress users have a few different plugins to choose from. The options include:
RSS Signature (formerly known as sig2feed)
PostPost
Better Feed
Use any of these plugins to enhance your RSS feeds and make them more effective.