FeedBurner used to be one of the most popular tools used by WordPress admins to burn their RSS feeds. People were using it because it was free, but it was also offering a powerful system that couldn’t be turned down. FeedBurner was providing user statistics, feed publication, feed optimization, and much more.
Even if lately FeedBurner has lost some of its popularity, there are still enough users who end up trying it out. If you also want to set up FeedBurner for WordPress, here is a step-by-step guide that will show you how to do it properly.
Why bloggers should use FeedBurner
As you know, FeedBurner is a free service, but it also comes with some cool features that are worth exploring:
- You will get statistics about the RSS subscribers, which can help you optimize your posts
- Your users will have multiple options to subscribe to your blog such as emails, other feed-readers (Google, Netvibes, etc.), and many more
- You will have a social proof which will count your subscribers
- It offers the possibility to customize your feeds, like branding, modifying post headings, and other options
- You can ping various feed-reading services every time you publish a new article
- You can integrate Google Adsense in order to monetize your RSS feeds
How to set up FeedBurner for WordPress
If you want to sign up for FeedBurner you need to use your Google account (the Gmail account works perfectly), so if you don’t have one please create one now. The first step is to visit the FeedBurner service page and start the process.
You need to begin with the link of your WordPress site feed, which needs to be typed in the special form. Your link should be like: yourname.com/feed/
The next step is to choose the title for your Feed. The best thing you can do is to keep the same name as your blog. It also has to be short and easy to remember. Click the Next button and finish the process.
Now your feeds should be created and you don’t need to follow any other steps. Just click on Sky and go to the Feed Management.
A new page will open and you will see a link with a lot of blogging platforms. Just ignore them and click on the optimize tab you will see on the screen.
Continue the process by optimizing your WordPress blog feed. Activate the Browser Friendly option, activate the Smart Feed and the FeedFlare. You can activate other options as well, but these three are vital.
In the next step, check the publicize options for feed. Make sure you allow Email Subscription for your page, for the users who prefer it. Also, sign up for Google Adsense to monetize your feed and start earning money.
When you finish all these steps, click on the Analyze tab. Allow it 24 hours to record stats. Check it later and see what your visitors prefer to read and share on your blog.
Integrate FeedBurner into WordPress.