A brand identity designer with clients around the world.


What RSS are you?

Published on January 29th, 2007 Read the 9 comments »

RSS icon

Tom at NothingVentured.org says I have a big and beautiful RSS icon. How about you?

I’ve seen blogs that change the colour of their feed icon, crop it, and develop their own to try and stand out, but orange is the blogosphere’s recognised colour, so best not to confuse your readers by ‘hiding’ it with what you think is being clever. You want people to see it and subscribe, so make it obvious.

If you want to learn more about RSS feeds, Yahoo have created a nice Publisher’s Guide to RSS. It contains info on promoting your feed and tracking success.

I run my RSS through Feedburner. Simple to set up, free, and there are some stats in there too.

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9 appreciated comments on “What RSS are you?”

  1. J David, on January 29th, 2007 //

    Yeah, I think I am one of those people that does not make my RSS feed obvious enough. I am thinking about adding one of those really huge icons somewhere up nice and high on my site.

  2. Chris, on January 30th, 2007 //

    I have a huge icon on Blog-Op, but it was coloured green by the theme designer. I like it, but you make a valid point.

    I wish I knew the best way to attract RSS subscribers: I use a feed search myself, but some people click on the icon, some choose the text…

    FeedBurner is excellent. :-)

  3. David Airey, on January 31st, 2007 //

    I noticed your green RSS icon Chris. Sure, it ties in with the site and blends with your colour scheme, but do you really want it to blend? If it stands out it’s easier to spot.

    The bright orange can really clash with some colours but it’s a sacrafice I’d be willing to make if it meant an increase in subscribers.

  4. sujan patel, on February 1st, 2007 //

    David, great post

    Chris, I was using the same icon one of my blogs before and i switched to the standard orange icon and it made a huge difference in my subscribers. I recommend all my readers to use the standard icon.

  5. David Airey, on February 2nd, 2007 //

    Sujan, I remember the post you made referring to RSS icons. It was a good read, and one that stuck in my mind.

  6. Ian Moore, on February 5th, 2007 //

    i would be the brown coloured one cause it attarcts people with a natural vibe and thats is whats really needed in this lose canon world. back to nature or see ye planet. Yeet

  7. DT, on February 6th, 2007 //

    heheh, quite true. I turn mine into blue. Well I hope the symbol is clear enough. Anyways I might turn it back to the orange. I’ve always liked orange.

    Thanks and please keep intouch.

  8. David Airey, on February 6th, 2007 //

    DT, I actually think the standard RSS orange would nicely compliment the shade of blue you use.

    You have a good subscriber base and it would be interesting to know if your figures improve at a faster rate with an icon that stands out more.

    Thanks for commenting.

  9. ilker, on February 11th, 2007 //

    Fantastic! This reminds me of Andy Warhol.

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