How to Create Custom RSS Feeds to Monitor Online Reputation
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds are an easy-to-use Internet tool that lets you browse new and old pages on a website. You can create custom RSS feeds to monitor your online reputation and make it easier to watch many sites for new posts.
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Instructions
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Check to see if your primary web browser supports the viewing of RSS feeds. Almost every browser has adapted to easily use these feeds, so you may just need to update to the latest version if you cannot see RSS feeds on your program.
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Go to the "Bookmarks" pull-down menu in your Internet browser and select the option that lets you organize or manage your bookmarks. Create a new folder and call it something like "RSS Reputation feeds."
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Navigate to each blog in your watch list and look for the orange RSS symbol with the white waves. Click on this icon and the feed should appear in your browser. Choose the "Live Bookmarks" option and then save it into your new folder.
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Click on the "Bookmarks" pull-down menu again and select your custom RSS feed folder. Notice how the menu expands so that you can then select each website individually. Scroll over a website and you will be able to see each entry displayed with the page's title.
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Periodically go through your custom RSS feed to see if new posts need attention to help manage your online reputation. Some sites also allow you to subscribe via email so that you don't even have to check the RSS feeds.
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Use your account with certain sites to create custom RSS feeds so that you can monitor your online reputation from any computer. Several email providers offer this option to their members, like Yahoo! and Google (see Resources below). Some of these sites offer expanded options like custom feeds that search the news media for keywords related to your company.
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Ask bloggers to add RSS feeds to their pages if they don't already have them. The service is free, very easy to set up and you don't need to tell them what you're using the RSS feed for.
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Tips & Warnings
Once you've tracked down relevant sites and posts with your RSS feeds, you still need to post comments or address issues in your own blog to manage your online reputation.
There are external programs that can watch RSS feeds for you and they may make it easier to navigate through many bookmarks to monitor your reputation.
