Skip to content

More reason for full text vs. partial text feeds

More reason for full text feeds, as opposed to partial text feeds, in syndicating your blog content.

Many blog readers will not read blogs with partial text feeds. And this isn’t a ‘screw them’ type of thing. It’s a ‘if they don’t read your blog, you’re screwed’ type of thing.

Those choosing not to read your blog because of excerpt feeds are the influencers – the bloggers and main stream media, who by citing your content spread the word that you’re a reliable and trusted authority in your niche.

From Scoble:

Personally I hate partial text feeds. I’ve subscribed to a few of them…, but I notice I read a lot fewer of their items than I read items from, say, TechCrunch or Mashable, who offer full text feeds. And I link to them a LOT less……Out of, say, 1,000 people who are on the Internet, only a small percentage read a lot of feeds. Let’s say it’s 10%. That means only 100 out of any 1,000 people will read feeds and of those 100 people only a small fraction will bother with [excerpt feeds] .

The thing that partial texters are forgetting is that the other 900 people will find out about you from an influencer. Someone who will tell them. So, your traffic growth will be far slower if you only offer partial text feeds. Many of my friends who are journalists or bloggers just won’t deal with partial text feeds anymore. You certainly see that I link to mostly full text feeds on my link blog.

John Battelle’s of the same opinion. John, a leading blogger and head of Federated Media, found in an unscientific poll that with partial text feeds he’d ‘clearly be alienating at least a very vocal minority.’

For me, I want the ‘vocal’s’ on my side. They may be in the minority, but they’re the ones who virally spread the word across the net and in turn, into the main stream media.

The issue is not the vocal minority spreading the word that you’re bad by not having full text feeds. The issue is that they will not be reading your blog and they’ll not be mentioning you and your content to your target audience.

Related posts:
Full-text RSS feeds preferable to excerpt feeds
RSS subscribers not more likley to click to blog site using partial text feeds

Posted in: