RSS feeds on your Squidoo lens

[kevinw1]

Something I learned very recently - maybe here on the WF, but I can't find it again, so maybe not! - is that Google can't index the stuff in the regular RSS module because it's javascript.

A better way is to use the Google Blog Search module (Go into Add Modules, Search A-Z, under G). It's a bit awkward to get exactly the right blog posts to appear because you can't just enter the feed URL, you have to enter search terms that will bring up the right posts, but if you can get it working it's better from an SEO point of view.

Kevin

[thefluffanutta]

Originally Posted by kevinw1

Something I learned very recently - maybe here on the WF, but I can't find it again, so maybe not! - is that Google can't index the stuff in the regular RSS module because it's javascript.

This is indeed true, and has been for some time now. (I tweeted about it this week.) It's amazing how many articles are still cropping up that recommend using the RSS module for backlinks.

The RSS module is still good for getting traffic from your lens to your blog - some Lensmasters swear that just beneath the Introduction is the ideal location. (Make sure that you put a link to your blog in the module description to get a backlink.)

Originally Posted by kevinw1

A better way is to use the Google Blog Search module (Go into Add Modules, Search A-Z, under G). It's a bit awkward to get exactly the right blog posts to appear because you can't just enter the feed URL, you have to enter search terms that will bring up the right posts, but if you can get it working it's better from an SEO point of view.

You can use the site:domain.com/blog in your query to get the 4 most recent blog posts. Alternatively, there's the FeedMySearch module that does something very similar, but can show more results.

However, both modules tag the links with nofollow, so the links are not all that useful. But it does mean that your lens will appear fresh to search engines, unlike the RSS module.