- The decision to truncate a feed varies from blog to blog; most blogging platforms default to displaying a full feed. The length of truncated feeds also varies; some blogs show as little as 200 characters whereas others might show up to a 1,000 words. The goal of a truncated feed is to drive readers to your website, where they will be able to see the other, nonblog content on there -- such as items for sale, ads or comments on your post.
- If your blog frequently features blog posts longer than 800 to 1,000 words -- especially ranging into several thousand words -- a truncated feed can give your readers a taste of the content without being overwhelmed. Ad-supported blogs may use truncated feeds to drive more readers to where they will see the ads. News sites sometimes use truncated feeds to give readers a glimpse of a headlines to make up for the volume of news posted in a feed.
- Readers sometimes find truncated feeds frustrating, as the point of subscribing in a feed reader is to make following a website easier. Switching to a truncated feed may lose you subscribers. Few statistics exist to confirm that truncating your feed generates more Web traffic; in fact, prominent bloggers on the topic note that full feeds tend to lead to higher traffic via word of mouth, as more readers fully read the text and go on to share it with others online.
- If you choose to truncate your feed, a simple method exists for doing so in all major blogging platforms. In WordPress, go to "Settings," "Reading" and choose "Summary" for "For Reach Article in a Feed, Show." For Blogger blogs, go to "Settings," "Site Feed" and choose "Short" from the "Allow Blog Feeds" drop-down menu. If you use FeedBurner to manage your feed, open the "Optimize" tab on your feed page and select "Summary Burner." Choose how long you want your feed item to be in characters, and fill in a summary to appear at the bottom of your feed. Click "Activate."
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