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Josh shares my biggest complaint about bloggers on RSS feeds - bloggers who repeatedly update their posts - correcting typos, adding content to previous posts, completely "rebuilding" - without updating their content.

One of my favorite bloggers hasn't had a new post since September 28, yet at least once a week, her blog appears in my RSS feeder with several "unread" posts. Unsubscribed! She lost me as a loyal reader and reader referral source.

I wonder if some bloggers use this as a tactic to get visitors to their blog because they are too lazy to keep their content fresh?

Another blogger, who publishes a high quality, content-rich ezine, simply posts articles from her free ezine each week. Lazy? No, she's a hard working business woman with valuable information to share. Is she missing a tremendous opportunity to expand her paid subscriber base and increase her online sales? Absolutely! I don't always have time to read ezines and online newsletters, but I do scan my RSS feeds every day. If I came across a one line post noting her new book is available today, I'd probably click through and order. But if it's a busy week and this notice is buried in a newsletter, even if it's online, chances are it will be a few weeks before I read it, if at all.

If I want to update a previous post, (say I find a typo or have new info), I add a reminder to my blog file then take care of it the next time I post new content. For updates, I add the date of the update and italicize the text, so it is readily identifiable as an update. That way, when subscribers to my RSS feed see "unread" show up in their reader, they get new fresh content and it doesn't annoy RSS feed subscribers.

Think about your readers, your audience. RSS subscribers are pretty savvy people. Tease them long enough and you too will see your subscriber base diminish.

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