Most blogs, by default publish RSS feeds, to allow their readers to subscribe to the updates of the blog. The whole point of having RSS feeds in the first place, is so that people who are interested in keeping track of many blogs can read them all at one single place - their RSS aggregator software, like Google Reader or Newsgator.
Blogging platforms would allow bloggers to either publish full or partial feeds, and in the hope of bringing their RSS readers back to their blog page, many bloggers publish a partial feed.
While it probably works to bring readers back to their main page, this irritates the hell out of many people who keep track of tens or hundreds of feeds. Imagine, keeping track of 200 blog feeds, and having just a mere 10% - which is 20 blogs having partial feeds. How many new browser windows (or tabs) would you have to open to read the contents of the blog?
Most of the time, after reading the blog contents, the readers will either bookmark it the page, or just click on the red cross that closes the page. It is especially irritating when the blog page loads slowly with teeny font sizes and a cluttered layout.
Consider this, why not publish full feeds, and promote this user behavior instead - people read your article, they find it interesting, they click on the link that brings them direct to your blog post, and then they bookmark it straightaway! This saves the trouble of many readers visiting blogs, opening and closing browser windows!
I personally feel that the users will tend to look around your site more too, when they have already read your blog post contents in their feed reader. Think of it this way - whenever a person visits a site, he or she will want to read something, right? So if the person is brought to your blog post to read your post, that is what he or she will read... but if the person is brought to your blog post after reading your post, (i.e. visiting the blog to bookmark the page) he or she will find something else to read, which can be what you have at your sidebars - the adverts your are publishing and your related posts.
Are you publishing a partial RSS feed for your blog? Consider what hassle you are bringing to your readers! Switch to full feeds today!
Tan Kian Ann is an advocate and mentor for creating sustainable home based eMarketing businesses. To claim your free eCourse worth $147 on how to get create a sustainable eMarketing business, and live the "money rolling in while you sleep" lifestyle, check out Kian Ann's eMarketing Lifestyle project
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