25th Mar, 2008

Maintaining Brand through RSS Readers?

Here’s something that I’ve been pondering today:

RSS reader use is on the rise and a blog’s design has become an extension of the blogger’s ‘brand’. But RSS readers show every feed the same. Same font, colors, layout, everything.

So how can bloggers maintain their brand inside an RSS reader?

Here are my ideas:

  • Add a small header/logo image into every post
  • Use semantic markup so your headers, lists, etc will at least make it through
  • Send RSS readers different content with inline CSS?
  • Send RSS readers an extra, small module that links to other posts or sites?

I’m having trouble thinking up more ways to do this. I think injecting extra content for RSS readers or adding different modules would be neat. You could ’simulate’ visiting your website by supplying design and content in the RSS reader.

Anyone have any other ideas?

Posted by: Ryan

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Responses

It’s a very fine line to walk. On one hand, you want to maintain your brand. On the other hand, the whole POINT of (semantic) web standards is to separate content from presentation. The suggestion to merge the two makes me very nervous, and sometimes people don’t WANT to have a website simulated… they just want to read. If they wanted to go to a website, then they’d do that.

As the author of a popular feed parsing API (you know this, Ryan, but other potential readers don’t), I can tell you that when people add feeds to their websites instead of a feed aggregator, they frequently just want to display (which is not necessarily *stealing*) your content. If you end end up with YOUR brand mixed into THEIR site, it makes for a worse and/or more confusing experience for their readers.

Back in 2003, Mark Pilgrim (of Google, RSS/Atom, and Semantic Web fame) decided to play a prank on users of feed aggregators at the time. He also provided aggregator authors some feedback on how to avoid those kinds of pranks in the future. Many authors implemented some variation of those recommendations, so simply adding inline CSS isn’t always the answer in the real world.

IMHO, what it all boils down to is respecting user attention. Put the burden on yourself instead of your users. Instead of bombarding the user with more graphics, CSS, and other stuff, turn the tables around. Be a better writer. Writer better content. There’s more to branding than simply “the look.” I’d argue that a blogger’s writing “voice” is as much a part of the brand as anything else (if not moreso). Just ask Jason Kottke. Or John Gruber. Or Jeffrey Zeldman.

I’m a big believer in the “less is more” principle. To quote Antoine de Saint-Exupery, “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” What is the _least_ amount that you can add to your RSS content and still get your brand message across? THAT is the thing that will make your brand more successful. :)

By: Ryan Parman on March 26th, 2008
at 11:18 am

@Ryan P

Good points, and I agree that a writer’s voice is the most important part of a blog’s ‘brand’. Then it may not be as important to communicate design through RSS.

By: Ryan on March 26th, 2008
at 2:50 pm

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