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Aggregator Foundations - Links and Suggestions
How to make aggregation work for you through suggestions and links to sites that can make this job easier
Now that you've dipped your feet into social media platforms such as Twitter, Ning, Facebook and more, isn't it time you took a hint and applied some social aspects to your Web site? In the previous article, Linda talked about aggregation, and how aggregator sites have shaped current Web trends. In this article, she will pass on information about how to make aggregation work for you through suggestions and links to sites that can make this job easier.
Decisions to Make
Now that you know how to find content to build a site that aggregates information from around the Web, you need to decide how you want to make this work for you and your ideas. In the next article, I'll link to a few sites that use aggregation in various ways so you can begin to build your own hub for your readers and 'fans.' Until then, a few links...
Links
· The Right And Wrong Way to Steal My Stuff: It truly is not that easy to just bury old information by reposting on top of it – learn more from Rohit's perspective about how to use content and other individuals' ideas.
· Take it Back! 100 Tips to Defeat Content Thieves: A look at the many tools people can use to attack you for stealing content. You, too, can use this list for taking umbrage at someone stealing your content.
· Use RSS to aggregate content on your site: A more technical look at how to aggregate RSS feeds into your site.
· FeedWordPress: One tool (that I have not yet tried) that many people are using to aggregate site content. This is an open-source Atom/RSS aggregator for the WordPress weblog software.
· 20 Ways To Aggregate Your Social Networking Profiles: If you haven't gotten the hang of aggregation yet, use this article to discover ways to aggregate your social media platforms. You may get some ideas here on what you want to do with your blog.
Conclusion
You have several means available to increase the size and impact of your blog through aggregation. How you use this material is up to you. You can mash it together into a site that is difficult to navigate and use and that holds material totally irrelevant to your purpose. Or, you can use feeds, articles and more in an insightful and honourable way that can benefit all concerned.
While your site may never become an Alltop or a Buzz Tracker, you might be surprised at how quickly your site and your readership can grow when you compound information that is relevant to your main topic. Take time on the front end to determine where you want to go with this site through categories, tags and sitemap information, then look around the Internet to find other like-minded sites. If they have an RSS feed, then you may have discovered an open door to building a serious online venture.
Linda Goin
Linda Goin carries an A.A. in graphic design, a B.F.A. in visual communications with a minor in business and marketing and an M.A. in American History with a minor in the Reformation. While the latter degree doesn't seem to fit with the first two educational experiences, Linda used her 25-year design expertise on archaeological digs and in the study of material culture. Now she uses her education and experiences in social media experiments.
Accolades for her work include fifteen first-place Colorado Press Association awards, numerous fine art and graphic design awards, and interviews about content development with The Wall St. Journal, Chicago Tribune, Psychology Today, and L.A. Times.