Marketing
Mac Gizmo Guy's Blog

Mac RSS Mojo : Leveraging Really Simple Syndication

Aug/30/26

Why Your Website Should Leverage RSS

rss-logo


Few web Technologies give a Mac webmaster the power to distribute their web content automatically without manual intervention or scheduling. RSS - Really Simple Syndication may seem like old-school technology from a decade and then some ago, but it's undergoing a revival. RSS should be part of your current website optimization & marketing strategy.

There's a certain amount of algorithmic fatigue happening as the major social platforms continue to decide what you will and will not see. More and more savvy users are firing up one of the many Mac friendly Feed Reader apps for MacOS or iOS and choosing sources of news and information that they want to see, with none of the stuff they don't.

An XML Feed URL Makes You Discoverable


Both my Waterlily Bear and Mac Gizmo Guy sites have blogs with associated RSS Feed URL's in .XML format that send updates to any feed subscribers within minutes of a new blog post going live when I hit that 'Publish' button. But beyond my own sites - Many (but not all) of the Social platforms I'm on often have RSS feeds of my real-time on-platform activity. That may be a new article, a new podcast episode, a thoughtful comment, a link I've shared, or video upload.

Web 2.0 Social Feeds For MacGizmoGuy


The Social Feed URLs below point to an .XML feed - Not to a viewable HTML web page. Control-Click to copy the URL and paste it into any MacOS or iOS compatible feed reader app: I recommend NetNewsWire, Inoreader, or Feedly.



Supercharged Web Content Reach & Discoverability


The power of RSS to reach a new audience in new places shouldn't be underestimated! By submitting your RSS feed URL to a handful of key Directories and Feed Readers - both search engine and AI bots will encounter and surface your content in surprising ways across the web. The SEO power of having your content spread across the internet may show up in your website analytics, proof that RSS can be delivering real traffic and real eyeballs to your website.

Nifty Buttons Ideal For Mac RapidWeaver Webmasters

Aug/28/26

Social Button Set For Modern Platforms

A complete rewrite of the MacGizmoGuy website has been a major project. I started this spring, and continue to expand and refine my legacy site. I've been using RealMac Software's Rapid Weaver app since Version 3 starting in the mid-2000s. I literally built 100 niche websites with RapidWeaver over the years - and now in my retirement, I'm using RapidWeaver Classic with a new, simple and responsive theme.

Scalable, Responsive Website Buttons

I needed a modern social profile widget set, so I chose Nifty Buttons which is very current and provides a mind blowingly huge set of scalable. SVG icons & both old and new platforms to choose from. I tend to code in very basic raw HTML so that's what my Nifty Buttons are written in. The code lives completely on the macgizmoguy.com site and doesn't make remote calls to retrieve the button images across the Internet. It's much more efficient to completely host it here on site. Because they are in .SVG image format they are basically scalable illustrations that can be rendered at any size cleanly.

Click To Follow At YOUR Favorite Sites!

Gathering Your Profile URL's Is Hell

It was a real challenge coming up with all my unique profile URLs across the Web-O-Sphere! I have been on the Internet forever and the MacGizmoGuy brand has been around for 18 years. Many of the sites linked above had changed URL formats from HTTP to secure HTTPS, some have modified the URL and username format over the years. it was a challenge validating the absolute, correct and optimal syntax to list all these different profiles and destinations!

The AIO and SEO Social Button Magic

There's a bigger point to be made here though. Beyond just making it easier for visitors to find and follow you at the platform of their choice across the web - There's a lot of SEO/AEO backlink value in having an extensive set of buttons like this. You're building out a cross linked mesh of high authority placements that in turn points right back to you. It's an ENTITY GRAPH that AI in particular picks up on in their crawls and fan-outs.