The consumption of news is changing… rapidly. Traditional print news has been fading away, and the convergence of electronic and interactive media is taking over. Consumers are longing for more personalization, voting and filtering options to deliver spot-on news in a digital world with many distractions. The current challenge for publishers is to determine how to cater to an audience that has more control than ever to choose what shows up in their news feed.

A few of the current players in the personalized/social news reader app space.

Recent changes in the way news can be consumed has publishers either scratching their heads to figure it out, or chomping at the bits on how to leverage these emerging news platforms. Media publishers that stay innovative and leading-edge are in a great position to leverage the power of personalized news readers (aka social news readers) to stay connected through a customer journey. Popular news reader app Flipboard announced they had 20 million users back in August of 2012, so it’s a technology that cannot be ignored!

Before providing insights into how publishers can better optimize their content, let’s review some recent technology changes and shifts in consumer behavior...

The backbone that has helped power content in various personalized news readers took a slight blow with Google's announcement of the Google Reader service getting shut down. I personally have used Google Reader to power content for news readers on my iOS devices including Zite and Flipboard. From an end-user standpoint I am bummed about Google Reader going away, but I am just as excited for the opportunity for another player to step in and leverage RSS technology. Feedly is already making some big gains in acquiring new users and Digg announced they are building a reader solution.

As of late there has been a shift from aggregating great content via RSS, to following publishers on social media accounts like Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn. This evolution isn't a surprise due to the increasing adoption and usage of social media, but as a news consumer I get nervous this shift will lead to more noise and cluttered news and information. I'm only saying this because an app like Zite has allowed me to really leverage my Google Reader RSS feeds to get great articles for reading without combing through vast amounts of noise in social media feeds. Regardless of personal preference, there are more options now than ever to find content that matters to each individual.

Some of the newer personalized news platforms are bypassing RSS altogether and relying on linking to your social media accounts to pull in relevant content. This new direction places less emphasis on some of the technical aspects of RSS optimization, and more on social media integration and the wisdom of crowds through sharing and voting. This could cause some temporary headaches for end users, but it presents an opportunity for content publishers and marketers to get more relevant social shares around their content to influence placement in social news readers.

How can publishers make sure content remains visible and found by people using personalized news readers?

The answer is simple… keep following SEO best practices for content optimization! It is important your internal team or agency partner continues making sure content is optimized for searchable keywords, readability and shareability.

How do you rise above competition investing in ongoing content development and promotion?

The answer goes beyond your standard SEO best practices. Following these best practices below ensures your content strategy is integrated with various forms of digital marketing, and it will increase the chances of your content being found and widely read via personalized news readers.

Getting Started with Audience Research

How often do you ask your audience how they like to consume content? Are you using analytics to determine which channels get the most engagement for your content? If you have a variety of ways your audience reads your content you'll want to make sure you are active in channels that provide high visibility and ultimately drive people to take action. Channels to ask your readers about are; printed magazines, blogs, e-mail updates, social posts, RSS feeds, video, podcasts, or personalized news readers. Determining the proper mix of channels through audience engagement and analytics review allows you to refine your content marketing and optimization strategy for better results.

Content Development / On-site Optimization

• Publish unique and timely content that will engage readers and promote shareability and discussion. Incorporate trending topics and keywords in your posts to gain additional visibility.
  • Perform quick keyword research
  • Generate an eye-catching headline
  • Consider constructive conflict
• Include customized graphics that draw attention in a personalized news feed
  • Include at least one image (Flipboard recommends it should be at least 600px wide)
  • Keep your image captions short, one or two sentences at most
• Place your Twitter handle in the content of the post near the headline
• Write balanced content for multi-device consumption (desktop, tablet, smartphone)
• Strive to make articles at least 700 characters or 150 words long
• Make sure your blog posts having relevant categorization and tagging
• If your content is regionally focused then it’s best to share light content during morning and afternoon commuting times and longer articles at night when users spend more time reading them
• Review the “New & Noteworthy” lists on Flipboard and Zite to view what the latest hot news topics are and determine what is relevant to your business and ongoing messaging

Technical Optimization

• Use clean and consistent URLs
• Specify canonical links via <link rel=canonical> on all pages
• Include social sharing integration on your posts
• Include optimized Open Graph tags for your most compelling and shareable content
• Make sure your RSS feed is valid using the W3C Feed Validator
• Optimize your RSS feed using FeedBurner and make sure it is optimized, easily accessible, and caters to your audience (enable and optimize for the email subscription option)
• Include a link to your RSS feed on every page of your site via the auto discovery RSS meta tag
• Establish authorship for your blog and article posts
• Optimize for Google News inclusion
• Generate a frequently updated XML sitemap for your blog or newsroom
• Add your blog feed headlines to your homepage for an area of fresh content

Off-site Optimization

• Submit your RSS feed to Blog/RSS directories
• Link to your great article/blog post content from relevant press releases
• Cross-link from relevant content posted on YouTube and SlideShare
• Link to your relevant content from guest blog posts on other sites

Social Promotion

• Post your blog or article links on your social channels with context on why people should read it
• Encourage your social followers to follow other people you have an influence on (this will increase the chances your content shows up in their social news reader)
• Consider a paid social campaign to send traffic to great content to get brand exposure

Platforms and Publishing Opportunities

Below are some widely used platforms that provide an opportunity for content publishers to follow guidelines or submit an application to be included as a preferred publisher:

Zite uses an algorithm to evaluate millions of news stories around the web every day. This algorithm analyzes multiple attributes to determine if an article should be delivered to you via your smartphone or tablet. Zite looks at the type of article, its key attributes, and how it’s shared across the web and matches these articles with your personal interests. Zite offers a Publisher Program where each publisher’s content will be featured within its own section of the app, showing articles to a reader based on his or her interests. Currently, Zite is focusing on larger publishers and working with Bleacher Report, CNN, The Huffington Post, etc. but they are looking for ways to work with smaller publishers sometime soon.

Flipboard transforms how people discover, view and share content by combining the beauty and ease of print with the power of social media. Social tools built right in so you can like, comment, +1, email and more. It is customizable to become your own personal magazine within your smartphone and/or tablet. The content guide section will help you find the best sources curated from around the web. Flipboard accepts publishers, they would like you to email your optimized RSS feed and include social and website details in your email. Once you email them, they will review it and let you know the next steps. As for making sure your RSS feed is optimized before submitting it and assuring your news feed is seen, check Flipboard’s tips on publishing content via RSS feeds.

Pulse is an extremely popular personalized news reader application that has received widespread media recognition, including winning the Apple Design Award. On April 11th, 2013 Pulse was acquired by LinkedIn. Pulse accepts publishers through a form on their site, where you will need to fill out your site’s description, content categories, logo, and any RSS feed URLs you’d like to submit. Before you submit, make sure you check that your feed is updated frequently, all content is suitable for the audience, and includes working images and videos. Pulse offers tips on optimizing the RSS feeds you submit to them, so you can increase the likelihood of your content being seen by users. They advise including related links at the bottom of your articles and publishing new articles frequently.

Umano is an application that allows voice actors to explain your content. Umano gives publishers two options for integration – basic and advanced. The advanced option allows publishers to create a more integrated experience. Umano breaks down best practices for integration, which includes creating a unique URL for every article and customizing the player appearance.

Social News Platforms without a Publishing Program

Below are a few social news platforms that are emerging that do not rely on RSS or publisher submissions and will determine what is popular based on who you follow on the social channels:

Thirst uses your Twitter feed to deliver stories and other content you want to read. Users start by creating a Thirst account, or logging in through Facebook or Twitter. The app will open with a selection of topics displayed in a style like Flipboard. When selecting a topic, users get a list of stories, a tab highlight chatter on social networks and a section for comments. Users can choose to follow a specific subject on top of any social recommendations, if enabled. Stories are displayed as they would on a standard Web or mobile browser.

Prismatic is a social news discovery site that hopes to help by allowing people to delve into topics, through algorithms that read the content being shared on social media.

There Are No Shortcuts!

Gaining visibility on social news readers still relies on creating great content with value and building relationships. It's hard to predict where social and personalized news is heading, but if you integrate your content marketing and take a part in the evolution you'll gain quicker insight into how changes apply to your business and messaging to connect with people.

Please share your tips and experience below on ways to engage your audience with compelling content!