Check 8 of 23 · Can AI find the rest of your site?

You publish a feed

A feed is a simple "here is what is new" list for machines. It is optional and worth two points. Only bother if you post regularly.

  • Who fixes itYou can do this
  • TimeAbout 10 minutes
  • Worth2 of 100 points
  • How sure we areLikely

What this is

A feed is a small file that lists your newest posts, newest first. Blogs have had them for twenty years. You may have heard of RSS. That is a feed.

Your homepage tells robots about it with one hidden line that says “my feed lives over here.” That is what we look for.

If you never publish new pages, you do not need one. This check is here for the person who writes a blog or posts news.

Why it matters to you

This is the smallest check in this section, 2 points. It is a nice-to-have, not a must. A feed is the cheapest way to tell a robot “something changed, and here is what,” without it having to re-read your whole site. Your sitemap does a similar job, and if you have one with dates (Your sitemap has dates) you are already most of the way there.

It is worth two points, so do this last.

What we look for

We read the hidden top part of your homepage (the <head>) and look for a line like <link type="application/rss+xml" ...> or <link type="application/atom+xml" ...>.

  • Pass: a feed link is there.
  • Warn: no feed link.

There is no fail on this one. We do not open the feed itself or judge what is in it.

Whether you can fix this yourself

Yes. On most platforms the feed already exists and the link is already there. If it is not, it is a one-line addition.

Squarespace and Shopify include a feed for blog pages. Wix includes one when you use its blog. SimplePractice websites do not have a blog and so do not have a feed, and that is fine. Take the two-point warn and move on.

How to fix it

The line to add inside the <head> of your homepage, pointing at your real feed address:

<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" href="https://yourbusiness.com/feed.xml" />

WordPress

WordPress makes a feed at /feed/ on every site. The link is included by most themes. If it is missing, search your theme’s help for “RSS link” or “automatic feed links”. Some “site optimizer” plugins strip it out, and you can turn that option back on.

Squarespace or Wix

If you have a blog, the feed and the link are there already. If you do not have a blog, there is nothing to add.

Shopify

Your blog has a feed at its address with .atom on the end. Most themes link to it. If not, search Shopify’s help for “blog feed”.

Your own site or a developer

Most static site tools have an RSS or Atom plugin. Turn it on, then add the line above to the page template.

How to check it worked

Open your homepage, right-click, choose “View page source”, and search for rss or atom. You should find one line. Then run the free check again.

Do not worry about

Not having a blog. A business with six pages and no news does not need a feed. The two points are not worth building a blog you will not keep up.