Sunday, October 7, 2012

Understanding Google Reader

Every time I turn round I see Google attached to something new. Google AdSense, Google Analytics, Google Blogger, and here we have Google Reader. The lazy half of me wants to say, not another Google!, I am sick and tired of seeing the name and I don't want to learn anything new, and then the wiser side realizes that Google is great! Not only is it the best search engine, but it also has the most user friendly blogging platform, and of course hubpages. After taking a little time to learn what is new with Google, one finds that Google has done it again.
Google Reader was initially a basic RSS feeder that allowed people to subscribe to news feed. In recent years social functionality was added so that it has essentially become a social bookmarking tool as well. In addition to allowing one to subscribe to one's own feeds, Reader lets one subscribe to other people's feeds to read what they are reading too. Different parts of what your feed with different people creating custom friends list, and when you share an article you can append it with a comment or indicate tat you think it's useful by "liking" it. These two actions let you add value and insight for people who are following what you are reading. Google also lets you choose how private you want your feed to be: if you make it public it will be available for others to access from your Google profile page, via the "what I am reading link.With Google Reader's ability to connect and share information with others in these ways the tool is valuable for keeping up to date with others in your industry and with what's said about your company, as well as to network with others in your industry, including bloggers partners, and prospective customers.
To access google Reader, go to www.google.com/reader and sign in with your Google account. Once you ahve logged in, you can begin setting up your feeds. Click the "add a subscripton" button at the top left of the screen and search for feeds that interest you. Once the feed has been added, you can use labeling tools to organize them into subject categories to make them easier to read and sort through on a regular basis. For example, you could keep all feeds relating to your business and industry separate from personal feeds you have created.
Once your feeds are set up, you can share articles from them with others. To do this, click the "Share" button under an article you want your folloers to see. Note that anything you share will be viewable in your public feed URL. to get even more exposure to it, you canlink your feed URL from your google profile as well. If you don't have one already, set one up by going to www.google.com/profiles.
google Reader lets you follow the feeds of others as well as your own bu subscribing to their public feeds. Feed subscriptions are a useful way of keeping track of news and converstons in your industry and identifying new trends in your particular space. You can also use it as a source of regular content from which to write new blog posts if you have a business blog. The main difference between social bookmarking tools like Google Reader and social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter is that with social bookmarking tools you are sharing resources rather than personal updates.
To begin search in for feeds, log in to your Google Reader account and click the "browse for stuff" link on the left menu of the home page. From here Google gives you several ways to find a feed: you can search by general topic or by a person's name or location. For example, if you own a landscape gardening business, you can enter the keyword gardening in the top search field to find feeds related to your industry. Or, if you know the name of top gardening blogger, enter that in the second people search field below it. In the feeds tat are returned, click "Subscribe" below the feeds you are interested in following.All feeds that you subscribe to in this way will appear in a list on your account