Best Digital Signage RSS feeds

Why sticking to news websites when there is an entire blogosphere on the world wide web?

The RSS News App is a lifesaver application when it comes to content creation. It allows you to display fresh content with just a few clicks, sparing you hours of searching, analysing, drafting, writing and reviewing your own original article. You just need to grab a good news’ website RSS feed URL and paste it into OnSign TV App. You can choose from various RSS App layouts targeting fullscreen, landscape, portrait, footer and many other formats. It also adapts to different screen zones and can be customized to match surrounding content.

Blogging has grown to reach millions of URL address on the web. Share their content on your screen to keep audience entertained.

Going beyond mainstream media, blogs are an interesting strategy to consider. Go for a quick google search and I am sure you will find one that is laser focused on your audience. Although there is no official number, different reportspresent numbers well above 150 million blogs on the web! Likewise, millions of posts are published daily. Why should you stick only to traditional news websites?

Learn how to create an RSS news app

WordPress, for instance, is the main platform bloggers use to spread their word. According to a Convertkit report, about 76% of blogs on the internet are powered by this platform! Here goes a little secret not many people know. By adding “/feed” at the end of the blog URL address that is served by wordpress, you will get an RSS feed for the respective URL. Get further instructions on how to convert any wordpress page into a RSS feed.

RSS properties

In this article we have listed several killer blogs to enrich your digital signage network content. But before jumping into to the wildblind, here are a few tips you should consider:

• Is the information exactly what your clients are looking for? Give a moment of thought on the content you are sharing. How is it going to benefit your client? Is it entertaining enough, or is it just going to bother?
• What is the publishing frequency? Scroll around before displaying the content. Take a look at the last post and note when it was published on the site. Do they post regularly or just every now and then? There should be no problem in sharing a website which doesn’t post regularly, as long as you don’t display it on your screen for long periods of time or quite frequently.
• How is the content displayed on the screen? Pay attention to three key elements:
  1. Image and pictures – Do all posts feature nice pictures? Is the resolution of the pictures suitable for your screen size? Also take into account your screen and app orientation.
  2. Title – Make sure every post has a title. If not, you may have an empty title region on your screen. Are the titles “short” enough? If it is too long, it will likely end in “…” and the audience won’t be able to understand the post topic.
  3. Article content – Ensure the first paragraph content is concise enough and complements the title. Depending on the writing style, the author may tell a story before getting to the point. It can work on the web, but not on digital signage displays, where you need to catch the audience’s attention quickly.
     Alternatively OnSign TV RSS Apps can be configured to display only the post title. It will look much better on your screens.

Best RSS Feeds for your Signage Display

With that in mind, pick one of our blog suggestions to boost content in your signage network:

Beauty Shops

If your target clients are women and they need to wait for their turn, try shortening their perceived waiting time by presenting influencers of the blogosphere. Fitness, beauty and lifestyle are among the 20 top blog topics. Here we have selected a few:

• Hair Romance: This blog was created by an amateur hair stylist. There are all kinds of easy to follow tutorials.
• This that beauty: Blog on lifestyle by Felicia, who began her blog with makeup review and eventually evolved into fashion, food, fitness, and more recently motherhood.
• Beauty & the beat: Lifestyle blog from beauty journalism Margaret Francois. Besides makeup reviews, she also shares her yoga journey which began in 2015.

Travel Agencies, Airports and Hospitality Industries

Present top travel destinations at your travel agency. Do you have a hotel? Link your screens to local bars and restaurants, or main events in town! Stunning nature images are always setting the mood. It doesn’t matter if this is not your clients’ destination, you will already have them dream of their trip after next.

• Roads and Kingdoms: In its second year of existence, this blog was the winner of the Best Travel Site by the American Society of Travel Writers. It describes a country’s food, culture and politics. Another very interesting section is the “Know before going”, which presents funny facts about each town. The website is divided by region, so you can display what matters most to your audience!
• Legal Nomads: This writer travels through food! It is a different approach to traveling, although there are also city guides and other tips.
• Nomadic Matt: Expect to find tips on all sort of destinations around the world and tips on how to travel: from useful websites to daily hacks.
• One mile at a time: If you are dealing with travelers making their way on a tight budget, try sharing this website. There are numerous trip hacks and discounts.

Bank and Finance Institutions

If your client could not solve his problem at the ATM on his own, it’s more than likely that he will have to go to the help desk. Depending on the time of the month, weekday and time, waiting can be stretched out a bit. Display personal finance blogs targeted to each client profile:

• Get Rich Slowly: Being considered the best blog by Time Magazine should be enough reason to add this one to your campaign. This blog features carefully researched information on personal finance. Get-rich-quick formulas won’t be found here.
• Millennial Money Man: Blog targeted at college grads and young professionals getting started on finances. The author is a millennial and overcame a USD 40,000 student loan debt in less than two years.
• Consumerism Money Man: What began as a way of keeping track of one’s own money decisions became a successful blog, online since 2003. Updated on a weekly-basis.
• The Simple Dollar: This blog began when its author, Trent Hamm, was going through a serious finance situation. He successfully went through it in eight-months, and could even establish an emergency fund. He decided to share his secrets with the world.

Hospitals and Clinics

These establishments are concerned with public health and might display a few guidelines on having a healthy lifestyle. There are blogs which focus on explaining diseases and their main treatments, as well as on alternative medicine and well-being.

• Harvard Health Blog: As they say, “Trusted Advice for a Healthier Life”. Find different health sections on the top menu, so you can display target articles according to the corresponding clinic or hospital department.
• Culture of health: Published by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, this blog provides articles with health tips, prevention methods and also studies of health policies and how to improve health in communities as a whole.
• Wellness mama: This is basically a blog from a mother concerned with her children’s health. All began when she read in a magazine that life expectancy has begun to decrease. Ever since, she writes tips to help other families become healthier, too.

Education Establishments

Depending on the screen placement, you can target content to students, employees or professors. Display the latest news of your university or college blog and keep everyone up to date with college events. There are also many websites specialized in education, science and more.

• How stuff works: Anyone who ever typed a simple question as “How bubble gums are made?” into Google certainly stumbled upon this website. Pick up one of the available categories of RSS and display plenty of curious facts to your students.
• Overcoming Bias: An interesting blog to make researchers reflect about their own searching methods. The main purpose is overcoming bias and moving belief closer to reality.
• Study Hacks Blog: The writer is Cal Newport, a computer science professor at Georgetown University, who has published several books on productivity for high school and college students.

Supermarkets

Show recipes ideas, house decoration tips and more! This will give them ideas on how to use your products while they are looking for items on the shelves, and also keep them entertained while they queue for paying.

• Call me cupcake: Linda is a Swedish girl who shares her cake, cupcakes and all kinds of bakery goods with her readers. It is likely that the recipe is not displayed right at the top of her posts, but her blog strength lies in her yummy photos.
• Design to inspire: Blog about interior design wrote by two interior designers who’ve actually never met. They share photos of their favorite interiors on a daily basis.
• Design milk: Magazine dedicated to design. They contain an interior category, so you can get a glimpse of many interesting interior projects, nice decoration and designers’ favorite items.
• Husbands that cooks: Another blog with mouth-watering recipes! You can display posts according to categories: entreé, sides, main dish, side dish, desserts…
• Budgetbytes: This blog has a different approach: creating deliciousness which fits your budget! No fancy ingredients. Excellent to target young customers.

Retail industry

Some business to consumer (B2C) manufacturers have their own blogs. Look for your main suppliers and check out whether they publish content about their new products. Your clients will be glad to have more information before purchasing, and it might also help upselling as customers get to know other products and their benefits.

• Techcrunch: This is a blog dedicated to profiling startups, reviewing internet products and sharing the latest tech headlines. Their news section on gadgets can be especially useful!
• Runblogger: Written by a running lover with shoes problems. Besides reviewing running shows, he shares some facts about the science behind running and ways of practicing this sport.
• Beauty Junkies: Cosmetic reviews done by a professional with a 10-year career in the beauty industry. The advantage over other beauty blogs is that she doesn’t only test products meant for her.
• Baby Gear Lab: Yes, that’s right. There are even sites specialized in baby products.

Libraries and Coffees

Inform readers about the latest book releases, bestseller ranks and hot autobiographies.

• The Indie View – This blog presents interviews with authors. On an RSS feed App, the book cover is presented along with an author quote. This is an interesting way of discovering new books
• Omnivoracious: This is the official blog by Amazon. It contains reviews, essays, lists of what you did not know about a certain book and so on.
• Comics worth reading: Blog specialized in graphic novel – aka comic books. You can choose the website category, displaying review, comic news and more.
• Helping writers become authors: For those who dream of going from reading to writing, and also taking their writings out of the drawer and placing them on library shelves.

The blogs mentioned above are mere ideas. Take your time to dive into the blogosphere with a search engine’s help, and in no time you will find content tailored to your niche. Another tip for finding best content sources, especially if you are from the marketing department and manage your company’s digital signage network, is asking your coworkers about their favorite internet readings. Certainly, no one will provide a better suggestion than a specialist! If you work in a university, there is no doubt professors follow a couple of blogs to stay in touch with research and trends. This applies to any sector – retail, restaurant, hotels, etc.