Tip: Full feeds vs partial feeds

Before we jump into the discussion (or debate) regarding full feeds vs partial feeds, let's review what feeds are - in case there are some "new to the technology" folks reading along.

A feed or an RSS feed is something many people use to read your blog. Rather than visiting every single site, sometimes finding no new content has been added, we use a "feed reader". The "feed reader" updates us when you have updated your blog - it will send the full blog post (a full feed) or a snipped of the post (a partial feed) depending on the settings we have in our feed reader and the settings you have for your "blog feeds". To understand feeds more fully, check out Lee LeFever's RSS in plain English video.

So, which do you provide? Full feed or partial feed? There's a lot of debate about this and both sides make sense.

Some people give a partial feed, hoping to "lure" people into their blogs so they gain a click. Or because they are "artists!!!!" and they want you to view their art in the surroundings it was created to be viewed in. (I tend to roll my eyes at this - but, I'm not an artist!)

Some people give a full feed, hoping to lure people in to leave a comment by including the full , fabulous post - or because they know that some of their readers (me!) prefer a full feed or because they themselves prefer a full feed.

I'll tell you very honestly that if you serve a partial feed, I won't click your blog and read your full post very often. As I look at my list of feeds I only see two blogs that I will click into every single time. Two. The others, I might click, if the partial feed is about a topic I am super interested in. But, if I'm really busy (which I always am) I will still skip it. So, you're missing my click AND my comment. And, when it comes time for me to weed out the blogs I "never read" it is ALWAYS the partial feed blogs that are the first to go.

Check out the "debate" at pro blogger. I agree with Gina in one respect, I prefer a partial feed on pure news feeds. But for all other feeds, I want the full feed and if you want to serve me an ad at the same time, I won't unsubscribe. Be sure to take some time and read the comments - they'll help you decide which type of feed you should serve.

What do you prefer - as a blogger or as someone who uses a feed reader?

~~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager