Find And Import Content From Blogs, YouTube, And Google Alerts

SmarterQueue makes it easy to curate fresh, relevant content by importing articles from blogs or news sites, great videos from YouTube, and trending topics from Google Alerts.

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How To Find Or Set Up Content Feeds For Import

Before importing content into SmarterQueue, you need to find or set up the correct feed link for your content source. Here’s how to locate RSS feeds for blogs or news sites, obtain YouTube channel and playlist links, and set up Google Alerts:

Find RSS Feeds For Blogs Or News Sites

Not all blogs/news sites provide an RSS feed. To check if one does, try the following:

  • Look for an RSS icon or a “Subscribe” section on the website.
  • Add /rss or /feed at the end of the blog’s URL (e.g., example.com/rss). If this doesn’t work, try at the beginning of the URL, instead of the “www”.
  • Google for an RSS feed for a specific website, or use a tool like Feedly to check if an RSS feed is available.

Get A YouTube Channel Or Playlist Link

To import YouTube content, you need the correct channel or playlist URL. Follow these steps to find them:

  • To get a Channel URL, visit a YouTube channel and copy the URL from the address bar (e.g., https://www.youtube.com/c/ChannelName).
  • To get a Playlist URL, click “View Full List” for a playlist within the desired channel and copy the URL (e.g., https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL12345).

Set Up A Google Alert

Google Alerts allows you to track topics and receive updates when new content is published. To set up a Google Alert:

  • Go to Google Alerts.
  • Enter a keyword or topic you want to monitor.
  • Click "Show options" to refine your alert settings:
    • Sources: Choose from news, blogs, videos, or web results.
    • Frequency: Get updates once a day, once a week, or as they happen.
    • Region: Select results from specific countries.
    • Deliver To: Select RSS Feed from the dropdown. 
  • Click Create Alert.
  • Click on the RSS icon on the alert to retrieve the RSS feed URL.

Once your Google Alert is set up, you can use its feed link to import content into SmarterQueue.

How To Import Content From RSS Feeds

Once you have set up your content feeds, you can easily import posts into SmarterQueue:

  1. Navigate to Discover, then Find Content.
  2. Select RSS from the dropdown menu.
  3. Enter the appropriate URL based on your content source: an RSS feed URL for blogs, a channel or playlist URL for YouTube, or a Google Alert feed link.
  4. Filter content further by keyword by using the text search bar.
  5. Click Share next to the post you want to add to your Queue.
  6. Choose to share the full post or just the link. This will open the Post Editor with the selected content prefilled.
  7. Choose the Category and Social Profiles you will publish the post for. 
  8. Make any edits you need in the Post Editor and schedule your post for publishing. 

đź“ť Note: Google Alert links contain a redirect component, making them long, unreadable, and unable to generate link previews. The URL may look like this:

https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=https://example.com/news/article&usg=XYZ123

To fix it, go to Link Settings in the Post Editor and copy the link after url= in the Google URL. Then return to the Post Editor, delete the current link, and add the URL you copied into the text box. 

Best Practices For Importing Content

  • Understand Content Ownership and Attribution before reposting. (Learn more)
  • Import Multiple Posts at Once using the Bulk Import feature. (Learn more)
  • Save Frequently Used Sources to quickly access trusted content without searching manually each time. (Learn more)
  • Set up an Auto-Importer to automatically import new content from these feeds right into your Queue. (Learn more)

Import Limitations And Troubleshooting

Import Limitations

When importing content from RSS feeds, certain limitations are imposed by the content providers. Most RSS feeds contain only the 10-20 most recent posts, while YouTube allows importing only the 15 most recent videos from a channel or playlist. 

WordPress-powered blogs provide an exception, allowing SmarterQueue to fetch up to 200 posts by navigating multiple pages of RSS entries. If you manage a WordPress blog, you can adjust the settings to increase the number of posts available in your RSS feed - setting this to 20 posts is recommended for better import coverage.

That said, other sources, like Feedburner-hosted RSS feeds, only display the most recent page of posts, restricting access to older content.

If older blog posts are not available through RSS, alternative methods can be used to import them into SmarterQueue:

  • The Chrome Extension allows you to manually visit each blog post and create a new post for your Queue. 
  • Another approach is to import a CSV file containing blog post links. If an archive or index page is available on the blog, copying post links into a spreadsheet and saving them as a CSV file can enable bulk importing.

Troubleshooting Import Issues

If SmarterQueue cannot locate an RSS feed, try using the URL of the blog’s dedicated blog page instead of the homepage. Some websites may not structure their feeds in a way that makes them easily accessible from the main URL. 

For YouTube imports, ensure that you are using a valid channel or playlist URL. If an error message appears stating "Sorry, we couldn't find a valid RSS feed at that URL", double-check that you have copied the correct link. Using a shortened URL or an incorrect format can cause import failures.

Common Questions

1. Why can’t I find content from a specific blog? 

Some blogs do not offer an RSS feed. Without an RSS feed, SmarterQueue cannot retrieve articles from that blog.

2. Can I import YouTube Shorts? 

No, the YouTube API currently only allows importing standard videos from channels and playlists.

3. Why do some Google Alerts show limited results? 

Google Alerts only provides a snapshot of recent content, and some sources may restrict full access to their articles.