RSS feeds are still alive and powerful, even if they're not always easy to spot. This guide shows you how to quickly find RSS feeds on nearly any website, and even how to create one when none exists, making your news consumption smoother and more automated than ever.

Understanding Why RSS Feeds Are Harder to Find Today

RSS feeds aren't gone—they're just hidden from plain sight

In the early days of the internet, RSS feeds were a staple of content delivery. You'd find that familiar orange icon on nearly every blog and news site. But as social media grew and websites prioritized sleek, minimalist designs, RSS links started disappearing from menus and footers.

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) still powers many services behind the scenes. While modern browsers no longer highlight these feeds and fewer websites actively promote them, they remain essential tools for readers who want content delivered without ads, tracking, or algorithms deciding what they should see.

Most websites still support RSS—even if you can't see the feed link right away. Knowing how to dig these feeds out or create your own can unlock a faster, cleaner way to stay updated on the content you care about.

Simple Tricks to Find RSS Feeds on Common Platforms

Adding a single word to a URL can unlock RSS access instantly

There are shortcut methods that work for many websites, especially platforms that power a large portion of the web. WordPress, Medium, YouTube, Tumblr, and Blogger all follow predictable URL structures for their feeds. This means you can often get the RSS feed just by tweaking the site's URL.

For example, with WordPress sites—used by over 40% of websites—you can typically add /feed at the end of any blog URL, like this: https://example.com/feed. For Medium, just use /feed/ before the publication or username. Tumblr uses /rss, and Blogger uses /feeds/posts/default.

Even YouTube works, though slightly differently. Paste any channel URL into your RSS reader, and it should work. Alternatively, there are tools and Chrome extensions that can turn subscriptions into OPML files you can import directly into your reader.

This shortcut method is often enough to build your own curated list of RSS feeds across blogs, video platforms, and microblogs—all without needing to search or ask the site owner.

Advanced Method: Finding RSS Feeds in a Website's Source Code

If the shortcut doesn't work, the HTML source holds the clues

If a site doesn't respond to the standard feed URL tricks, you can always look under the hood. By viewing the source code of a web page, you can often uncover the hidden RSS link that browsers used to highlight automatically.

Here's how: right-click on a blank area of the site and select "View Page Source." Use Ctrl+F or Command+F to search for keywords like rss, atom, or even xml. You're looking for a <link> tag that points to an .xml file or something with type="application/rss+xml".

Copy that URL into your RSS reader, and you're good to go.

This may sound technical, but it’s surprisingly easy. Most web developers still include these tags for syndication purposes, even if the front-end site doesn’t advertise the RSS feed anymore. It's a reliable, old-school method for finding hidden gems on the web.

Let Zapier Help: Creating Your Own Custom RSS Feeds

When no RSS feed exists, build one using automation

Sometimes you’ll encounter a platform that offers no RSS at all. That’s where Zapier comes in. Zapier’s automation tools let you generate your own RSS feed from virtually any app or data source—perfect for power users and productivity junkies.

Let’s say you want a feed of trending Reddit posts, new rows added to a Google Sheet, or new files in your Google Drive. Zapier allows you to create a custom automation ("Zap") that sends those updates directly into an RSS feed you can subscribe to.

You can also use Zapier to push updates from GitHub, Slack, Facebook Pages, Instagram, Google Docs, and more. Each time something happens in those apps—like a new commit, message, or post—it automatically generates an RSS item.

This flexibility means you can build your own content pipelines. Whether it’s aggregating job listings, monitoring mentions of your brand, or tracking changes in a spreadsheet, custom RSS feeds give you control over the information flow.

RSS Automation: Use Feeds to Supercharge Your Workflow

RSS feeds aren’t just for reading—they’re triggers for automation

RSS isn't just about consumption. With tools like Zapier, feeds become triggers for powerful workflows. You can turn any RSS update into an email, a Slack message, a calendar alert, or even a social media post.

For example, you could:

• Post new blog updates directly to Slack channels for your team
• Send calendar invites when RSS feeds include event information
• Push new product reviews or comments into a Notion database
• Get email alerts for specific keyword triggers in RSS titles

These automations turn passive RSS reading into proactive workflows that save time and keep you updated in real-time. Whether you're a digital marketer, developer, researcher, or content creator, RSS feeds combined with automation can be a game-changer.

And remember: you don’t need to write a single line of code. Zapier’s drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to set these up in minutes. It’s a scalable, set-it-and-forget-it system for handling content like a pro.