By default, WordPress shows the ten most recent posts in the RSS feed. You can modify this number to better suit your audience’s preferences.
Controlling the number of posts in the feed allows you to manage content visibility effectively. This ensures that your readers receive the most relevant updates without feeling overwhelmed.
In this guide, we will demonstrate how to limit the number of posts displayed in your WordPress RSS feed and how to create an RSS sitemap to enhance search engine indexing.
Adjust Post Limit in WordPress RSS Feed
By default, WordPress displays the ten most recent posts in your primary RSS feed. However, you can easily increase or decrease this number by adjusting the settings in WordPress.
Navigate to the Settings » Reading section in your WordPress admin dashboard.
From this page, locate the setting next to the ‘Syndication feeds show the most recent’ option. Simply input the number of posts you wish to display in your RSS feed.
Below this setting, you will also find an option to display either the full text or an excerpt of your posts in the RSS feeds.
We suggest utilizing the ‘Excerpt’ feature for two main reasons.
- It restricts the amount of content displayed in the feed. We believe that showing the entire article in the feed only benefits content scrapers who may steal your work.
- Excerpts help keep your feed concise and visually appealing in feed readers. This encourages users to click on the articles they wish to read, ultimately boosting your page views.
After making your adjustments, remember to click the ‘Save Changes’ button to apply your settings.
That’s it! You have successfully limited the number of posts shown in your site’s RSS feed.
Generate an RSS Sitemap for Search Engines
If your goal is to enhance search engine visibility by adjusting the number of posts in your RSS feeds, simply increasing the posts in your main WordPress RSS feeds isnot the most effective approach.to achieve this.
Many well-known search engines, including Google and Bing, support RSS sitemaps.
Unlike XML sitemaps, which include most of your content, RSS sitemaps focus on providing search engines with your site’s latest posts.
This allows search engines to quickly discover your website’s updated posts. You can set a different limit on the number of posts to include without impacting your main WordPress RSS feed.
The simplest way to add an RSS sitemapOne effective way to enhance your WordPress site is by using the All in One SEO plugin. This is the top-rated SEO plugin available for WordPress.It enables you to optimize your website effortlessly, even if you lack SEO expertise.
To get started, install and activate the All in One SEO for WordPress plugin. For detailed instructions, refer to our comprehensive guide on installing a WordPress plugin.
After activating the plugin, the All in One SEO setup wizard will appear. Follow the on-screen prompts or consult our tutorial on setting up All in One SEO for WordPress.
Once thesetup process is complete,navigate to the All in One SEO » Sitemaps section and select the RSS Sitemap tab.
Here, you can enable the RSS Sitemap feature.
You can also specify the number of posts to include in the sitemap.
This sitemap will encompass all your content types, such as posts, pages, products, and any custom post types you have created.
If you prefer to include only blog posts, simply uncheck ‘Include All Post Types’ and select ‘Posts’ instead.
After making your selections, be sure to click the ‘Save Changes’ button to apply your settings.
You can now click the ‘Open RSS Sitemap’ button to copy the URL of your RSS sitemap.
Next, submit your RSS sitemap to Google Search Console. Check out our detailed tutorial on how to add your WordPress site to Google Search Console.
We hope this article has helped you limit the number of posts in your WordPress RSS feed. You might also find these useful tips on optimizing WordPress RSS feeds helpful, or explore our tutorial on how to display third-party RSS feeds in WordPress.
If you enjoyed this article, please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also connect with us on Twitter and Facebook.
