Troubleshoot RSS feed errors

For blogs hosted outside of HubSpot, you can use an RSS feed to send subscribers emails about your new blog posts. If you're encountering an error when you add an RSS feed URL, follow the steps below to resolve it. 

Empty RSS feed

• In-app error: "Your RSS feed doesn't contain any posts yet."
• Issue: your RSS feed was successfully detected, but it doesn't contain any blog posts.
• Recommended steps to resolve:
  1. Publish at least one post to the blog.
  2. Wait a few minutes for the RSS feed to update. 
  3. In HubSpot, try adding your RSS feed to an RSS email again.
  4. If this doesn't work, reach out to the platform that hosts your blog to ensure the RSS feed is properly generating entries. 

Missing required identifiers

• In-app error: "Some posts in your feed are missing required identifiers."
• Issue: some posts in your RSS feed are missing one or more required identifiers - a GUID (Global Unique Identifier) and a link. These identifiers are required to avoid sending duplicate emails. 
• Cause: most blogging platforms automatically provide these required identifiers. This error typically appears for custom RSS set-ups. 
• Recommended steps to resolve:
  1. Reach out to the platform that hosts your blog and request that each RSS feed entry include a unique GUID and a direct link to the post. 
  2. In HubSpot, try adding your RSS feed to an RSS email again.

Can't create unique identifiers

• In-app error: "We couldn't identify the posts in your feed."
• Issue: HubSpot was unable to create unique identifiers for your feed entries. This is typically caused by inconsistencies in the feed structure
• Recommended steps to resolve:
  1. Use an external validation tool like W3C Feed Validation Service to validate your feed. 
  2. Partner with your website developer to fix any identified structural issues.
  3. Ensure each entry has consistent, unique identifying information. 
  4. In HubSpot, try adding your RSS feed to an RSS email again.

Not an RSS URL

• In-app error: "This web page contains RSS feeds, but you'll need to use the direct feed URL." 
• Issue: the URL you've added points to a page that contains RSS feed links, rather than a direct RSS feed.
• Recommended steps to resolve:
  1. At the URL you've provided, locate a "Subscribe" link or an socialRss RSS feed icon. 
  2. Copy the direct feed URL. It will usually end in /feed, /rss, or .xml. 
  3. In HubSpot, try adding the direct RSS feed to an RSS email.

Can't find feed

• In-app error: "We couldn't find an RSS feed at this URL." / "This URL leads to a web page, not an RSS feed."
• Issue: the URL you've added points to a page, rather than an RSS feed.
• Recommended steps to resolve:
  1. Confirm your blogging platform has RSS features turned on. 
  2. Test the URL in your browser. It should display XML code or a feed preview, rather than a formatted page. 
  3. Confirm that you are using the right format for RSS feeds on your platform. Some common formats include [website.com]/feed for WordPress and [website.com]/blog?format=rss for Squarespace.
  4. Check with support for the platform whether there's bot protection in place that returns HTML at the URL, rather than XML. This only applies if you're receiving the "This URL leads to a web page, not an RSS feed" error. 
  5. If you can't find an RSS feed URL, contact support for the platform to set one up.

Can't process URL

• In-app error: "The URL you entered is malformed or can't be processed."
• Issue: the URL you've entered isn't a valid URL. 
• Recommended steps to resolve: 
  
  1. Verify there are no typos in the URL.
  2. Add http:// or https:// to the beginning of the URL (if not already present). 
  3. Remove any extra spaces before or after the URL.

Can't connect to RSS feed

• In-app error: "We couldn't connect to your RSS feed."
• Issue: an error code appeared when trying to load your URL. 
• Recommended steps to resolve: 
  
  1. Wait a few minutes, then try again. Server issues can be temporary. 
  2. Verify that the RSS feed URL loads in your browser. 
  3. Verify that the URL is publicly accessible, i.e. not behind a password or firewall.
  4. Contact your blogging platform host about server issues.
  5. Ensure your website's security settings aren't blocking HubSpot's servers. 

Technical error

• In-app error: "Something went wrong while checking your feed."
• Issue: An unexpected technical error occurred while trying to validate your feed.
• Recommended steps to resolve: 
  1. Wait a few minutes, then try adding your RSS feed to an RSS email again.
  2. Use an external validation tool like W3C Feed Validation Service to validate your feed.
  3. If you are still receiving this error, contact HubSpot Support with the following information: 
     • Your RSS feed URL.
     • The exact time you tried to connect. 
     • A screenshot of the error message.