Reader retention on Mera

Last reviewed November 2026

Mera finds the readers each story matters to and sends them to your site. What you put in your feed decides how well that works. This chapter shows what to do, from getting listed to bringing readers back.

Get listed

Mera needs one thing from you: an active RSS or Atom feed.

• The feed is public, with no login and no bot challenge.
• It's updated when you publish.
• Every item has a title and a link to your article on your own site.

Listing is free. You can add your feed to the public list on GitHub, or send it through the form on the publishers page. If you use bot protection, make sure it lets MeraNewsBot/1.0 reach your feed.

Write headlines that stand on their own

Readers see your headline word for word, and Mera never rewrites it. It's the main thing a reader judges your story by.

• Say what happened, and to whom.
• Name the place. A reader may be following one city or country.
• Keep each headline specific to its article. A label such as "Daily briefing" tells a reader nothing.

Put a real description in each item

Mera reads the description in your feed to judge which readers a story matters to. Readers never see it. So a thin or repeated description gives Mera less to go on.

• Write one or two sentences on what the article reports.
• Don't repeat the headline, and don't use the same text on every item.
• You don't need the full article. A short excerpt and a link back is enough.

Add an image

Where your feed names an image, the reader's phone loads it from that address and shows it with your headline. Use a stable, public address for each item.

Keep the feed fresh

Mera checks your feed every hour, so new stories can reach readers soon after you publish. If you have separate feeds for regions or topics, list them too, so each one reaches the readers who follow that area.

Turn repeat readers into subscribers

Where you offer subscriptions, your publication's page in Mera has a Subscribe button that opens your own subscribe page. The sale is yours, at your price. A reader who tells Mera they subscribed sees more from you in their Feed.

If your subscribe link is missing or wrong, send it through the form on the publishers page.

Make the visit worth it

Every story opens on your own site, so the reader's next step depends on your page. The other chapters cover that: page structure, pop-ups and consent, paywalls and ads.

Checklist

• Your RSS or Atom feed is public and updates when you publish
• Bot protection lets MeraNewsBot/1.0 reach your feed
• Headlines say what happened and where
• Each item has its own short description
• Each item names a stable image address
• Regional and topic feeds are listed as well
• Your subscribe link is correct in Mera