What's This New RSS?
You're starting to see it at every website you visit, the little orange box that says "RSS" or its new official symbol:
So what is RSS and why is it popping up everywhere on the internet?
Well, maybe "popping up" is the wrong term to use, because RSS is about getting content from the originator to the receiver instantly with no virus, spam, or pop ups.RSS, commonly known as Real Simple Syndication recently acquired the nickname "web feed" and is designed so that web surfers can easily keep track of new and updated postings and content from their favorite websites.
This same technology is also used by site administrators so that websites can syndicate each other's content. This is useful to websites like User Friendly Computer Consultants since their business focus is on fixing computers, not adding content to their website. By syndicating an RSS/XML feed provided by MSN, they can have fresh content on their site for visitors to take advantage of resulting in improved usability and a higher visitor return rate.
What does RSS mean to website operators?
- By publishing an RSS/XML feed, your regular readers will receive notification via their preferred feed-reader software anytime your site is updated. They will be able to process and keep track of new postings much more efficiently than remembering to visit your site every day to see what's new. Common feed reader applications include:
Web Based
Desktop Applications
RSS feeds keep a constant, updated listing of current postings, and provide a link back to the original site and content. These show up as headlines with either short summaries or full articles in feed reader applications and with just a click users can visit your site and access the article in full. The effects this can have on repeat visitors is tremendous.
- By making use of other website's feeds, site administrators can display the contents of an RSS feed on their website without having to manually manipulate links each time the syndicated site is updated. As the content of the feed changes, the new links and article summaries appear on the syndicating site.
For webmasters seeking to syndicate RSS on ther websites, I highly recommend Magpie RSS. Most of the applications I've come across seem to be based on their source code. It's also the engine that drives howtoadvertise.net.
Advantages
RSS syndication has joined email newsletters as a highly effective relationship building marketing tool. In fact, because RSS has some specific advantages over newsletters (which tend to die out after about a year due to lack of content) webmasters are encouraged to rethink the entire newsletter idea in general or to offer both services and allow users to choose their preferred notification preference.One of the biggest advantages of RSS is that the feeds themselves are spam-proof and are prone to viral marketing (where an idea/information spreads from one person to another like a virus).
