Learning the Basics of RSS
What is RSS? You probably have seen this three-letter acronym in the course of your internet surfing. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary; syndicating means republishing an article that comes from another source such as a website.
The RSS feed usually contains the title of the update originating from the website. It is also usually the link to the website source.
What are the benefits of RSS? RSS gives benefits to both readers (users) and web publishers.
1. It gives you the latest updates. Whether it is about the weather, new music, software upgrade, local news, or a new posting from a rarely-updates site learn about the latest as soon as it comes out.
2. It saves on surfing time. Since an RSS feed provides a summary of the related article, it saves the user’s time by helping s/he decide on which items to prioritize when reading or browsing the net.
3. It gives the power of subscription to the user. Users are given a free-hand on which websites to subscribe in their RSS aggregators which they can change at any time they decide differently.
4. It lessens the clutter in your inbox. Although your email address will be required to enjoy the services of online RSS aggregators, RSS does not use your email address to send the updates.
5. It is spam free. Unlike email subscriptions, RSS does not make use of your email address to send updates thus your privacy is kept safe from spam mails.
6. Unsubscribing is hassle-free. Unlike email subscriptions where the user is asked questions on why s/he is unsubscribing and then the user would be asked to confirm unsubscribing, all you have to do is to delete the RSS feed from your aggregator.
7. It can be used as an advertising or marketing tool. Users who subscribe or syndicate product websites receive the latest news on products and services without the website sending spam mail. This is advantageous to both the web user and the website owner since advertising becomes targeted; those who are actually interested in their products are kept posted.
What are the drawbacks of RSS? The disadvantages of RSS use are brought about by its being a new technology and some user-preference concerns.
1. Some users prefer receiving email updates over an RSS feed.
2. Graphics and photos do not appear in all RSS feeds. For conciseness and ease of publication, RSS feeds do not display the photos from the original site in announcing the update except for some web-based aggregators
3. The identity of the source website can be confusing. Since RSS feeds do not display the actual URL or name of the website, it can sometimes get confusing on what feed a user is actually reading.
4. Publishers cannot determine how many users are subscribed to their feed and the frequency of their visits. Moreover, they would not know the reasons why users unsubscribe which could be important in improving their advertising.
5. RSS feeds create higher traffic and demands on the server. Most readers still prefer the whole update over a brief summary of the entry, thus they still access the site.
6. Since it is a new technology, many sites still do not support RSS.
How do I start using RSS? There are two things needed: an RSS feed and an RSS aggregator or reader. The RSS feed comes from an RSS-supported website. There are also websites that provide a list of RSS feeds of different websites. An RSS aggregator is used to read the RSS feed from the source website. It scans and collects data on latest RSS feeds from the worldwide web.
An aggregator comes in two forms: a downloadable program also known as desktop aggregator and an online or web-based aggregator. Downloadable aggregators may require payment before they can be acquired, while internet-based aggregators are usually free of charge. All you need to do is to register an account then you are ready to use their services. Both versions allow you to customize or choose which RSS feeds to enter. Paid aggregators are usually chosen by more experienced users and they usually allow more freedom in customizing feeds.
1. Choose an RSS aggregator to use. For beginners, web-based aggregators are recommended since they are usually user-friendly
2. Scan the homepage of your target website for the RSS or XML button. It contains the RSS code you need to enter in the aggregator. Copy this code. Syndic8 provides a directory of websites that support RSS.
3. Paste the code (which contains the URL of the website) in your aggregator. There is a space provided for pasting the code.
After you have done these three easy steps, you can start reading the RSS feeds coming from the website. New postings appear as they are published real time at the source website.
RSS and Internet Marketing. The original idea of RSS came from Netscape, where their intention is to provide a means for users to customize their personal homepage to contain links to websites that interest them, similar to bookmarking websites.
The application of RSS to internet marketing was an unforeseen development to RSS technology developers. Since users are given the freedom to add RSS feeds to their aggregators, those who are interested in particular products and services available in the internet can now be notified real time. Marketing becomes more specific to interested people and not a hit-and-miss operation.
Those who intend to use RSS for marketing their products and services should consider linking up with email account providers, (e.g. Yahoo, MSN, Google mail); networking websites (e.g. Friendster, Multiply, My Space, Hi5); websites of newspapers and television network websites (e.g. New York Times, CNN) for medium to big-scale companies. Small-time industries can also look into networking websites as well as personal blog websites (e.g. Blogspot) and websites of clubs and organizations that would probably make use of their products or services e.g. a fishing supplies store can look for the website of their local fishing club for possible RSS marketing.
Clearly, RSS is an innovation in information management in the worldwide web as well as online marketing. We can expect better RSS technology in the not-so-distant future as its popularity increases among users and website owners alike.
Samizr Khan teaches Integrity Marketing with blogs. Learn how to build a list & make more money online, visit his blog at http://www.samizrkhan.name.
Updates on RSS Directories
RSS directories are popular these days. RSS is widely used initially by news sites to allow others to syndicate their news stories. Now, a lot of other websites are using RSS. It is being used in flagging new forum headlines, auction listings, sales listings and others.
The meaning of RSS is actually not clear. RSS may or may not be an acronym, actually. RSS may stand for Really Simple Syndication. But others say its Rich Site Summary and sometimes Rich Syndication Standard. The noted creator of RSS directory would be Netscape. It was released sometime in March 1999. The included a UserLand application which is called scripting news. Netscape stopped developing it, but UserLand continued doing so. Another company, RSS-DEV Working Group also released their own version.
RSS directories are sites that collate all RSS links and place them in different categories for other applications to use. This is similar to web hosting, only instead of web pages, they contain RSS links. These links will pop out on the website and when you click it, you will be directed to the main source of the link.
RSS poses a lot of uses for those who’d like to use the Internet for marketing or commerce. Here are the things you can do with it:
Create links from their website to yours.
If you are selling or promoting something, web traffic is important. The more RSS directory you upload, the more chances you have people seeing those and checking your site out. And if they have customized their sites with your RSS feeds, then they would get updated listings from your site to theirs automatically.
Collating analysis.
If you have a brand and you’d like to know how your competitor is doing, you may use RSS to see what they have so far. Get a directory of their product or service so you’ll know first hand what they have come out with. With the data gathered you now can plan on how you can counter them.
Tracking your own progress. If you can check out your competitor, of course you’d like to check out too how your business or product is going too. With an RSS directory of your own, you can know how many people are interested in what you are selling or offering.
Increases productivity.
Putting up RSS directories, let’s say for newsletters, adds efficiency to your company. If you use RSS for sending out newsletters instead of mailing them to recipients, you’d eliminate the possibility of your letter being classified as spam by users, or being sent in a closed mail account.
Increases efficiency.
There are a lot of websites or news articles that could be beneficial to your brand or company. At times, you’d like to add them to your site. Without the use of RSS, you’d have to copy the entire thing down and note where you got it. If you use RSS, then the headline and part of the story shows up on your site. And this is an automatic process now. If you use RSS, you just include the directory and automatically, the headline appears without you doing much.
Posting RSS directories could cost you some. But the benefits override it. Some sites even offer free RSS directory posting. If you are just starting up, you may like to check those out. The more RSS directory you have up, the more the possibility that you are sending out information to the people interested in your goods. Reason behind is that people will only get the RSS feeds that they are interested in. If they get yours, they sure are the target market.
Disseminating information online has become easier with RSS. The technology provided a cost-effective way of transferring facts and figures out. Utilizing it would definitely add up to your marketing approach. With it, you have an avenue of reaching out to even more people so easily.
RSS uses XML to syndicate pages. Though that sounds a little technical, there a lot of websites that has user-friendly interface to guide in building your directory.
Samizr Khan teaches Integrity Marketing with blogs. Learn how to build a list & make more money online, visit his blog at http://www.samizrkhan.name.
What Are RSS Aggregators?
One of the most popular features of Internet portals, websites, pages and even emails is a frame that features an organized list of news headlines and periodic updates from other web sources. Really Simple Syndication, formerly “Rich Site Summary” or simply, RSS makes this possible.
Most users visit a lot of websites whose content continually change, such as news sites, community organization or professional association information pages, medical websites, product support pages, and blogs. As Internet surfing became an intrinsic part of business and leisure, it became important to get rid of the very tedious task of repeatedly returning to each website to see updated content.
RSS easily distributes information from different websites to a wider number of Internet users. RSS aggregators are programs that use RSS to source these updates, and then organize those lists of headlines, content and notices for easy reading. It allows computers to automatically retrieve and read the content that users want, then track changes and personalize lists of headlines that interests them.
The specially made computer programs called “RSS aggregators” were created to automatically find and retrieve the RSS feeds of pre-selected internet sites on behalf of the user and organize the results accordingly. (RSS feeds and aggregators are also sometimes referred to as “RSS Channels” and “RSS Readers”.)
The RSS aggregator is like a web browser for RSS content. HTML presents information directly to users, and RSS automatically lets computers communicate with one another. While users use browsers to surf the web then load and view each page of interest, RSS aggregators keeps track of changes to many websites. The titles or descriptions are links themselves and can be used to load the web page the user wants.
RSS starts with an original Web site that has content made available by the administrator. The website creates an RSS document and registers this content with an RSS publisher that will allow other websites to syndicate the documents. The Web site also produces an RSS feed, or channel, which is available together with all other resources or documents on the particular Web server. The website will register the feed as an RSS document, with a listed directory of appropriate RSS publishers.
An RSS feed is composed of website content listed from newest to oldest. Each item usually consists of a simple title describing the item along with a more complete description and a link to a web page with the actual content being described. In some instances, the short description or title line is the all the updated information that a user wants to read (for example, final games scores in sports, weblogs post, or stock updates). Therefore, it is not even necessary to have a web page associated with the content or update items listed — sometimes all the needed information that users need would be in the titles and short summaries themselves.
The RSS content is located in a single file on a webpage in a manner not very different from typical web pages. The difference is that the information is written in the XML computer code for use by an RSS aggregator and not by a web user like a normal HTML page.
There are 2 main parts that are involved in RSS syndication, namely: the source end and the client end.
The client end of RSS publishing makes up part of the system that gathers and uses the RSS feed. For example, Mozilla FireFox browser is typically at the client end of the RSS transaction. A user’s desktop RSS aggregator program also belongs to the client end.
Once the URL of an RSS feed is known, a user can give that address to an RSS aggregator program and have the aggregator monitor the RSS feed for changes. Numerous RSS aggregators are already preconfigured with a ready list of RSS feed URLs for popular news or information websites that a user can simply choose from.
There are many RSS aggregators that can be used by all Internet users. Some can be accessed through the Internet, some are already incorporated into email applications, and others run as a standalone program inside the personal computer.
RSS feeds have evolved into many uses. Some uses gaining popularity are:
- For online store or retail establishments: Notification of new product arrivals
- For organization or association newsletters: title listings and notification of new issues, including email newsletters
- Weather Updates and other alerts of changing geographic conditions
- Database management: Notification of new items added, or new registered members to a club or interest group.
The uses of feeds will continue to grow, because RSS aggregators make access to any information that individual users like more convenient and fun.
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Beginner’s Guide To RSS: Marketing Your Business with Syndicated Content
RSS stands for “Rich Site Summary” or “Really Simple Syndication”, and is another exciting internet marketing method that can help you boost web traffic and skyrocket your sales. When a web site owner wants to share content with other web sites, the content can be placed into an RSS document and registered with an RSS publisher. This content can include articles, press releases, blog postings, headlines, web content, and any other information that the web site owner wants to allow others to read.
Because of the ease of distribution and the potential for unique web traffic, you can use this technique to improve your online marketing efforts. The key to using RSS as a successful marketing tool is to have useful content that engages and informs your intended audience. No one will want to read boring or useless information, and they certainly won’t want to pass it on to others. Use the following tips to make your content sizzle so that your target market will keep coming back for more.
Articles for RSS
When you write articles for use in RSS feeds, put yourself in the shoes of your intended audience members. As a busy professional, do you want to read long articles with large blocks of text, or would you rather read short how-to articles and checklists? Write your articles to be long enough to provide at least one important piece of information, but short enough to capture the attention of even the busiest professional.
Consider breaking longer articles into one article series. Instead of writing one 2,000 word article, you can write ten 200-word articles that are more likely to be read. These shorter articles are also perfect for submission to online newsletters and e-zines. In addition to considering length, consider the topics you can write about.
Make sure that your articles are appropriate for your intended audience in terms of subject matter and depth. A beginner audience will get discouraged with overly technical articles and an advanced audience will not want to read simple tips and how-to articles.
RSS Press Releases
Press releases can easily be distributed with RSS, much like other types of content. Your press releases need to be targeted and contain information that presents your business in the best light. You can send press releases out for many reasons including changes in ownership, special events, charitable donations, the addition of new staff members, and an increase in the number of products and services you provide.
If you write just one press release a week, you can see a startling improvement in your web site traffic due to all the one-way links your submission efforts can generate. Using press releases is also a great way to encourage other people to post your information on their web sites.
RSS Blog Postings
Blogs are one of the most effective internet marketing tools currently available. They’re also relatively inexpensive and easy to maintain. Blogs allow you to post information about your company, optimize your web site for the search engines, and have customers leave comments so that your web site becomes interactive. When you write blog postings that will be used for RSS, keep the same principles of article writing in mind. Shorter posts are better because people can read them in between major projects or when they want to take a quick break from their work.
You should also be sure to write for your intended audience. Don’t overly promote your business in your postings. Instead, give people information and resources that they can use and they’ll be encouraged to keep visiting your web site. This can help you build solid customer relationships and improve your sales conversion rate.
RSS Content
There are many other types of content that can be used to promote your business through RSS. You can turn all of your knowledge into tip sheets, special reports, question and answer listings, and almost any other type of content that can be used with RSS. Keep in mind the rules for writing content for a target audience and you can successfully use your content to develop your web traffic and help to improve your sales conversion rate.
Setting Up an RSS Feed
Setting up an RSS feed requires a small investment of your time that can help you see a phenomenal return. If you want to set up your own RSS feed, you’ll need to have a server, a database with descriptions of your content, and the ability to use scripting. If you’re not able to use scripting or you don’t have a server or database set up, you can hire a freelancer to do the technical work for you so you can concentrate on finding ways to make your content available all over the Web.
Once you have everything ready to go, you can find an aggregate, or RSS publisher, to submit your content to for syndication. Many of these aggregates are available and allow you to submit your site under a specific category.
Categorizing Your Feed
When you submit your content to an aggregate, you need to make sure you submit it under the right category. This helps you to make sure your intended audience can access your information.
If you own a sporting goods business and accidentally categorize your content under a home furnishings category, people will wonder why your content is listed and will not be interested in visiting your web site. Review your content and make a list of categories that it might fit into. If you are a freelance writer, you can categorize your content under small business, home business, marketing, web content, search engine optimization, or publishing depending on the type of writing you do.
The important thing is not to pigeon-hole your content into one category. If your content can be used by many different audiences, submit to several aggregates under different categories to see the best return on your investment.
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