RSS Feed Explained

| by Paula Brett | No Gravatar

In today’s Web 2.0 online environment, it’s almost impossible to land on a blog, newsletter or current website without seeing an invitation to get the webmaster’s information via RSS.

rss1 RSS Feed ExplainedIf you are one of the thousands of new Internet Marketers just dipping their toes in the fast-paced waters of the Internet, you might not understand the valuable uses for RSS (Really Simple Syndicaton) and how syndication can improve your sales and drive traffic to your offers. Believe me, you are not alone.

Every new process, or revamped old process, develops it own set of terminology and buzz words, so let’s take a look at some of the RSS terminology first.

  • Syndication:

Syndication, according to Wikipedia, means that you allow your website, or a portion of it, to be available for other sites to use. This usually means “…making web feeds available from your site, or blog, in order to provide other people with a summary of your website’s recently added content (for example, the latest news or forum posts).”

Different types of syndicated content can be found all over the Web, including newspapers, commercial websites, blogs or product offers from Internet Marketers. It has become a free and easy form of advertisement that increases targeted traffic and expands your site’s exposure across normally unreachable online platforms.

Web syndication by online marketers is removing the hesitancy web surfers have with providing personal information to invisible marketers, like name and email address for signing up to receive a newsletter. Those surfers expecting to subscribe to an RSS feed instead are growing in numbers and will soon be in the majority. Don’t ignore them!

RSS and Atom are the two main syndication formats.

  • RSS Feed:

To start with, an RSS feed notifies you when a web site or blog you are interested in has been updated. There are two kinds of RSS feeds, static and dynamic.

When you see the latest scores for your favorite team or are continually checking for bargain airline tickets for your vacation to Disney World, that information would be a static feed from a sports news media or an airline/ticket site.

Info from a dynamic feed would depend on your search terms to provide specific information to add to your data stream. A dynamic feed would be one from a website you are watching for new content or notices abou new products. It would give you notice of the change on the website.rss2 RSS Feed Explained

  • Feed Reader or News Aggregator:

Those two terms are merely names for the software that allows you to get the RSS feeds from websites or blogs that interest you and have it displayed so you can read it and use the information the way you want to use it.

At the moment I use Googe Feedreader and you can find an article about how to use it here but you can find 12 or 15 feed reader options at: http://blogspace.com/rss/readers.

  • The Big Question…What is RSS?

RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, is a format for delivering regularly changing web content and is making it easier for you to stay informed by receiving the lastest content from your sites of interest. You don’t have to visit each site individually and do not have to join each site’s newsletter by providing your private information.

More than several big name sites, like Yahoo News, the BBC News in the UK, the US government and more newspapers and other news media than you can shake a stick at, are providing free RSS news feeds for delivery to anyone. They are not doing that for no reason, but because they recognize the extended reach their message will have and the benefits that reach will return to them. Copy success!

Internet Marketers are starting to add an RSS feed to their websites and blogs. Look for a button or link that says “XML,” “RSS” or an invitation to “Syndicate This Site” if you want to start receiving their information via an RSS news feed.

Almost any information can be used to publicize updates to your website or blog… photos, summaries of your latest update or simply the title of your update with a link back to the original source.

RSS benefits both the readers and the publishers of the feed. When you update your blog post, add new content to your website or want to announce a new sales price or special bonus for your readers, they all wil know immediately about the change or special offer and can decide if they want to visit your site or not.

Internet Marketers can reach a much wider audience for their products or services because web browsers are becoming much more likely to subscribe to an RSS feed and avoid the email clutter that clogs their inbox after subscribing to a few newsletters.

rss4 300x272 RSS Feed Explained All the benefits of RSS feeds are not restricted to your subscribers, but have some powerful results when used as a marketing tool. When you use an RSS feed to market your products, you are attracting visitors and customers who are interested in your products and want to receive your information. This Win-Win process protects you from a spamming accusation.

The new techniques and requirements of using RSS to get your message circulating may still intimidate or confuse some of your customers. It is a good idea, for customer service, to offer both the RSS feed and emai notification of your website, blog or product updates. You do not want to immediately exclude a set of customers who prefer one method over the other, regardless of the reason.

As a tool to increase targeted and focused traffic to your site, RSS feeds work great for this top-of-the-list marketing need. If the content update interests your reader, many will want to read the complete story on your website and will click the link to do just that. When that happens, they arrive at your website already interested in your product… marketing gold!

Getting comfortable with this vibrant and ever-changing Web 2.0 tool will expand your reach and increase your conversions. More and more people are switching to RSS feeds everyday to make their lives less cluttered and to put the information they receive in their own hands and not those of random marketers. Don’t ignore this grass roots movement… join it!

Why not try it out by subscribing to my feed? ;)

Related Article: Catch Up on Your Favourite Blogs in One Place

If you would like to be notified the next time I make a post, sign up for Email Alerts or subscribe to the RSS feed. Many thanks for reading

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  1. 25 Responses to “RSS Feed Explained”

  2. By SueNo Gravatar on Aug 10, 2008 | | Reply

    Hi Paula,
    Once again, thanks for an interesting and informative posting. Finding out more about RSS has been on my “to do list” for some time, so I found your article very helpful.
    I love your blog- keep it up.
    Cheers,
    Sue

  3. By Pat GrahamNo Gravatar on Aug 10, 2008 | | Reply

    Well Paula…I’m not even close to being up to speed on some of the Web 2.0 techniques, RSS being one of the deepest mysteries to me.

    I read your explanation with a lot of interest and some understanding. I will have to read it a few more times until I absorb it all.

    Excellent explanation.

    Pat

  4. By Lisa LomasNo Gravatar on Aug 10, 2008 | | Reply

    A truly powerful tool, I feel you explanation was well produced.

  5. By Paula BrettNo Gravatar on Aug 10, 2008 | | Reply

    Sue, Pat and Lisa, thanks for taking the time to comment.

    I really was suprised at how many people I have talked to know so little about RSS. I hope you all subscribed ;)

    Paula

  6. By Stuart TurnbullNo Gravatar on Aug 11, 2008 | | Reply

    Hi Paula

    Thanks for explaining RSS, I’d been wondering what it was all about!
    How does the novice internet marketer set it all up on their blog?

    Thanks

    Stuart

    http://www.printsmakeprofits.com
    http://www.stuart-turnbull.com

  7. By derek ChambersNo Gravatar on Aug 11, 2008 | | Reply

    i never noticed until now that your favicon is a mini you

  8. By Paula BrettNo Gravatar on Aug 12, 2008 | | Reply

    Hi Stuart

    I’ve just checked out your blog and you already have an RSS feed on it, it’s the orange button thang in the top right-hand corner. Just click on it and you can subscribe to your own feed.

    Hi Del

    LOL! Trust you to comment on that!

    I AM a mini-me… I’m only 4ft 11″

    Did you subscribe to my feed????? Did you? Did you? ;)

  9. By Stuart TurnbullNo Gravatar on Aug 12, 2008 | | Reply

    Hi Paula
    So thats what that orange button does!
    Cheers
    Stuart

    http://www.printsmakeprofits.com
    http://www.stuart-turnbull.com

  10. By Bob KimballNo Gravatar on Aug 12, 2008 | | Reply

    Hey Paula,

    Most interesting blog post…and yes…I DID subscribe. Does one have to have a program such as Feedburner before an RSS button works? I’m , obviously, still a bit stoopid ’bout this!

    ciao,
    Bob

  11. By Paula BrettNo Gravatar on Aug 12, 2008 | | Reply

    Hi Bob, thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. And you’re certainly not stoopid!

    No, you don’t need to use feedburner to burn your feed, I just use it because the admin area has loads of stats and things to play with so I can see what people are doing on my site.

    I just checked out your blog and you have two tiny RSS links at the very bottom of your blog, one for your post feed and one for your comments feed – try clicking on one and subscribing to your own blog.

    You really need to get those moved right up to the top of your blog, or at least add a button further up your blog, so that your readers can see them straight away and subscribe.

    You will also see that in your browser window to the far right you have an RSS feed icon too, which readers can click on to subscribe to your blog

    Paula

  12. By Bob KimballNo Gravatar on Aug 12, 2008 | | Reply

    Thanks Paula,

    I moved the button. I like the stats thingy too. (in Feedburner)
    Kinda Like Google Analytics…

    Keep on rocking..

    Bob

  13. By Paula BrettNo Gravatar on Aug 12, 2008 | | Reply

    Hey, Bob, that’s cool – you could even risk it a little bigger, you know, smack them in the face when they arrive, lol! But then I suppose not everyone is as OTT as me ;)

    P

  14. By Cindy KingNo Gravatar on Aug 16, 2008 | | Reply

    I posted a link to this in my Sunday Blog Carnival at: http://cindyking.biz/international-marketer-review-blog-carnival-13/ and I stumbled your post.

    Stop by to vote on your post as the weekly best article.

  15. By AlexNo Gravatar on Aug 16, 2008 | | Reply

    Paula – I’m relatively new and a bit confused to say the least. I attempted to subscribe to this blog via RSS feed but ran into a wall. How do I know what ‘Feeder’ to use (asked at time of subscription)and exactly where am I going to receive these notices? Is it sent me via my email account or how am I notified of new content? Forgive my ignorance.

  16. By Paula BrettNo Gravatar on Aug 16, 2008 | | Reply

    Hi Alex

    There are several feed readers you can use. You can choose any of the ones offered. I use Google Reader, and you might like to try that one.

    You can check out how to set this up in my post here

    http://paula-brett.com/blog/catch-up-on-your-favourite-blogs-in-one-place/

    Alternatively, you can either subscribe using the box at the top of the page, and I will send you an email every time I update the blog. Or when you click on the big orange button to subscribe you will see a link called Get Paula-Brett.com delivered by email, just click on this and you will be taken here

    http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/emailverifySubmit?feedId=1693559

  17. By Lee JonesNo Gravatar on Sep 8, 2008 | | Reply

    Hi Paula

    I think at the time of writing this, you are still in Florida, and hope you are having a great time……. I know i would be !

    Thanks for your time with this post, i really find subjects like this a little boring to study to get enough info to fully understand what it’s all about. But you seamed to have cleared up a few points that i was uncertain about.
    I’m just getting my head around the in’s and out’s of stumbleupon, but one this is for sure you are getting a stumbleupon thumbs up from me.

    Speak to you soon Paula

    Lee

  18. By LyndaNo Gravatar on Sep 15, 2008 | | Reply

    Hi Paula

    A very helpful explanation – just what I needed: and yes, I’ve subscribed to your email feed. But how do we take it a step further?

    For example, I’ve just started using Squidoo and there’s an option when setting up a lens (article) to have an RSS feed. Now, I’m told that by having a feed it increases the chances of your site staying ‘on top’ because the RSS spiders help to keep it fresh.

    You can go to blogsearch.google.com and see all the related feeds and choose one to go into the lens – but where I’m stuck is which one to choose and just how to incorporate it into my lens. Presumably the same would apply to any web page I set up – my blog for example, or whatever.

    Any suggestions?

    I always enjoy your emails, Paula, so keep ‘em coming.

    Lynda

  19. By Paula BrettNo Gravatar on Sep 16, 2008 | | Reply

    Lee, thanks for the stumble, that’s great :)

    Lynda, I have to say, shamefacedly, I haven’t spent as much time on Squidoo as I should, I joined ages ago when it first started and built a lens, but have not kept it up as other things got in the way.

    Not having visited for a long time, I have kind of lost track of all the different modules, I am sure 100s more have been added since I built my lens.

    I did, though, login to my account and do a quick RSS Feed search in the help section and came up with a pretty busy page full of info, so I reckon you could find out pretty much whatever you wanted to know about using RSS feeds with Squidoo.

    I can’t actually post the url to the search result page that I got, but I’m sure if you do your own search you’ll have fun looking at the results

  20. By Gary PackerNo Gravatar on Sep 24, 2008 | | Reply

    Hi Paula,

    Again, a very impressive post.

    Now I’m getting to grips with Internet Marketing I am making a list of things to do, or things I need to learn. RSS Feeds are coming to the top of this list.

    This post has certainly made some sense and turned on an “aha” moment for me.

    Definitely going to Digg it.

    Keep up the good work Paula.

    Regards,

    Gary

  21. By Paula BrettNo Gravatar on Sep 24, 2008 | | Reply

    Thanks so much for your comment, Gary – don’t you just love those `aha’ moments? ;) I’m grateful for the digg too, you’re a star

    Paula

  22. By Paul HooperNo Gravatar on Jan 16, 2009 | | Reply

    Cheers for that Paula, i’ve never really understood what RSS was all about, so great to read your Blog entry all about it. I will be clicking on people’s orange boxes all over the place now…starting with your’s ;-)

    Thanks,
    Paul Hooper

    Paul Hooper’s last blog post..Get your Emails Read

  23. By Martin BiglerNo Gravatar on Jan 26, 2009 | | Reply

    Thanks Paula for this excellent post about RSS feeds.

    Funny enough, I had done a post on my blog end of December too, just for the same reason. Nobody seems to know about the benefits of RSS and how to use it. Maybe my post is interesting for your readers too.

    And also thanks for your great “Operation Ebook” which helps me best in writing my own eBoook right now.

    Just subscribed to your RSS…

    Cheers
    Martin

    Martin Bigler’s last blog post..Benefits of RSS Feeds

  24. By Max MillerNo Gravatar on Mar 25, 2009 | | Reply

    Thank you. Your post cleared up a lot.
    I need to set some time aside and come up to speed on RSS.

  25. By Mary Jane LangNo Gravatar on May 24, 2009 | | Reply

    Dear Paula,

    Thanks for this very good explanation. I will keep it for reference because I am focused on other things than my own website at this time but that might change.

    All the best to you and yours, Mary Jane Lang

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