Me & the Boss

Me & the Boss

Saturday, April 25, 2009

How To Explain RSS

By Samo Yanezic

When you are called upon to explain RSS feeds, what do you say? Perhaps you fumble about, unsure, you may even try to flub it a bit to look like you understand ti completely. Maybe you just go directly to a web site that will give you the definition. Whatever the case, if you find it difficult to explain RSS feeds easily, you may not be able to explain it thoroughly.

If you, like so many people, are trying to draw attention to your site or blog online, chances are that you won't accomplish that goal unless you have set up an RSS feed for your site. When you think about just what an RSS feed can do for you, it makes perfect sense. In fact, it won't take long to realize that it is a very basic, simple way to get readers and attract traffic.

When explaining RSS feeds, the first thing is to understand what the acronym means. The name itself is very telling: Really Simple Syndication. Once you have a grasp on that, you can begin to use it to your advantage.

In this case, syndication refers to making your media more accessible. When you create your media and make it available through a variety of avenues, you can reach many more people. While the method of making it more accessible does not necessarily mandate a change in the media, that can occur. Think about comics in the newspaper. Comics that are published by several papers are generally thought to be syndicated. This is the same principle upon which you can publish your work.

Now that you know what it is, you may wonder what it is so important. The truth of the matter is that just a handful of years ago, it wasn't important. Times do change, however, and now just about everyone has blogs and media sites that they check on a daily basis. With that in mind, you'll find that they are looking for ways to reduce the amount of pointing and clicking that they do.

They would love to be able to go to one site and to get all the news and writing that they want in that one place, and this is why it is so important to explain RSS, especially to new web marketers.

Once you begin using an RSS feed, you should understand what that means. Simply speaking, it means that the products you create will be zipped directly to someone's personal reading list. Instead of being burdened with remembering that they must click on your site or visit your blog to see updates and new content, all they have to do is go to their reading list. Essentially, your material is delivered directly to them.

They will get it mixed up with other things that they are interested in, and essentially, you are going to be a part of their morning routine. Take some time and really consider what your options are going to be and what you need to know to make the most of this.

Setting up an RSS feed is surprisingly simple. If you already post to established online blogs like Blogspot or the infamous MySpace, then half your battle is won. Most of these types of sites have a way to set up an RSS feed automatically.

Now it is time to do your homework. Do some research and make sure that you know exactly what RSS is, but more importantly, learn why it is important to you and your site. Then just on the opportunity.

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