RSS - What Are The Benefits?

RSS is an Acronym. RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication" or "Rich Site Summary". RSS content is delivered through RSS feeds. These are simple files structured in a specific way. [A type of xml] The XML file is the format used for distributing YOUR news headlines via the Web, which is known as "Syndication".

RSS files (which are also called RSS feeds or channels) simply contain a list of items. Usually, each item contains a title, summary, and a link to a URL. RSS files look a lot like HTML code. . It is up to the user to use this information in any way that he wants. "RSS" is simply a technology that distributes your information (whatever it might be -- ex. Articles, Special Offers, Product Reviews, Resource Announcements) by syndicating it across the net.

RSS, in particular, delivers this information as an XML file called an RSS feed, webfeed, RSS stream, or RSS channel. In addition to facilitating syndication, web feeds allow a website's frequent readers to track updates on the site using an aggregator, a type of software that retrieves syndicated Web content. It can be a format for syndicating news and the content of news-like sites, including major news sites like Wired, news-oriented community sites, and personal weblogs.

This "Syndication" is where the TRUE power of RSS is unleashed, getting your message or information across the web in an INSTANT to websites, your subscribers and/or readers.

There are 2 main components of a RSS feed.

- Channel: A channel is the total collection of items you wish to highlight in your site. There is exactly one channel per RSS file.
- Item: Item is a single thing you wish to highlight from your site. There is at least one, but no more than 15 items per channel. But it is better to limit to 6 items per channel.

For example - you may create a RSS feed about all articles on your web site. That is, articles covering different topics in one RSS feed. Then the channel will contain information about the feed (“Read articles on various subjects”), the location (web site address or URL) and a short description of the content you have written about. There will be multiple items in the RSS Feed. Each item will have information about one article (the title, author, category, short description and the URL where the article may be found).

In general, anything that you publish frequently can be offered as an RSS feed. You can also find online retailers and other catalog companies also offering RSS feeds of their product range. To increase your web presence, promote your online business, and increase web traffic you should invest in providing an RSS feed for your blog or website . In this way you will be able to distribute your information to a vast and fast-growing community of users, who are more interested in knowing about your topic. In general, people who write articles or publish newsletters benefit the most. Most blog software allows you to offer RSS feed of the blog posts. You can also offer your press releases through an RSS feed.

There are several ways of receiving RSS feeds, but the technology is moving forwards and adapting very quickly. The main method is to download a program called a 'News Reader'. You can then set up this program to receive RSS information from whatever websites you wish that offer it, and browse headlines and story summaries that link through to the full story on the website.
There are several News Reader programs available for all platforms, many of which are free. See a list on google.

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Alternatively, some newer web browsers offer similar functionality already built-in which will detect whether the website you are viewing offers an RSS feed and will then let you create a constantly-updated list of links in your 'bookmarks' menu.

The Firefox browser (Windows, Mac OSX, Linux) will let you do this, and will alert you to an RSS-enabled page by displaying an icon in the bottom-right corner of the window . Apple's Safari browser (Mac OSX only) offers an even fuller service, and other browsers will probably follow.

It is important to submit your RSS feeds to as many submission sites as possible. To do this manually is quite time consuming and labour intensive. I would recommend automating this process investing in RSS submission software such as RSS Announcer. It is worthwhile looking seriously at RSS technology as it is an impressive tool to use to significantly benefit you in your internet marketing and website exposure.