Part of the
You Can Learn Web Success Techniques series.
By Ken Brown
Editor, You Can Learn Series
Updated: December 5, 2004
Over a year and a half ago, I attended a Chicago .Net Users Group meeting in
Downers Grove, Illinois. The discussion topic for the meeting was RSS feeds.
I must admit I was only listening partially, because I didn't think I needed or
wanted an RSS feed. I definitely didn't know what they were and after the
discussion I thought they were hard to implement. Quite frankly, I was wrong on
all counts.
What is an RSS feed? I have read many different words for the acronym,
but for now let's go with Really Simple Syndication. Those big words alone make
you feel like this process isn't for the little guy. But, despite the word
syndication, you can start today to add an RSS feed to your web site, no matter
how big or small your site.
An RSS feed is nothing more than an XML file that contains information about
your web site. You can change the information on a regular basis and people who
subscribe to your RSS feed will be notified of the change and will go to your
site to get more information.
RSS is pull technology instead of push technology. What does that mean?
When you send a newsletter to someone you are pushing that newsletter into
their email account. Even if they have subscribed to your newsletter they may
not really want it. But you still push it to them every week or so. Pull
technology, means that your subscriber goes and gets the information when they
want it. The subscriber has to make an effort to ask for your new content.
At first you might think nobody will ever ask for new content from you. But it
isn't that difficult. See there are RSS readers available for free. These
readers use a timer and every time the timer goes off, the RSS reader will
check to see which sites the user subscribes to. Then they go and get the
information from those sites and present the information in an easy to read
format.
Your RSS subscriber now has a synopsis of your new content. If they find the
synopsis interesting, then the next step is to click on the link provided to
take them to your website where they can read the entire article or get new
information.
It is very similar to sitting down in a doctor's office and picking up a
magazine. The first thing most people do is read the cover to see if there are
any interesting articles. Then they find the page number of the article and go
and read the article.
I already have a newsletter, why bother with an RSS feed?
You might say, "That is the same thing my newsletter does. I already have a
newsletter, why bother with an RSS feed?" Because some people, a lot of people
actually, don't want you to have their email address. I read an article
in November 2004 that said the impact of newsletters is diminishing.
If you need information on
how to create an RSS Feed then check out our article on the mechanics
how to in another section of this website.
Just because you have an RSS feed doesn't mean you get rid of your newsletter.
Just because you have a newsletter, you don't eliminate your RSS feed. They
should work together to drive more traffic of interested users and potential
clients.
Everytime you write a new article for your web site then write a short synopsis
of the article and add it to your RSS feed. Make it a habit, write an article,
add it to your RSS feed. People really want to know what your company and you
are doing.
Okay, you have finished our sessions on Web Businesses. It is time to take a
short test to see how much knowledge you have gained.
Take the test now.
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