Free Website Content - What Are RSS Feeds
What Are RSS Feeds?
RSS Feeds
RSS also known as rich site summary or real simply syndication,
arrived on the scene a number of years ago, but was only
recently embraced by webmasters as a means to effectively
syndicate content. RSS Feeds provide webmasters and content
providers an avenue to provide concise summaries to prospective
readers. Thousands of commercial web sites and blogs now
publish content summaries in an RSS feed. Each item in the
feed typically contains a headline; article summary and
link back to the online article.
Benefit to the Webmaster
As the web has become more crowded webmasters have
been striving to provide fresh and up to date content for
their website visitors. Many webmasters have discovered
they can easily utilize the information in RSS feeds to
provide fresh web content.
RSS feeds are composed in XML, which is a
very simple markup language. Similar to HTML, XML uses tags
to identify fields. Webmasters can easily parse the RSS
feed and dynamically create web pages that contain headlines
and summaries. The feeds will continuously update, supplying
a steady stream of automatically generated fresh content.
RSS allows webmasters to:
1.) Provide fresh and relevant content on
their website, which encourages users to return.
2.) Constantly changing content
means that search engine spiders will visit more frequently.
3.) Automate content delivery.
The benefits of RSS feeds are not limited
to webmasters, surfers too benefit from the technology as
well.
Benefit to Web Surfers
The beauty of RSS is that readers can quickly scan
headlines (titles) and read articles of interest. Because
the information is condensed and provided in a single location
users can generally review more information in a shorter
time frame. Additional information is only a click away.
Best of all readers choose the feeds they wish to see, there
is no spam with RSS. If you are not completely thrilled
with the content appearing in a feed simply remove it from
the newsreader. The technology is a pull technology rather
than push technology, meaning the content is not forced
on the consumers, who pull the content they want to see.
RSS allows for users to:
1.) Easily locate information.
2.) Read condensced information
or 'soundbytes' with clearly marked and dated topic material.
3.) Classify and categorize
information in an easy to navigate manner.
4.) Maximize their time without
having to deal with spam.
RSS feeds can be viewed in a news aggregator
or reader, which constantly updates and shows unread feeds.
I found the functionality of the newsreaders to be similar
to a simple email client. Consumers generally enter the
URL of any RSS feeds that interest them. Topics with a common
theme can be segregated into related groups.
I highly recommend FeedDemon http://www.feeddemon.com
by BradSoft as a newsreader. FeedDemon is extremely easy
to use and allows for quick scanning and indexing of topics.
FeedDemon allows users to quickly scan, sort and scroll
through headline and article summaries, while viewing the
actual content in a split screen web browser.
Finding Topic Specific Relevant Feeds
In order to find feeds that provide niche information
users can search Feedster. Feedster http://www.feedster.com
is a rapidly growing news search engine that indexes information
contained within RSS feeds. Searches for topic specific
feeds can be conducted and feeds can be retrieved for syndication.
Benefit to Content Developer
While the benefits to users and webmasters are clear
the distribution opportunities made available to content
developers should not be overlooked. Information contained
in the RSS feed can be easily syndicated, increasing content
distribution and reach.
RSS allows for content developers to:
1.) Increase exposure in niche markets.
2.) Communicate with user bases
and reach potential customers via an alternate communication
method.
3.) Disseminate relevant information.
4.) Define themselves as an
industry expert.
5.) Automate content delivery.
RSS has effectively standardized the format
for content delivery and has effectively defined the accepted
standard for content distribution and syndication. RSS will
likely rival email as a means of content distribution in
another few years. The shear simplicity makes the technology
very appealing.
The distribution potential, while albeit difficult
to measure, is still attractive to all parties making the
likelihood that RSS popularity will only continue to grow.
RSS Feeds to Try
Feeds exist for almost any topic consider trying
these feeds out by entering the url in your feed reader:
Small Business Feed - small
business tips and news
http://www.small-business-software.net/blog-feed.xml
Software Marketing Blog Summary - software
marketing and online news
http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/blog-feed.xml
SMS, Wireless Messaging Related News.
- news related to telecom, wireless industry and
NotePage's software
http://www.notepage.net/blog-feed.xml
Free Content Articles - collection of free
content articles, updates when new article is released.
http://www.small-business-software.net/article-feed.xml
Software Marketing News - news
related to software conferences, awards, software development
and marketing
http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/feed.xml
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for NotePage, Inc. http://www.notepage.net
a company specializing in alphanumeric paging, SMS and wireless
messaging software solutions. Other sites by Sharon can
be found at http://www.rss-specifications.com
, http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com
, and http://www.small-business-software.net
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This article may be used freely in opt-in
publications and websites, provided that the resource box
is included and the links are active. A courtesy copy of
the issue or a link to any online posting would be greatly
appreciated send an email to sharon@notepage.net
.
Additional articles available for publication available
at http://www.small-business-software.net/free-website-content.htm
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