You can find it on almost any page on the Internet today, the little square orange button that says “RSS”; it is not surprising that most viewers do not understand its meaning. Whether it appears with the orange button or simply as a link or registration field, RSS, affectionately called Really Simple Syndication, is the best friend of repeat visits to any page. By logging into a website’s RSS feed, you get the ability to easily read anything current on that site with any of a number of free RSS readers, such as Google Reader or FeedBurner. While at first glance this appears to be just a great convenience for the reader, it is actually much more than that and something that should be included in every website design.
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From a reader’s point of view, an RSS feed is a great way to keep up with current information from a particular person, business, or organization, and all that is required is registration. News is delivered using RSS feeds, which can be accessed in many ways and on many devices, providing easily accessible information that would otherwise be lost through RSS feeds. Also, by subscribing only to the pages of greatest interest, you can reduce information overload, allowing you to focus on real items of interest in what you read.
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An RSS feed is a valuable tool to keep users up to date and engaged, leading to more visits and higher conversions. You can choose which news to include and whether or not to allow all content in the feed to be read; otherwise, a link is provided and interested readers are directed to that specific article or update on the website. The impact this can have is great; as this not only helps a business or organization become more familiar to a user due to frequent updates linking to a real website; it also drives the most interested traffic to that point, which means having visitors who are likely to take some sort of action. RSS is one more example of free Internet advertising if used properly.
Creation of RSS feeds
It’s quite easy to include an RSS feed on a website and allow viewers to follow the latest news. The hardest part of the whole process is creating the XML code to link to the news aggregates once the RSS code is submitted. This can be done with special software or by entering it into a text editor or notepad. There are free codes available online and all one needs to do is fill in the particular information to create the feed. The code must be saved as an XML file.
Next, place an HTML or button link somewhere on the website or even on every page, allowing readers to sign in to a website’s automatic updates. The latest content can be viewed in any preferred XML reader once the feed is live.
Once the code has been written and saved and a link or button has been configured, the XML file can be sent to any feed aggregation. There are many to choose from; most are general and accept any type of website, although some are more specialized feeds. The best suggestion is to use the more recognizable names like FeedBurner, XML, and any of the aggregations that specific browsers offer, as these are the ones most likely to be used. Submission is done by simply uploading the XML file to the aggregation site so that anyone who has subscribed to the link will receive that feed in their reader.
It can take a bit of practice to get it right; however, once the feed is set up correctly, there is nothing more to be done than regularly adding new and original content to the website. Testing the feed code at feedvalidator.org can help resolve any issues before submitting to any aggregations. So keep the content flowing great to get the most benefit from having an RSS feed!