Why Every Site Needs RSS

Why Every Site Needs RSS

By Andrew J. Morris

RSS or 'Really Simple Syndication' is not just for Blogs and
News sites. Every website can benefit from this newly
popular technology. The term 'syndication' is what throws a
lot of people off the track. Syndication is like news
articles, isn't it?

Well it can be. But think of it like this. If you had a
bricks-and-mortar store and decided to carry a new product
line, how would you let people know? You could advertise of
course, but a better and free alternative is to send a news
release to the local paper. Their business section may carry
your announcement free of charge.

Now back to our cyber-store in virtual space. If you add a
new web page, or make substantial changes to existing pages,
how do you let your customers (both former and future) know?
You can email your former customers, but spam blocking
software will prevent half of them from getting your
message. And keeping track of mailing lists, unsubscribe
requests and address changes is nothing short of a
nightmare.

Instead, post a news release using RSS. Interested customers
will have their newsreader programs watching for your
announcements, and will get the news as soon as you send it
out. The announcement will include a link to the new or
changed page, and your customer can click on it if they are
interested. True, fewer will click through than might read
an email from you -- but those who do will arrive at your
site in a much more receptive frame of mind. And those email
readers still need to click through to your site to see your
new page anyhow.

If you make frequent additions or changes to your site you
should have your own RSS feed. Check out these sites to
learn how to make your own feed:

Making An RSS Feed
http://searchenginewatch.com/sereport/article.php/2175271

How To Get Your Web Site Content Syndicated
http://www.high-search-engine-ranking.com/How_To_Get_Your_Web_Site_Content_Syndicated.htm

Or you might want to try these programs to format your
information, so you can post it to your website:

ListGarden RSS Feed Generator Program
Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux, open source
http://www.softwaregarden.com/products/listgarden/index.html

RSS Headliner
Create RSS Feed file on-line to copy and post to your site.
http://www.webdevtips.com/webdevtips/codegen/rss.shtml

But what if you don't often make changes or additions to
your site? There is a new site that offers a solution to
that problem. Shared RSS provides feed by TOPIC rather
than publisher. So you simply post your message in the
appropriate topic category (there are thousands to choose
from) and share your feed with others publishing on the
same topic. It is a free service that you certainly should
use if you do not publish your own feed.

http://www.sharedrss.com/

Wouldn't that mean (I can hear someone object) that I
would be sharing a feed with my competition? Well yes, but
that isn't a bad thing. It's like all those antique stores
that congregate in the same part of town -- shoppers
flock there and wander store to store, to the benefit of
all.

Don't kid yourself, customers already know about your
competition. For every customer of yours who visits their
sites because they found an RSS link on your site, you
will receive one, two or three visits from potential
customers who found your information on an RSS link they
discovered on your competitors site, or in a catalog of
RSS feeds. The benefit far outweighs the risk.

And RSS feeds are not just for business. If other sites
submit to the shared feed they will bring with them more
people interested in that topic, who may become your
future customers.

No, RSS is not just for Blogs anymore! Start your own or
submit to a shared feed, either way you can only benefit.