RSS Feeds - What are they, and how do you use them?

RSS has been around for more than 10 years but has only recently become popular. RSS provides headlines and summaries of information in a concise and standardized way.

RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication (although versions before RSS 2.0 have been known by other names). RSS feeds are written in a computer language called XML, a special mark up language much like HTML This means that they have mechanisms included that identify structures in a document. The structures define the content and how that content will be displayed within that document. RSS is what makes big news websites possible: RSS files are used to create a data feed which will deliver headlines, links or virtually any other piece of information to a channel viewer application, commonly called a news reader

In simple terms, an RSS feed is a system that allows web content to be put into a standard format for viewing through an RSS feed reader. It allows the user to save time and effort by viewing recent content from many different websites, without having to visit the sites in question.

RSS Feedsor news feeds are growing quickly and have become a major part of the Internet but many users don't understand what they are. They allow people to see when their favourite websites have added new content without actually having to go to that web site, this can be done through simple, often free pieces of software named RSS readers.

Using RSS feeds is a great way to keep up to date with the latest posts from your favourite blogs and websites. You can use RSS feeds to get the latest news, weather,or movies, and be able to read them all in one place. RSS gives you the ability to have other websites have up to date, accurate information from you online in seconds. Headline news, technical articles, website updates, security alerts, or your favorite food recipes are just a few of the things that you can syndicate!Many people set up RSS feeds to update in their My Yahoo, or Google page. You can also use them to keep informed with any groups that you belong to.

Rss feeds also can be used for online marketing very effectively.If you want to promote your website, using RSS can get your URL listed with all search engines fast and easy. No more waiting weeks for your URL to get listed with search engines, RSS marketingallows this to happen almost immediately. This is certainly a good choice for new web pages that are looking to increase web traffic. Another awesome aspect of RSS marketing is that it can get your web page returned as the number one result for your web pages' most popular keywords.

For example, take a look at these results reported on MarketingStudies.net:W. Atlee Burpee  Co. (the garden seed people) saw their RSS strategy help them increase November sales by four times from just one trial feed featuring a 'seed of the day'.USAToday.com reports that their RSS traffic is 'rising month after month by orders of magnitude', even though they are barely promoting their RSS feeds.

The need to provide fresh content is a challenge for most webmasters. Rss feeds are an easy solution to this problem. RSS feeds create a ever changing source of content syndication and need very little maintenance once set up. There are several advantages to using RSS feeds as a source of fresh content to your site. Fresh content keeps your site visitors coming back and continually adds value to your website. It helps to establish you as an authority in your industry and makes people more comfortable buying from your site. RSS feeds greatly aids your site in obtaining higher ranking in the search engines.