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RSS: Really Simple Syndication
by Anthony Stai
More websites are starting to offer RSS feeds, and more users are
making use of RSS readers instead of visiting every website they want
to read individually. But what is RSS, why is it getting popular, and
– most importantly –what can it do for you? Read on.
What is RSS?
RSS stands for 'really simple syndication', and it does exactly what it
says on the tin. Invented by Dave Winer, one of the first webloggers,
the format aims to provide a standardised way to obtain a website's
content, instead of forcing people to try to pick it out of masses of
HTML. It is a simple XML (strictly, RDF) language designed to make it
easy to describe content.
Information RSS gives you about content includes its title, the dates
when it was created and last updated, and its URL. There is also a
space for content, which can either be used to provide a summary of the
content at the URL or just to provide the content itself.
Which Version?
There is a bit of a controversy about the versions of RSS, for the
simple reason that one is wildly different to the others. While RSS 0.9
and 2.0 are broadly similar, RSS 1.0 is widely considered to be a
disaster – little software understands or uses it, as it's just
too complicated. For most purposes, then, you should stick to RSS 0.9
if what you're doing is relatively simple, and offer RSS 2.0 if you
want to give more detail to some of your users.
How is RSS Produced?
While you could write a script of your own to turn your content into
RSS (it wouldn't be that difficult if you store your articles in a
database), almost all CMSes and blog software packages now do it for
you automatically – if you're looking for it, keep an eye out for
a small orange button that says 'XML' or 'RSS' on it. All you have to
do is give some prominence to the RSS feed, with instructions to your
visitors on what it's for and how to use it.
With most software, then, the RSS should be produced either when you
update your content or, alternatively, every time someone asks for the
RSS. It's important to understand that RSS isn't a 'push' mechanism:
updating it doesn't send changes to anyone until their software asks
for them to be sent. This often means a window of five to ten minutes
between something going in the RSS feed and people seeing it.
How Do RSS Readers Work?
RSS readers work by allowing a user to 'subscribe' to a feed, either by
entering the URL of an RSS feed manually or by clicking on a link that
starts with feed://. The reader then works something like an email
program, retrieving new entries as they are added to the RSS and
alerting the user – indeed, they are similar enough that many
email programs now include a built-in RSS reader.
When the user opens the new RSS entry, they will see what you put in
the content area, usually with a link to open that page of your website
in their web browser. You have to realise, though, that they won't see
any of your ads or graphics in the RSS feed, so it's best to give them
some kind of incentive to click through.
What Else is RSS Used For?
RSS readers might be the most common use of RSS, but the format was
designed to be used for almost anything. There's nothing to stop you,
for example, from taking an RSS feed from another website and
publishing it on yours – you can even be an 'aggregator', mixing
relevant content from the RSS feeds of lots of different websites to
create a new, more useful website.
That's where the word 'syndication' in RSS' name comes from: it lets
you virtually syndicate other people's content on your site, and it
lets people syndicate your content on theirs. It benefits everyone,
since the one doing the aggregating gets more content for their
website, while the one being linked to gets more links to theirs. If
you want to do well on the web, you should make sure you've got an RSS
feed.
About
The Author:
Anthony Stai invites you to
take your
website to the next level. Get one of the best Search Engine
Optimization (SEO) books on the market for Free! Learn the techniques
that differentiate the amateurs from the pros. Get your book at http://www.makemoneyonline4you.com/seo.html
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