RSS Feeds and How to Use Them

RSS feeds are the most important technology to arrive on the internet since blogging, yet take up of RSS feeds among webmasters and web visitors is still very low. The Sunday Times recent ran a survey to see how home users use the internet, RSS did not appear in it at all.

It's true that RSS is nowhere near as ubiquitous as email, but email have been around since the beginning of the internet. RSS and RSS feeds are relatively new to internet users. If you are a webmaster you can benefit from this new technology that will allow you to speak directly to your visitors and keep them updated with what you are up to. You can get up to speed with RSS feeds at http://www.newsniche.com.

According to Feedster, one of the largest RSS feed search engines, there are over 9 million feeds in its index. RSS feeds are a technology to be taken seriously, you can ignore it now but you will find yourself way behind other webmasters when it comes to the benefits of having your own feed.

To put RSS in context take a look at Bloglines, probably the largest feed aggregator on the internet. When you subscribe to a feed using Bloglines they tell you how many other of their readers are subscribed to the same feed. Slashdot there more subscribed to feed besides their own has about 35,000 subscribers to their RSS feed. Remember that's just other Bloglines users so it only reflects a small percentage of their total readers.

Let me take you through some of the benefits of having your own RSS feed. If you take the example I just used for readers of the Slashdot feed. Every time a new item is published to the RSS feed it is available to every single subscriber immediately. You are guaranteed that every reader will get the message whether they choose to read it or not. If you done this with email you would be lucky if a majority of your readers even received the message due to spam filters and other obstacles.

Unlike email an RSS feed is zero maintenance. There is no list of addresses to maintain, no server needed to send out your messages, all you are doing is updating a file on your server. There is no need to worry about being accused of spamming, double opt in or adding to the spam problem.

I have left the best till last. You can even have detailed statistics about your RSS feed by using a third party such as Feedburner, all free. Feedburner will monitor the requests made for your feed so you know how many readers you have and even tell you which items have been clicked on. Plus Feedburner saves you your valuable bandwidth and takes away any worries about the compatibility of your RSS feed.

I have been publishing an RSS feed for several months, it has worked so well that I have decided that I do not need the hassle of an email newsletter. The only time I use email now is if I want a personal conversation with someone, that's what email is great at.

Allan is the webmaster at http://www.newsniche.com an RSS resource for webmasters. Learn how to use RSS to attract and retain visitors to your site.

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Google News Updated : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 08:05:30 GMT Data on defective genes make tailored remedies possible - Baltimore Sun Voice of America Data on defective genes make tailored remedies possible Baltimore Sun - 41 minutes ago By Frank D. Roylance Researchers cataloging the genetic codes of deadly human brain and pancreatic cancers say they have found several dozen defective genes that appear to work in concert to set off the tumor growth that eventually kills their victims. In Long-Awaited Maps of Cancer, The Breakthrough Is the Problem Wall Street Journal What You Need to Know About Mapping the Cancer Genome U.S. News & World Report Reuters - The Associated Press - Bloomberg - Science Daily (press release) all 209 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:24:12 GMT Schwarzenegger: Palin delivered 'fantastic' speech - San Jose Mercury News KGET 17 Schwarzenegger: Palin delivered 'fantastic' speech San Jose Mercury News - 1 hour ago AP SACRAMENTO—Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday said Sarah Palin hit a home run with her acceptance speech for the Republican vice presidential nomination. Video: Governor To Californians: Bug Lawmakers About Budget kcratv California nears record in spending plan stalemate Sacramento Bee San Gabriel Valley Tribune - Los Angeles Times - New York Times - City Watch all 302 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 06:14:17 GMT McCain takes stage, turns down heat - Boston Globe The Gazette (Montreal) McCain takes stage, turns down heat Boston Globe - 1 hour ago By Joanna Weiss For a man at the top of a presidential ticket, John McCain had an unusual task last night: to remind the nation that he was the star of his own show. Palin Assails Critics and Electrifies Party New York Times GOP welcomes McCain with enthusiasm Milwaukee Journal Sentinel CBS News - Kansas City Star - ABC News - TIME all 1,387 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 06:20:31 GMT '1967 lines not up for discussion' - Jerusalem Post Sydney Morning Herald '1967 lines not up for discussion' Jerusalem Post - 32 minutes ago By JPOST.COM STAFF The July 4, 1967 lines are not up for discussion and are the very foundations from which direct talks between Israel and Syria will start, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said Friday. Video: Sarkozy in Syria : the press is divided france24english Syrian sets terms of role on peace Philadelphia Inquirer New York Times - Boston Globe - International Herald Tribune - Voice of America all 1,039 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:32:39 GMT Rice set for historic Libya visit - BBC News RTE.ie Rice set for historic Libya visit BBC News - 3 hours ago US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is set to begin a historic visit to Libya as part of a North African tour. She is expected to meet Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi as part of the trip, which will also include visits to Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. Rice set to begin historic Libya visit AFP Rice set to make history in Libya The Associated Press Aljazeera.net - International Herald Tribune - WZTV - Bloomberg all 425 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 04:41:55 GMT Boeing Workers Are on the Brink - BusinessWeek Wall Street Journal Boeing Workers Are on the Brink BusinessWeek - 1 hour ago Despite being offered a relatively generous package by management, Boeing machinists are ready to go on strike. Here's why by Joseph Weber When a stunning 87% of Boeing machinists voted on Sept. Motown Blues for Boeing? Wall Street Journal Boeing, machinists union meet with mediator The Associated Press Seattle Times - Bloomberg - Reuters - Chicago Tribune all 1,406 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 06:54:59 GMT Wal-Mart acting on shifts in consumer spending - BusinessWeek Los Angeles Times Wal-Mart acting on shifts in consumer spending BusinessWeek - 3 hours ago By CHUCK BARTELS If the mood on Wall Street is grim, then consumers must be feeling even more bleak, right? Fuel prices remain high, inflation has hit food prices hard and consumer confidence is down. August another disappointing month for retailers Los Angeles Times Lower-cost stores gain from US shoppers' thriftiness Financial Times Forbes - The Associated Press - Wall Street Journal all 673 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 05 Sep 2008 04:48:39 GMT Create Blog Add RSS Feeds To My Web Pages

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