Technology News Feed - Are you New to Rss?

If so here is a introduction to what RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is and how your website will benefit from offering an RSS feed to your visitor's. "RSS is used to provide items containing short descriptions of web content together with a link to the full version of the content." (from Wikipedia)

According to a report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 5% (6 million) Americans online consume news and information through RSS aggregators. So the market is already out there!

But what are RSS Feeds?

RSS is a smooth channel of communication between publishers and visitor's. Since RSS has grown in recent popularity, more website owners are beginning to experiment with and use RSS feeds to deliver content in new and exciting ways.

But RSS is not only about text. You can easily use it to deliver audio content, video content and even PowerPoint presentations and PDF files. fox news RSS feed A number of RSS search engines and RSS directories exist that allow you to freely submit RSS feeds. Feeds are generally categorized and grouped together by subject. Web surfers looking for RSS feeds about a specific subject will often search the RSS directories, to locate a feed that matches their specific criteria. Topic specific RSS feed and podcasting directories are also emerging. Choose a web feed's category carefully and only submit relevant feeds to topic specific directories.

Once Windows Longhorn is released in late 2006 users will be able to find, subscribe to and read RSS feeds all the while having very little knowledge of how RSS works. Microsoft is helping to make RSS very user friendly. At the top of each RSS Feed (when you look in the source code) you will see some important info as the date and time the RSS feed was created or updated.

Some RSS Features you must see are:

1. RSS is the free way of getting your content delivered every time.

2. Every time you update your RSS feed by adding new content items to the RSS file, the user is notified of that through his RSS aggregator, making the content immediately available to him, without it having to face any SPAM filters and other barricades on the way.

3. In a time when spam filters are blocking much of the content visitor's have asked for, the biggest benefit to using RSS is that RSS gives publishers and readers the chance to connect, and for good ideas to be shared, without the clutter of unsolicited email messages.

4. You can add your feed to RSS search engines and RSS directories.

5. RSS can also enhance your search engine rankings as well (with advance scripts as the TrafficBoosterPro).

There is little argument from webmasters and publishers that RSS brings in traffic. RSS feeds have yet to hit the mainstream, but they are beginning to appear on prominent web sites including CNN, MSNBC, Yahoo, and even Google. While many sites are now publishing their own RSS feed, they fail to pursue the important step of promoting it.