RSS for Dummies

First, I would like to apologize for the title (RSS for Dummies), but it really describes the way I wrote this article. Because the RSS concept can be confusing, I tried to explain it in the simplest way. While many people are stuck using the same-old methods of Internet marketing, there is a new type of technology that has strongly boosted the possibilities of Internet marketing. This technology is RSS, or Really Simple Syndication.

Even though RSS is an online phenomenon, it has its brothers and sisters in the non-online world. We can analyze the ways RSS compares to other technologies in the non-online world to understand it better. If we take a look at newspaper, magazine, radio, and television syndication, we notice the way RSS corresponds to these forms of technology.

Syndication

So what is syndication? Simply put, it is a conglomerate of content organizations that send media to various locations.

Almost every single major newspaper in the world is syndicated in some way or another, and so is every major radio and television station.

Syndication occurs out of the need for convenience. Media outlets simply can't manage to produce every single issue they would like to include in their radio station or television program. So, through syndication, they are able to purchase content from a hub, which is the syndicate. That way they save a lot of money and capitalize in economies of scale.

Remember, syndication occurs in a variety of media, from radio and television to newspapers, and sometimes even other media as well. Many of your favorite television shows and radio programs are syndicated. In fact, the most popular shows are almost always syndicated because they have to in order to reach a worldwide audience.

RSS: The Online Version of Syndication

RSS basically serves as a content distributor for online content, similar to syndication. However, syndicates charge for their services, whereas RSS is free of charge. However, it is possible to gain revenue from RSS. Read on.

If an RSS feed is distributing provocative or interesting content, then people are more likely to visit the source of that content. So, RSS feeds can hugely increase web visibility and increase the number of people who visit your site. Because many site owners are smart enough to use contextual advertising in their sites, when visitors find interesting content on RSS and they click on it, they arrive at the site which distributed content. In turn, the site gets money from its advertisers, because people are visiting the site and clicking on the ads.

RSS moves way faster than syndication, in fact, it is the evolved version of syndication. You can create content and instantly distribute it throughout the world, whereas syndicated material is a lot slower and needs more time to be distributed everywhere. RSS syndication also creates that elusive viral marketing effect that grows like a snowball effect.

The more you use RSS, the better you get at distributing content. In turn, more people will visit your web site. RSS is defining itself as a banner technology that distributes content quickly. It is advantageous to use this technology, because it can only help.