The Benefits of Using RSS Feeds

RSS saves time. It’s as simple as that. The amount of information that I am able to follow using RSS feeds is astonishing. Suppose you have 50 sites and blogs that you like to visit regularly. Going to visit each website and blog everyday could take you hours. With RSS, you can “subscribe” to a website or blog, and get “fed” all the new headlines from all of these 50 sites and blogs in one place, and see what’s going on in minutes instead of hours. Once I discovered using RSS feeds to follow content it quickly replaced my old way of bookmarking a site in my browser. Now all the new content from my bookmarks is automatically updated in one place for me to see every time I open my browser.

So What is it Exactly?

RSS stands for ‘Really Simple Syndication’, an XML format that was created to syndicate news, and be a means to share content on the web. Many people describe it as a ‘news feed’ that you subscribe to. There are many things you can do with RSS to make searching and organizing information easier. you can research specific information about a particular topic, keep up with your kid’s homework, track packages, find cheap airfares or follow e-Bay auctions and sales. You can search for jobs, get software updates and keep up with other people’s schedules. You subscribe to the feeds of sites that you want to appear in your reader. If you no longer want to follow a particular feed you simply remove it from your reader.

How to Use RSS

There are many feed readers available with a variety of approaches and features – however a good place to start is with a couple of free and easy to use web based ones like Google Reader and Bloglines. For heavier users, there are desktop, application-based readers that offer more features.

My current preference is to view my RSS feed subscriptions on my Google home page. You can do this with Yahoo, MSN and many others as well. Also most browsers allow you to choose a default feed reader for your subscriptions.

By far the easiest way to learn how to use your feed reader is to start subscribing to RSS feeds and viewing them in your reader.

Subscribing to RSS feeds

Look for the RSS Feed icon. There are many variations. Click it. You are subscribed to that feed.

There are a few places to look for an RSS Feed icon. If there is a feed available from the site you are currently viewing your browser will show an RSS icon in the address bar. You can subscribe by clicking that icon. Also many websites promote their feeds with icons and text links throughout their site and make them easy to find and subscribe to.

You now have fresh new content that you have chosen in your reader every time you open it. You can be subscribed to as many feeds as you like and can organize them into folders of related content as well. I have been subscribed to over 50 feeds at a time and continuously add and remove subscriptions to suit my needs.

Additional Resources

Lots of good info in the News Gator RSS Learning Center

Get the low down at Wikipedia

Still not sure? You can ask your questions by submitting a comment.

Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide (PDF)

This is a very helpful guide for configuring the settings of your site. When making changes to your site, I would follow Google”s recommendations to the T. All the info in this guide is easy to understand and implement. Also make sure you start your SEO practices early on in the development of your site. It will save you lots of time in the long run.

If for any reason you feel like you would like help in the implementation of SEO best practices for your site I would be happy to assist you with the development of your content. Just get in touch.