What is an RSS feed?

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is an XML-based format for content distribution. See Wikipedia’s description at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS_%28file_format%29 .

News, information, enterprise applications and weblogs (blogs) can all be published in RSS. When a new article is posted or a change is made to an application, RSS feeds can automatically notify the user. Text, images, audio (including podcasts) and video can be incorporated into RSS feeds. In simple, a code is inserted into your web site and the selected categories of news are “pulled” to your site automatically.

How do RSS feeds impact my business?

For Individual Users, RSS feeds can help keep you up-to-date on news, information and blog posts, making you more knowledgeable and productive, both at work and at home. According to Technorati, as of March 2006, there are more than 30 million RSS feeds available. Most mainstream news and information sites publish RSS feeds.

For your web site, depending on your product or service, there are a number of different use cases for RSS since both internal (enterprise applications, blogs, reports) and external (industry news, competitive information, blogs) content can be delivered as feeds. In particular, many businesses see benefits by not having to periodically check Web sites for key updates or wade through traffic on e-mail distribution lists. In addition to increasing knowledge and productivity, RSS feeds can also be used for brand monitoring, crisis communications, internal/executive communications and competitive intelligence.

For Publishers, Media Companies and Other Content/Information Providers, RSS feeds offer readers, visitors and customers a convenient way to read and access their information. RSS feeds can also be incorporated into web sites to offer a more personalized and rich user experience, strengthen the brand and maximize revenue opportunities.

Search engines that place importance of page rank on the amount of relevant content that you display on a given site, also “see” the constantly changing news headlines and articles as a plus. Adding an RSS news feed to your site can be one of the most cost-effective things you can do to help you in the quest for higher rankings.

If you would like to find out more about RSS feeds and how they can be implemented on your site contact us today.

Justin Kaiser
Creative Identity Group