What is RSS? How can you use it for your business?
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I had a meeting with a local business owner the other day, nothing formal just coffee at a local java joint but the conversation turned to an event he was involved in and I asked him for his website address. Oddly, he didn’t have one … which horrified me but it also reenforced a belief that I have, most people don’t understand how the web works or what it’s all about.
That’s the thing about RSS feeds as well, most people simply have no clue what an RSS feed is or why it’s so important for their business. Now, some people translate RSS to Rich Site Summary but personally I like Real Simple Syndication … which is right I have no idea but what I do know is that if you’re a small business or run a website, having an RSS feed is as important as air.
What is an RSS feed?
An RSS feed is a method of communicating between computers, websites and software. In it’s simplest form, an RSS feed acts as a summary of what’s on your website. The file is written in a format understood by other computers and placed in a logical location on your website.
On my website for example, I have an RSS file located at http://www.thisismyurl.com/feed which updates every time I post an article or update a page here on my site. Since other websites and surfers know about it, they can request it instead of scanning my whole website for new content.
How does somebody use an RSS feed?
Since RSS feeds are pulled from your website instead of pushed from it, users need to subscribe to your feeds. They can do this using a news reader such as:
NewsFire for Mac, showing over 2,500 new articles that I have subscribed to.
Microsoft Windows
Apple Mac OS
GNU/Linux
Web
They can also use an online RSS reader or import content directly from one website to another. For example, every time I post an article here on thisismyurl.com my FaceBook profile and my Twitter status is automatically updated. This saves me having to post in multiple places, while it also helps people know what I’m up to.
The updater tells me when new articles are published.
What is the purpose of an RSS feed?
The purpose of an RSS feed to to help people stay informed. Sites which publish an RSS feed help to keep their audience informed of updates, while people using RSS feeds are kept up to date without having to sift through hundreds of pages of content.
How does a company benefit from using an RSS feed?
Back to coffee date, this is what I found so surprising … the person I was having a coffee with couldn’t understand how his business could benefit from making it easier for people to know what was happening at his company. He spends thousands on newsletters, flyers, ads and online marketing but … when people want to know what he’s up to? Nothing.
RSS feeds are most commonly used for news agencies such as the CBC here in Canada, you can subscribe to dozens of news broadcasts including audio and video feeds (sometimes called PodCasts) but it’s also great for businesses such as restaurants looking to promote their new menu or charities hosting events. Real estate agents can use RSS to notify people of houses, car dealers can list new vehicles or authors to announce new books.
Remember, the purpose of an RSS feed is to provide people with easy access to what they want to know about, which hopefully is your business.
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