understanding RSS...

First off, of course you need a rss feed, off a blog is the best, assuming you already have that. Next step would be to submit that feed to every RSS feed directory you can find, google will show you many lists.

Next, add your feed everywhere you can. Many social sites will let you add a RSS feed such as Mybloglog, Squidoo, multiply, hubpages, blogger (sidebar widget), jump tags and so on.

Ping your original feed, then ping all the feeds generated by the social sites where you added your feed.

That's the basic's. It's great for getting back links to deeper pages.

Did that help? If you have any questions, just ask

Thanks Ron,

I may need more hand holding, if that's ok. I've got a blog, so the RSS feed on the site is good. Next, how do I add my feed in other places? Next, how do I ping the feeds? I do use wp to ping out posts and pages, but never did it for rss feeds.

Thanks!

Frank

I think you may be missing the point of rss a bit.

RSS is a file that compiles your content and allows people to add it to an RSS reader program which then advises them when you add more content. These readers can either be online or run as stand alone software from your desktop. This is then what is called an RSS feed.

The visitor can request a feed (xml file usually) from your site usually by clicking on the RSS logo or link and adds it to their RSS reader so they do not have to keep coming back to your site to read the posts you make.

Most blogs create this xml file automatically and you can use a service like Feedburner to take that feed and provide better formats and statistics so it will be formatted for better reading on mobiles, different browsers etc.

FeedBurner

Here is one of my more popular feeds.

The Internet Marketers Club

Thats really the prime reason and use for RSS

Now alternatively you can also submit that same feed to all sorts of different services that will then post the link to your site.

Programs like Wordpress give you the ability to do this automatically in the settings at the bottom of the writing page. By default Wordpress uses Pingomatic and as Eric said you can add others but be careful you do not duplicate the services.

I have compiled a list here that are not duplicates.

Real Simple Sydication | The Internet Marketers Club

Where a lot of people using wordpress make the mistake is that they do not use an inhibitor.

Basically whenever you right or edit your post it pings these services so many get bocked as spam because people edit their posts many times.

I use a plugin called smart pinger which replaces the built-in ping/notify functionality. It pings only when publishing new or future posts, not when editing.

Ultimate Plugins Smart Update Pinger [Ultimate Plugins]

You can also submit your blog to other sites which act more like search engines called blog directories and include your rss feed unlike traditional search engines.

Again I have a good list here at

Real Simple Sydication | The Internet Marketers Club

There is a whole community online that use these RSS feeds and never visit your site but prefer to control their reading through a RSS reader.

Some of the more popular readers are Google Reader which is an online reader and I use a desktop reader called Feed Demon by Newsgator.

There is obviously a lot more we could say about RSs but this should be enough to wet your appetite.

Quentin

Uh I'm such a slug somedays! Goodness I cannot even read! Guys thats a very big bunch! You've all helped tremedously and thanks Ron for sticking it out with me!

Quentin, I'm trying to figure out RSS to permit my site articles to be syndicated by other web pages to help build backlinks to my site. And I'm not adverse to others posting my original content, as long as others keep my backlinks in place. And thanks, I kept wondering why I would use feedburner. The multi-platform automation makes sense for it. Would it be better to syndicate my main feed from the wordpress blogs to other RSS feeders, or link my feed to feedburner and syndicate that?

Frank