What is RSS?

14 years ago

I've been wanting to ask this myself. I understand that it is useful and is recommended in every useful article marketing or backlinking "how-to" thread I've read. Although, all I typically see is, "if you have Rss feeds, then submit them to Rss directories.

I'm still not sure if I'm doing this correctly or what it's even doing for me.

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bigcat1967

14 years ago

I need help in that area as well. Anyone out there know? I know it stands for "Really Simple Syndication" (I think).

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dburk

14 years ago

Hi

This is from Wikipedia:

RSS (most commonly expanded as "Really Simple Syndication") is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works--such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video--in a standardized format.[2] An RSS document (which is called a "feed", "web feed",[3] or "channel") includes full or summarized text, plus metadata such as publishing dates and authorship. Web feeds benefit publishers by letting them syndicate content automatically. They benefit readers who want to subscribe to timely updates from favored websites or to aggregate feeds from many sites into one place. RSS feeds can be read using software called an "RSS reader", "feed reader", or "aggregator", which can be web-based, desktop-based, or mobile-device-based. A standardized XML file format allows the information to be published once and viewed by many different programs. The user subscribes to a feed by entering into the reader the feed's URI or by clicking an RSS icon in a web browser that initiates the subscription process. The RSS reader checks the user's subscribed feeds regularly for new work, downloads any updates that it finds, and provides a user interface to monitor and read the feeds.

RSS formats are specified using XML, a generic specification for the creation of data formats. Although RSS formats have evolved from as early as March 1999,[4] it was between 2005 and 2006 when RSS gained widespread use, and the ("") icon was decided upon by several major Web browsers.[5]

source: RSS - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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supercrawler

14 years ago

seems no one has replied this question

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perryny 14 years ago

Not yet. I'm sure someone is out there writing a whitepaper on this for us at this very moment though.
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- perryny 14 years ago
  
  Hey Don,
  
  Funny how sometimes I forget that there's other places on this Interweb thing where I can find answers other than here at the WF.
  
  My remaining question is still basically, "what's the point?". My assumption of course is that the more my content gets tossed around, the more likely Google will see it everywhere and therefore make the links within (my keywords backlinking to my main site) more valid and therefore will rank my page higher.
  
  I could see great value if I expected thousands of loyal subscribers awaiting my next blog post. But with the articles I'm writing, while I don't believe suck, will actually get someone to want to click the Rss subscribe button.
  
  If this is the case, am I basically trying to blanket the web with my content?
  
  Thanks
  
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- dburk 14 years ago
  
  Hi perryny,
  
  RSS is a specially formated file that lists a summary of items like articles, blog posts, products, announcements etc. which can be found on a website. These specially formatted files, usually called feeds are designed to be read in a "Feed Reader" and you can place links to your feeds on your website.
  
  These feeds first became popular when most folks connected to the Internet with relatively slow dial-up connections. It allowed you to get a small, fast downloading summary of the latest items on a website without having to visit the website and wait for the entire webpage to download.
  
  The feed reader application is still popular today, but more sophisticated ways of using these feeds have evolved over the years. Aggregators will take feeds from multiple sources and combine them into single customizable feed. You can also use RSS feeds as a source of fresh content for your own website.
  
  As a feed syndicator you allow your visitors to subscribe to your feed and they can read a summary of new items you place on your website. Your feed will link back to the appropriate web page for full information on the summarized items in your feeds. When this feed is included as content on another website it becomes a source of traffic through the backlinks to your website.
  
  By promoting your feed on your website, and elsewhere, you can drive traffic to your website and develop readership loyalty. There are many clever ways your can use RSS feeds in your website marketing and promotional strategies.
  
  You will find many posts on this forum where folks share some of their RSS feed marketing tactics.
  
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James Le

14 years ago

Just my 2 cents..

RSS is basically a feed of a blog. It is great for a web browser (user), you can use rss readers, like bloglines , google reader. And what that enables you to do, is read multiple blogs in one place.

And as for a site owner, this enables them to track how many consistent readers they have, who have decided to subscribe to their rss feed.