RSS - Really Simple Syndication
RSS Stands for Really Simple Syndication, its a useful little technology which allows users to get the latest headlines and stories from Blogs or news sites delivered directly to their desktop using a News Reader.
RSS also allows webmasters to syndicate their content (usually headlines and summaries) to aggregators and other web sites who in turn link back to the main article on your site.
Why is this useful?
RSS is useful because it saves users having to trawl through all their favourite web sites just to see which has been updated. Instead they subscribe to the site's RSS feed and their News Reader tells them what's new.
Webmaster's find RSS useful because not only does it increase traffic but by syndicating your content to other sites, its builds the link popularity of their web site. Search engines like Google analyse link popularity when ranking web sites in their search results.
How do I subscribe to an RSS Feed?
First you will need to download and install a News Reader such as:
- Newz Crawler (Windows)
- Feed Demon (Windows)
- Awasu (Windows)
- Newsfire (Mac OS)
- NetNewswire (Mac OS)
There are also Web Based News Readers which do not require a download:
Once you have News Reader then you can subscribe to an RSS Feed by copying & pasting the URL of RSS feed into your New Reader. Or simply by dragging the address of the RSS feed into your Reader.
