RSS Web Syndication: Could It Benefit Your Business?

You’ve probably seen the “RSS” buttons online and you might have even heard the term “Really Simple Syndication (RSS).” But what exactly is it—and how can you benefit? Read on and learn why RSS is about to really take off and how it can help your business communicate more quickly and effectively.

RSS is gaining momentum

RSS, the burgeoning Web content syndication tool has been around for a few years in the personal “blogosphere,” the universe of Web logs (or blogs), and has been used to receive alerts whenever a blog has been updated. But because of growing email content delivery problems like spam, RSS is quickly gaining momentum in the business world.

Currently, 12 percent of the U.S. online population uses RSS, and this figure is growing daily, according to the March 2005 Jupiter RSS Consumption Report. RSS usage is expected to really take off in the next 6-12 months. Why? Because of its ease of use and the emergence of a common standard. Microsoft recently announced its full support for RSS in Microsoft® Internet Explorer 7—as well as in the latest version of the Microsoft® Windows operating system.

What is RSS?

RSS is similar to email content alert services, which send you a message every time content you have pre-selected is published on a specific Web site. More technically speaking, RSS is a Web content syndication format that provides a convenient and quick way to gather and browse online information. Once you’ve signed up for the service, RSS provides notifications or “feeds,” which include basic information (such as title, logo, description, etc.) and a link to the complete online content.

A brief history of RSS

Before RSS, several similar formats already existed for Web content syndication, but none achieved widespread popularity or are much used today.

The first version of RSS was introduced by Netscape in March 1999. By mid-2000, RSS use spread to several major news organizations, including Reuters, CNN, and the BBC.

Key RSS advantages

As businesses struggle with challenges in email content delivery, RSS provides several key benefits.

• Reliable, timely and cost effective. This is especially important as legitimate email communications are increasingly blocked by spam filters or ignored by recipients?
• Flexible. The end-user controls the flow, both in terms of what is received and its frequency—so your audience is always receptive.
• Adaptable. RSS helps increase search engine rankings and drives new traffic to your Web sites through the use of various RSS specific search engines and directories.?

A few examples of how you can use RSS:

• Save significant time monitoring competitors’ Web sites.
• Send out a regular updates to your remote employees.
• Update your users about new features or promotions on your Web site?
• Send out newsletters to your customers?

Try RSS for yourself

All major content delivery and news media Web sites are now offering RSS as an optional communication vehicle, and the number of RSS feeds is growing dramatically. To subscribe to a feed click on the XML/RSS button, and then copy and paste the URL from the address bar of your opened browser into your chosen RSS reader. You can find a list of RSS readers, go here.