RSS Basics

RSS is one of the best ways to publish updates with some feeds not only publishing titles, but also summaries and even photos. Feeds that provide a short summary are often the most popular as readers can read the summary and decide if they want to read more. If so, the feed offers a link to the original post. This helps those that only want to read headlines as well as those that may be interested in a wide array of topics but do not wish to read the entire post on each subject.

Advantages of RSS

RSS provides advantages for webmasters and readers alike.

Current updates regarding local news, weather, new music, upgrades to software, or just a new post on a popular blog or any other subject matter the reader enjoys. RSS is the way for all webmasters to get the word out about sales on their website, companies offering new products or services, and of course news on many subjects.

Saves readers time. Instead of searching through all their favorite websites, news websites, and more to find the current news they can just read the headlines to determine which stories are worth reading more. This will help your readers prioritize the news and stories in the manner in which they wish to read.

Puts the power in the hand of the reader. Readers have the option of subscribing to the websites that offer subject they are interested in and will then receive updates in real time from those websites.

Helps with too much email. By subscribing to RSS feeds your email address is not provided to the website, therefore you will not be receiving extra emails. This means no spam email from the website, which is often the case when you sign up for a newsletter. Too many times, you receive more than just the newsletter, which makes many readers unsubscribe from the newsletter. This will not occur with RSS feeds, as the feed is not sent to email addresses.

If a reader decides they no longer what to subscribe to a feed, all they have to do is delete the feed and that is it. No questions asked at all. When you delete the feed from your aggregator there is nothing more to do.

For webmasters, RSS feeds can be used for advertising. The reason this can be done is that your subscribers want the latest news so you can add sales, new products, or even posts regarding your various products and your readers will be glad to receive this information via the feed.

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