According to online statistics from eMarketer, less than 20% of internet users intentionally read content with the aid of an RSS reader.

Indeed, even frequent internet users have no idea what that little orange RSS square represents and certainly don’t realize that there is a big shift brewing in the bowels of online publishing and marketing.

But, that may change more quickly than we all used to think for 3 very potent reasons.

There are advantages to RSS that will compel most, if not all, internet users and content consumers to “learn” to use an RSS reader and start managing RSS subscriptions.

What is RSS?

You probably have seen this three-letter acronym in the course of your internet surfing. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary; syndicating means republishing an article that comes from another source such as a website. A RSS feed is a means of publicizing updates about websites. It may or may not include a summary and photos of the latest posting. But those that provide summaries (thus Rich Site Summary) allow users to skim through the article so that they can decide later on if they want to access the website source. The RSS feed usually contains the title of the update originating from the website. It is also usually the link to the website source.

By Rok Hrastnik

While RSS end-user adoption has been relatively slow, marketers have jumped at the chance to use this new internet channel íncrease their online salës.
If you’re new to the world of RSS — RSS is a simple technology that allows you to deliver your online content directly to your subscribers, other websites and the search engines. It helps you improve your content delivery, as well as íncrease your online traffíc and reach, and even conduct business intelligence more easily.

By Jason OConnor (c) 2006,
Oak Web Works, LLC

One of the biggest reasons people visit websites is to get information. If you can regularly provide fresh, quality content on your website you can expect to be rewarded by visitors and return visitors. What’s more, you will be rewarded by the search engines. I recommend that you add new and original content to your site as often as possible, ideally once a day.
Regularly adding fresh and original content:

By Kim Roach (c) 2006

RSS is changing the way we consume information online. Instead of being overloaded with mounds of information in our inbox, we can pick and choose exactly which content providers we want to hear from.
On the other side of the story are the publishers. Not only is RSS changing the way visitors view information, but it is also opening up vast opportunities for publishers wanting to syndicate their content across the Internet.

Are you wondering what you can use RSS for right now? Here are some practical examples of RSS at work.

Use Your Own Content
Almost ANY web based content can be transformed into an RSS feed. The only real requirement is that the information changes regularly.

News Headlines
Typically, the main use of RSS is to present headlines and a short introduction to “newsy” stories. Create an RSS feed on your site featuring your company press releases, site updates, etc.

Upcoming Events
RSS is a great way to let people know of events and activities that may be happening soon. It’s easy to turn an “events” page into an RSS feed.

The Syndicate Conference opened in New York, and Buzzmachine’s Jeff Jarvis provided the opening keynote address with his talk on advertising, syndication, and the challenges of the blogging medium today.

The Syndicate Conference touched off this morning at New York’s Roosevelt Hotel for two days of discussion on RSS feeds, blogs and podcasting as a medium for advertising. WebProNews publisher Rich Ord and managing editor Mike McDonald listened in on the proceedings.

Conference chair Eric Norlin commented “I’m not sure I know what syndication is anymore either. It started as blogs, but now there is a bunch of other stuff,” before introducing Jeff Jarvis for his opening remarks.

Internet Explorer 7 and the Windows Vista operating system will support RSS, and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer thinks RSS feeds will grow in importance to Internet users.

At Microsoft’s seventh annual MSN Strategic Account Summit, Ballmer offered remarks during his “Digital Marketing Outlook: The Future Is Now” speech to attendees. The CEO hit on a variety of topics during his talk, from gaming to communication to interactivity.

He did take a couple of minutes to talk about the Internet, and Microsoft’s technologies related to RSS feeds. While feedreading has been more embraced by those who work and use technology very frequently in their lives, Microsoft should be the engine to drive RSS to greater adoption.

By Rob Sullivan

There are many ways to increase content on your site, from manually creating it to purchasing software which will auto generate it for you.
While I highly recommend you stay away from anything which is automatically generated I also understand that many people don’t feel comfortable writing.

Therefore, in this article, I look at another way to make your site appear as if it’s changing. That is, incorporating feeds into your site to improve return visits and build your brand.

Feeds have been growing in popularity for some time. In fact, there are people who measure such popularity.

By Rob Sullivan

There are many ways to increase content on your site, from manually creating it to purchasing software which will auto generate it for you.
While I highly recommend you stay away from anything which is automatically generated I also understand that many people don’t feel comfortable writing.

Therefore, in this article, I look at another way to make your site appear as if it’s changing. That is, incorporating feeds into your site to improve return visits and build your brand.

Feeds have been growing in popularity for some time. In fact, there are people who measure such popularity.