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One of the most popular features of Internet portals, websites, pages and even emails is a frame that features an organized list of news headlines and periodic updates from other web sources.  Really Simple Syndication, formerly ìRich Site Summaryî or simply, RSS makes this possible.

Most users visit a lot of websites whose content continually change, such as news sites, community organization or professional association information pages, medical websites, product support pages, and blogs.  As Internet surfing became an intrinsic part of business and leisure, it became important to get rid of the very tedious task of repeatedly returning to each website to see updated content.

RSS easily distributes information from different websites to a wider number of Internet users.  RSS aggregators are programs that use RSS to source these updates, and then organize those lists of headlines, content and notices for easy reading.  It allows computers to automatically retrieve and read the content that users want, then track changes and personalize lists of headlines that interests them.

The specially made computer programs called ìRSS aggregatorsî were created to automatically find and retrieve the RSS feeds of pre-selected internet sites on behalf of the user and organize the results accordingly. (RSS feeds and aggregators are also sometimes referred to as “RSS Channels” and “RSS Readers”.)

The RSS aggregator is like a web browser for RSS content.  HTML presents information directly to users, and RSS automatically lets computers communicate with one another.  While users use browsers to surf the web then load and view each page of interest, RSS aggregators keeps track of changes to many websites.  The titles or descriptions are links themselves and can be used to load the web page the user wants.

RSS starts with an original Web site that has content made available by the administrator.  The website creates an RSS document and registers this content with an RSS publisher that will allow other websites to syndicate the documents.  The Web site also produces an RSS feed, or channel, which is available together with all other resources or documents on the particular Web server.  The website will register the feed as an RSS document, with a listed directory of appropriate RSS publishers.

An RSS feed is composed of website content listed from newest to oldest.  Each item usually consists of a simple title describing the item along with a more complete description and a link to a web page with the actual content being described.  In some instances, the short description or title line is the all the updated information that a user wants to read (for example, final games scores in sports, weblogs post, or stock updates).   Therefore, it is not even necessary to have a web page associated with the content or update items listed — sometimes all the needed information that users need would be in the titles and short summaries themselves.

The RSS content is located in a single file on a webpage in a manner not very different from typical web pages.  The difference is that the information is written in the XML computer code for use by an RSS aggregator and not by a web user like a normal HTML page.

There are 2 main parts that are involved in RSS syndication, namely:  the source end and the client end.

The client end of RSS publishing makes up part of the system that gathers and uses the RSS feed.  For example, Mozilla FireFox browser is typically at the client end of the RSS transaction.  A userís desktop RSS aggregator program also belongs to the client end.

Once the URL of an RSS feed is known, a user can give that address to an RSS aggregator program and have the aggregator monitor the RSS feed for changes.  Numerous RSS aggregators are already preconfigured with a ready list of RSS feed URLs for popular news or information websites that a user can simply choose from.

There are many RSS aggregators that can be used by all Internet users.  Some can be accessed through the Internet, some are already incorporated into email applications, and others run as a standalone program inside the personal computer.

RSS feeds have evolved into many uses.  Some uses gaining popularity are:

- For online store or retail establishments:  Notification of new product arrivals
- For organization or association newsletters:  title listings and notification of new issues, including email newsletters
- Weather Updates and other alerts of changing geographic conditions
- Database management:  Notification of new items added, or new registered members to a club or interest group.

The uses of feeds will continue to grow, because RSS aggregators make access to any information that individual users like more convenient and fun.

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a tool useful for saving or retaining updated information on websites that you frequently visit or websites that are your favorite. RSS utilizes an XML code which scans continuously the content or subject matter of a certain website in search for new informations then transmits the information updates by way of feeding the information to subscribers.

RSS feeds are generally being utilized in blogs or news sites, though any website wanting to broadcast and publish information can use them. Once new information is sent, it will contain a headline, a little bit of text, and either a rundown or a brief review of the news or story. A link is needed be clicked upon to read further.

So as to accept RSS feeds, a feed reader is needed, called an aggregator.  Aggregators are widely and freely available online, and all that is needed is a bit of searching, you will be able to locate a certain interface that best interest you. Whatís more, RSS feeds can likewise be read and retrieved from cell phones and on PDAs.

Once you encounter upon a website that you want to add or insert to the aggregator, the process can be done in two ways. Almost all sites offering an RSS feed displays an ìRSSî or ìXMLî button in their homepage and with one click, it promptly add that particular feed to oneís aggregator. Some aggregator however, requires the need to copy and then paste the URL of the feed unto the program.

Whatever the method used, you can be certain that the feed will be accessible soon as you have inserted it, likewise, in just seconds, the next update can arrive. In the event that you do not anymore would want to accept or take in updates, you may simply delete or erase the feed from the aggregator.

Through e-mail subscriptions, you can receive newsletters. RSS feeds on the other hand, can be more convenient in keeping up with newsletter updates since they are prompt and available in an instant; you no longer have to wait for a scheduled time or day to obtain a news summary, plus, these news will never be  detained through a spam filter.
RSS feeds are widely used everyday by individuals who understand and appreciate the accessibility of fast reports and news that can be readily read and only read certain updates that appeals to them.

Aggregators

Aggregators are popular use of feeds, having several kinds. Web aggregators or portals as they are sometimes called, create this view which is then made available in a Web page. Also, Aggregators have been incorporated into e-mail patrons, users of desktops, or dedicated and standalone software.

Offering a collection of special features, such as combining more than a few related feeds in just a single view, hiding certain entries or statements that has been already viewed, and classifying entries and feeds, the aggregator is a versatile component.

Why make a feed available?

You will have more viewers, since now, your viewers can conveniently see your site without even going out and looking for that certain site. While at first, it may seem corrupt, it will in fact enhance the visibility of your site; this is so because users can easily keep up or keep tract with your site, to allow them to view in a way that they want to; itís more probable that guests are aware should something that is in their interest is available or accessible on your site.

For instance, every month your website broadcasts a new feature. Having no feed, your viewers will always have to keep in mind to go to your site in a certain time to see if they discover something new; that is, if they can remember, and if they still have the time. However, if you supply a feed for your viewers, they can just point to their aggregator and it will instantly provide them a link along with a description of happenings or events at your site immediately.

What format to choose?

Syndication is very confusing as it uses a lot of formats that can usually be come across in the web.  However, this can easily be solved as in general, syndicated libraries are used by aggregators which conceptualize a particular format that a feed is in, in order that they can utilize a certain syndication feed.

With this, whatever format to pick is just a matter of personal preference. RSS 1.0 is far reaching, and practical should it be integrated into Semantic Web systems. RSS 2.0 is very easy and simple create by hand. And atom is an IETF Standard, does it brings constancy, stability and a natural and accepted community to support its usage.

Read About – More about RSS ,What is RSS

This post was inspired by revisiting some of the old tools I used in the past and I thought why not pay a visit to memory lane on some of the tools and sites that brought online marketing to where it is today.  Do note – this is just a small list of random tools that came to my mind at the point of writing, so I know there would be others that I missed out.

Keyword Research: GoodKeyword tool, this is a free keyword tool where one can conduct keyword research. The data is pulled of overture, but since overture is pretty much not maintained I guess the tool wouldn’t be that useful.

Competitor Analysis: Alexa ranking at one point in time was the only place where we could openly get competitor stats for free. The toolbar helped tracked user behavior and how many people visit a particular site. However as the data is skewed towards individual who had installed the toolbar many had question the accuracy of the rankings.

Site Indexing: In the past when launching a new site it used to take about months to get the search engine spiders to find your site. One of the tools Google came up with to help them be aware of which sites are new would be the Add URL page. Found here – www.google.com/addurl.html. These days Google can index your site in hours, so no need to manually submit your site anymore.

Search Engine Rankings: DMoz.org the webs open source directory. It was known as a source of authority, getting listed here means you have a very powerful inbound link to your site. Ran by volunteers, the site was the crazy for many webmasters and SEO professionals. These days, it’s more like a forgotten site where having a link is good to have.

Read an article coverage on Webpronews.com about YouTube testing a new video rental feature on its site. Publishers can know have an option to either rent their clips or make them ad supported. What this new rental feature allows publishers to do is set rental pricing, duration and IP target geographies in terms of who can view and who cant view. These features are good for YouTube in terms of supplier relations and monetization. Now Youtube has a revenue model that suppliers are familiar with and are more willing to place their content on.

Now the only thing I wonder is if this catches on, would it kill companies like Netflix who predominately does dvd rentals by mail, after all YouTube has the support from Google infrastructure to bring cost down. I guess only time will tell.

(FYI – netflix is focusing on web streaming rentals as well)

Would if when this video rental feature comes out of testing would Google have a platform to allow independent film makers rent their video wares as well, it could open up a whole new stream of content boom in YouTube.

Photo Credits – Yuya Tamai

Hello and welcome to myseotips.com. I am creating this seo blog or website to keep track of my seo research, experiments and findings with regards to search engines. I continuously try to keep track of things which search engines (google, yahoo and msn) like, dislike or hate. So if my research, experients or findings are of any use to you, go ahead and use them.

Cheers,
Ryan