The ABC of RSS and your Online Business   So you have gone through the  meticulous process of developing a product or a service, have built a fancy website with attractive graphics, and now expect the customers to be flocking to your site. Before you say “why not?” think again. This highly interactive medium calls for seamless proactivity. You need to drive targeted traffic to your website using every conceivable ammo in your arsenal because serious traffic is what you need to succeed.

Time to Syndicate Really Simply
It’s the era of information explosion. With millions of web pages getting connected to the information highway every day, site visitors barely remember the website they visited yesterday. If you have a website for your product or service, you are dealing in the business of information. This information is updated quite frequently, which has to be constantly communicated to existing consumers, potential consumers, your distributors and affiliates, media partners and just about anybody with whom you have either an existing or potential business relationship. Really Simple Syndication or RSS for short offers you a perfect solution for maintaining these communication channels. We will provide all the necessary data in order for you to use the power of RSS to make a success of your online business.

What is the Fuss All About?
RSS was conceptualized in 1997 by David Winer of www.userland.com. The first version of RSS was developed by Dan Libby of Netscape, based on Winer’s work. Today, RSS refers to the following versions: "Really Simple Syndication (RSS 2.0)", “RDF Site Summary (RSS 1.0 and RSS 0.90)", or "Rich Site Summary (RSS 0.91)".
From the point of view of an online entrepreneur, RSS is a technology that feeds news and updates from a website to subscribers. RSS allows subscribers to receive feeds and then read the associated content using an RSS reader which customers and site visitors frequently download for free. The feed aggregator can be either desk top based or web based. When the feed is released, it is available to all your site visitors and customers. They can even republish your content, if you allow them to do so. More importantly, it tells your customers about your new products, newer product models, online specials, premium offers and any other type of information that helps to keep you connected with your customer base. RSS feeds generally contain a title, a short description, and a link to the content on your website. Every feed presents sufficient information to tempt subscribers to read the complete content. You can easily generate feeds based on product description, price list, FAQ updates, and updated newsletter content.

Adding RSS to your Online Business Website

1. Depending on the kind of features you want, you can choose from one of the RSS versions. Most of the new tools enable you to generate feeds in version 2.0.
2. You also need to optimize your site for your feeds to contain precise information. RSS feeds use tags in the same way as HTML. Some tags that go in your feed are also present in your website. This necessitates your understanding of how your feeds relate to your website.
3. You can Create RSS Feeds using online editors or software. Most of the software packages available for this purpose provide you enough information to select the right options for your feeds.

What do I Get Out of It?
Here are some of the advantages for you:

1. You are free from the challenges of maintaining a list of customers purely for the purpose of sending new product information, announcing promotions and special offers, and adding informational content to your website such as articles, case studies and white papers. Your customers can now subscribe by themselves. There are no privacy issues involved.
2. Since it is the choice of your customers and site visitors whether or not to subscribe to your RSS feed, it does not appear as though you are forcing them to read your content.
3. It simplifies your work. After updating your website, you only have to produce a document with a title, a short description, and a link back to your site.
4. You have the ability of communicating relevant information to your customers as quickly as possible. Your customers can in turn act on it, such as using a limited time special discount offer.
5. The RSS feeds you set up for your customers do not have to go through a spam filtering process like e-mail message. Your subscribers don’t miss a thing.

A Winner all the Way
Your customers are constantly looking for products and services that would satisfy their needs. If your site does not offer what they seek, they have the option to quickly move over to another site with just a mouse click. Therefore, providing your customers with rich and meaningful information in a timely fashion is of paramount importance.

Some sites require visitors to sign up for their news letters. However, overflowing inboxes, reluctance to give out personal information, and strong spam filters render this method of disseminating information fairly useless. RSS is free from such major challenges. It can increase your sales, generate more targeted and qualified traffic to your website, and improve your online profitability.

Enabling RSS on your Website
Installing RSS on your website will take you less than ninety minutes if you have the requisite background. You can ask your web master to do it for you. If you would like for us to enable RSS on your website, drop us a line and we will be more than happy to do it for you for a very reasonable fee.