Simple Syndication (RSS) -- Wheres The Payoff?

How RSS really does pay off...

Have you heard of RSS (Really Simple Syndication)? Did you know you can syndicate your news stories from your website? You probably have seen some orange buttons around the web with the letters "RSS" on them. They allow other websites to link to your news stories with just a click. Simple. Syndicate.

Ok. Now, you know about Really Simple Syndication... but where's the payoff? Let's look at the ways that RSS can pay off for you. And, pay off, it does -- when you use this emerging technology effectively.Now by "emerging technology," we mean it is relatively new, and people are still learning about it. But already many savvy webmasters are "aggregating" RSS feeds -- pulling common topic feeds together at their websites. And, big players like Yahoo, and Amazon are offering up RSS solutions. You can "subscribe" to a selection of news feeds on your personalized home page at Yahoo, for example.

Feed me... feed me...

There's even a search engine just for RSS feeds, called Feedster.com, that currently returns over 4,645,164 feeds indexed and fully searchable. Last August, there were only a quarter of a million feeds. Feedster reports that around 5,000 new feeds are being added... per day. Someone's hungry. And this hunger for feeds is being fed by millions of "blog" websites that use automated "Content Management Systems" to turn out their RSS news feeds. At Feedster.com, you can simply search through millions of them, or you may "subscribe" there to the feeds of your choice, creating a sort of customized electronic newspaper for yourself.

Looks like RSS is here to stay, so what does a "pay off" from RSS mean? Will it mean increased traffic to your website? Yes. Could it mean an increase in sales of your services or products? Yes, but probably not as immediately as direct advertising would. What about P.R. value? Yes... most definitely.

Traffic Boost: It's key to understand that when your stories are well-written and of interest (two major considerations -- write professionally for your best success), people will subscribe to your RSS "feeds." They will want to read them. Next, when they like your story, and its focus, they will naturally be curious to learn more. Include links to your site in your news. From this you can boost the traffic to your site. This is a sort of new generation of what was known as "reciprocal linking" where, in its simplest form, you got more traffic to your site by exchanging links with other websites covering similar material. Now instead of a link... you provide full articles which may reference your products, services, websites, and perhaps those of your clients.

Public Relations Value -- the P.R. Factor: Does your firm have a Public Relations strategy? It should. Does it include RSS? It must. You see Public Relations professionals are already talking about RSS in glowing terms like how it is "providing additional channels to amplify supportive messaging." Hey... translated this means any word you can get out on the street makes your business and its market offerings stronger and much better known. What's that worth to you? Advertising execs are talking about how this can help boost "brand loyalty". Huh? Hey, if you're in business, your company identity gets branded (or not, unfortunately) into the minds of customers and prospects. A good brand wins loyal customers. RSS news feeds, done properly, do precisely this for your company. And one more thing... RSS installed on your site automates a process that can cost quite a lot done manually by a big P.R. Agency. Shsssss.

So where are the sales? The formula is simple: the more your company and its offerings becomes known and favored by customers and prospects alike, they more sales will result. How many sales? To take a shot at a preliminary answer, I did searched for it using... you guessed it... a search of RSS feeds about advertising results. I'll end this article with an overview of articles reporting on those results, but please be clear about one thing -- people want NEWS in their RSS feeds -- news they can use. Advertising is secondary, and many sites are reporting the rejection of blatant and direct ads. Remember, banner ads are dead. "Product placement" (like when you see an Apple computer in a movie) -- mentioning of related products and services in news, blogs, and RSS feeds is not dead. It's working.

Initial RSS Marketing Results... proceed with caution Here are a couple of links to articles that have studied the results of RSS, and ads in RSS feeds:

1. RSS Advertising Case Study. Overview. Pheedo reports that by integrating online advertising into an RSS feed, a new online advertising technique, it has achieved measurably better results than e-mail for its client. Read More at: http://www.pheedo.info/archives/000057.html

2. Blocking of Ads in RSS feeds already envisioned. Of course. People want news to be news. They might put up with informative links, but not blatant, outright, defiant, in-your-face advertising. You can read a blog of comments on this issue at Kottke.org

What are you serving?

The feed goes on. Advertising and no advertising. Straight news articles, and Public Relations pieces with positive spins on your company and its products. The bottom line? If you're going to have a website and write professional content, why not syndicate the news articles and greatly extend your reach and influence? It's really simple, and it doesn't cost that much.

Scott Frangos is a writer, designer, and eCommerce marketer with over 20 years experience in Advertising. He has taught eCommerce, HTML, and Business courses at the college level in Portland, Oregon, and currently is Managing Partner of WebFadds.com - http://www.webfadds.com

In The News:


pen paper and inkwell


cat break through


How Can You Use Blogs To Increase Traffic?

I am conducting my 1st customer appreciation webcast and asked... Read More

How to Increase Buyers Traffic Through Writing Articles and RSS Content Syndication

Benefits of Writing Articles:1. Every Webmaster would like to publish... Read More

How Can RSS Feeds Help Your Online Business?

So who should I use RSS Feeds? How can it... Read More

15 Top Blog Marketing Tips

1. Place all your feeds on the following website and... Read More

How to Build a Niche Site With a Blog

Building niche sites is all the rage these days.The basic... Read More

An Appeal To The Bloggers!

Blogging is smart an art. Blog sites are the nicest... Read More

16 Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Blog

You've got your blog set up and you've started posting... Read More

Shorten Your Blogging-RSS Learning and Submission Curve

A blog is a frequent, online publication of comments, web... Read More

Bad Blogs Have Got To Go, Blogging Could Be Really Cool If Done Properly

There's a lot of blogs out there on the Web,... Read More

The Viability of Blogging to a Niche Market

Niche marketing is an old and very successful marketing strategy... Read More

Making Money with RSS Feeds

First it was banner ads, then Google AdSense and now,... Read More

RSS - How to Promote and Profit From Your Feed

Let me ask you three questions to get you thinking.... Read More

Blogs for Kids

Flush out the writer in children. Blogging could draw out... Read More

RSS For Fresh Content & Better Ranking

A lot of commotion was made some time ago when... Read More

Its Not Enough to Blog

A properly created weblog will do the following for your... Read More

To Blog Or Not To Blog

Web logs, commonly referred to as "blogs," represent all the... Read More

RSS: This Publishers Choice

RSS is the interactive communication tool being popularized by bloggers.... Read More

Are You Thinking of Republishing RSS Feeds?

There is lively debate about the republishing of RSS feeds... Read More

RSS: A Really Smart System For Sending And Receiving Content Online

"RSS" stands for Really Simple Syndication. RSS is a standard... Read More

How to Make Money with Your Blog

-- What Is A BlogA blog (or web log as... Read More

RSS Directory Submission: The Key to Blog Promotion

According to Technorati, there are over 15 million blogs as... Read More

Top Ten Reason to Publish an Ezine AND a Blog

Blogs are the hottest thing going these days when it... Read More

RSS ? Will It Really Become Mainstream?

I am not one to have New Year's resolutions, but... Read More

Blogging for Dollars

Blogging for dollars might sound like the latest game show... Read More

How To Use RSS Correctly

There is no doubt in my mind that RSS is... Read More

Why Journal Writing On The Web? Blogs Are Journals Giving Anyone An Identity, And An Awesome Forum

Journal writing used to be a private, personal experience done... Read More

RSS Feeds Can Increase Your Sales

RSS feeds are reshaping how we access information online. In... Read More

Start Blogging Now: 10 Reasons Why You Really Need a Blog for Your Business

1. It is perfect for creating a web presence for... Read More

Building Backlinks With Blogs

The most boring part of getting traffic to a website... Read More

Details of Getting a Blog

Blogs, the abbreviation of Web Logs (online journals), are becoming... Read More

3 Tips to improve your RSS marketing

3 Tips to improve your RSS marketing You have... Read More

Got Blog?

In 1999 I asked my friends and colleagues if they... Read More

6 Reasons Why RSS Beats Email Marketing

A brand new marketing tool predicted to replace email is... Read More