The Power of RSS

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Enhance your online communication channels with automated website feeds

RSS feeds are a low cost solution to the overhead of maintaining an active online marketing presence. Read on to find out how you can enhance your website with content-rich widgets, syndicate your content across the web and create a self-sustaining social media presence on Twitter and Facebook.

What is an RSS feed?

RSS feeds allow you to see when new content has been added to a website, usually in the form of a headline, containing summary text and URL. Otherwise known as 'Really Simple Syndication', RSS feeds are more powerful than you may think.

How can I read RSS feeds?

Most users begin by finding RSS feeds from their favourite websites:

• http://feeds.news.com.au/public/rss/2.0/news_mostpopular_topstories_403.xml
• http://feeds.smh.com.au/rssheadlines/top.xml
• http://feeds.theage.com.au/rssheadlines/top.xml

Alone, an RSS feed is little more than a bare-bones representation of a web page. In this case, why would you revisit each feed separately? The utility of RSS feeds is obvious once you begin to aggregate them in one place. To do so, you have the option of installing software on your computer, or using one of the many free browser-based services on offer.

RSS readers for Microsoft Windows include:

• Newz Crawler
• FeedDemon
• Awasu

RSS readers for Mac OS X:

• NetNewsWire
• Newsfire

Web browsers offer the most flexible solution:

• Google Reader
• Bloglines
• iGoogle
• Netvibes
• Pageflakes

These are all great options, but the majority of websites owners will find that their users do not make use of RSS feeds directly.

Is there any other way to reach more users with my RSS feeds?

Yes, the answer is Widgets, Emails and Social Media! For clients with frequently updated content we recommend using one of the many free widget generators available on the web. These widget generators range from embeddable blocks of scrolling articles, to mash-ups of maps and multiple feeds from across the web.

Where do I start?

To begin with, you will need to ensure your website can generate RSS feeds for particular sections on your website. This may require a small amount of development time to achieve. Once your website is RSS-ready, your content can be unleashed.

Spreading your feeds across the web

With over 500 million impressions per month, Widgetbox.com has helped scores of website owners spread their content across the internet. At $30USD per year for the recommended Widgetbox Pro version, you can create unlimited widgets, track user interaction, develop polls, countdowns, slideshows, video galleries and much, much more.

Emails are known to encourage a greater level of user engagement than websites, so what could be better than automatically generated, RSS-powered emails for your users? An excellent place to start is the free Google Feedburner service. Enter your RSS feed into your account and Feedburner will generate an email signup widget for you to place on your website. Emails are sent at a designated time of the day, but only when new content has been added to your feed. For a more reliable and polished solution, FeedBlitz and Mailchimp are highly recommended.

Do you want to start a Twitter presence but don’t have the time?

Twitter Feed allows you to publish your RSS feed directly to your corporate Twitter page.
Many companies have – or plan to – setup Facebook pages. Did you know that your business profile page can automatically display RSS feeds?  The Social RSS application is used by many – this adds a ‘Blog/RSS’ tab to your Facebook page.  For a more seamless feed directly onto your Facebook page wall, try the ‘Notes’ application. After logging into Facebook, click on the 'Ads and Pages' link, create a ‘Page’ and you will be presented with a list of applications. Edit the settings for 'Notes' and import your RSS feed as a blog post – the result is a self-sustaining Facebook presence for your company.

Taking advantage of 3rd party feeds

To increase the time that users spend on your website, you can display news, weather, video and photo feeds from 3rd parties. Again, Widgetbox.com can help you here. Others include Feedity and FeedZilla.

Staying in control

Luckily, you are not restricted to displaying 3rd party feeds verbatim. Services such as Feed Rinse can be used to filter out profane words or even news about your competitors. For power-users, Yahoo Pipes is an excellent platform for filtering, splicing, geocoding and much more!

Conclusion

RSS feeds are a low cost add-on to your website that can offer immediate value for potential customers, existing clients and internal stakeholders. Enhance your online communication channels with automated website feeds - contact Brightlabs today for a quote tailored to your requirements.