Chasing the Spider :
Simple RSS Tactics that can Give Your Site the Edge
by Titus HoskinsMoving
Closer To The Spider
A little while back, the Internet changed. The change
was very subtle. Most people missed it.
There was a slight shift in the way information is exchanged on the
web. No great momentous event,
just a little sideways flex.
It all had to do with RSS: Really Simple Syndication.
RSS allows you to directly deliver your content to all interested
parties... don't come to us; we will
deliver the information to you or your website.
It syndicates your content. In a nutshell; it's simply a more
efficient way to get your content 'out there'.
RSS has been around for awhile but it really didn't
catch on when users had to use RSS readers or aggregators but with the
increasing popularity of MyYahoo, the Firefox Browser and Blogging...RSS
is becoming: more popular, more accessible and more mainstream.
Recent developments such as the introduction of an RSS (live
bookmark) feature in the Firefox Browser
is just one application of RSS you should be using. Make sure you use
Benefit Laden Headlines and
an eye catching favicon to attact your subscriber's attention. You can
extend your site's reach by
taking advantage of Firefox's RSS live bookmarks.
MyYahoo also has an RSS feature where members can access different
RSS feeds that interest them. Make sure you have the 'AddToMyYahoo' or
'XML' button on your site. Each time a subscriber opens
their MyYahoo site; your RSS Feed will be updated.
You can also add 'MyMsn' and 'Bloglines' buttons on your site. Plus
others -- give your visitors every opportunity to subscribe to your RSS
Feed or Blog.
It goes without mentioning, your site must have a
blog(s) and an RSS Feed(s) to take full advantage of these new
applications.
For these are just a few applications of RSS; many more are coming.
Especially now with the increased popularity in Blogs and Blogging; some
major players are making their moves.
Have you wondered why Google has been sniffing around Firefox
recently...hiring Ben Goodger, Firefox's lead engineer... could it have
to do with this RSS feature???
Recent moves by MSN must have Google concerned if not worried!
Especially now that MSN has come
out with their Beta Program using RSS in their search. You can now place
RSS search results directly onto your website. It can enrich your site
with daily updated content.
And it's quite simple to use; just add "&format=rss" at the end of
the URL in your MSN search engine query. For example, to get an RSS Feed
for 'tsunami relief' you would use this url:
http://beta.search.msn.com/results.aspx?q=tsunami+relief&format=rss
In Yahoo the URL would be slightly different:
http://news.search.yahoo.com/news/rss?p=tsunami+relief&ei=UTF-8&fl=0&x=wrt
Of course, you can change 'tsunami+relief' with the
keyword or phrase of your choice to suit your
website's content.
That's MSN and Yahoo, but what about Google?
Sticking with just the Atom format (Blogger) could
pose problems. The real big Question: What will
Google do with RSS? How will they use it?
The key may lie in Tags!
Tags is another application of RSS/Blog you should be preparing your
site for.
Tags have hit the radar lately because Technorati, which indexes 4.5
million blogs, started sorting
blog posts by using tags.
They have created a folksonomy, drawing tags from different sources,
mainly Flickr.com which sorts
or groups pictures and from del.icio.us -- where you create a tag when
you bookmark a page.
Or if your blogging software supports categories; this will be
recognized by Technorati as a tag.
If you want to create a 'tag' it's very simple; just place this code
in your blog:
<*a
href="http://technorati.com/tag/Computers" rel="tag">Computers<*/a>
(remove asterisks in actual code) and you will have created a tag for
computers.
These are really keywords for blogs and you should take advantage of
them to bring targeted traffic to
your site or blog.
Web pages can even be designed around these tags and RSS Feeds.
Directly deliver or pull all this content onto an RSS Supersite.
Say you have a website on 'notebook computers'. You could pull RSS
Feeds on all the different brands,
all the product review materials, all the company information or
updates, etc. and build a content rich
RSS Supersite.
You could even compile this Supersite into an RSS Feed and deliver it
to all your interested prospects. Might make a very effective marketing
system!
Information runs the net, RSS Feeds is now the most efficient way to
deliver that information. It's the
nature of the beast; blogs and RSS Feeds are more 'on topic' than web
pages. They deliver highly concentrated 100 proof content.
They're closer to the spider!
You get your content without the graphics, add-ons, website
follies...it's closer to the heart of the matter. RSS delivers pure
content. It's original acronym stood for rich site summary. Give me what
the spider
sees and leave the frills behind!
Right now, webmasters can, for lack of a better word --
'turbo-charge' their sites with these RSS Feeds. You can add daily
updated targeted content for your site. Should make any decent SEO
smile.
Right now, webmasters should be positioning their sites for RSS.
Those who jump first will get a leg up
on their competition to say the least. For any online business, a
strategic tactic or move should be considering or planning their RSS
strategies at this moment. Get your site into position.
For the MSN example is just one application of RSS that's coming into
view.
But watch out ... this gorilla is just hitting the fan... on the
horizon there are endless streams of applications for RSS. Keep your eye
on the cursor... don't let RSS get too far from your radar.
The one who figures out the real potential of RSS will be 'King of
the Hill' for a little while until something else comes along.
-----
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