What RSS is Not
It is difficult to have a conversation
about technology these days that does not involve
RSS. In the age of the Internet, communication
is expected to be instantaneous. RSS offers instant
real-time distribution in an on demand world.
What is RSS?
RSS is a standard format for syndicating information
or content over the Internet. Once a visitor subscribes
to an RSS feed, they receive the new information
each time the feed is updated.
RSS Does Not Equal Email
RSS is not email, nor is it designed to be a replacement
for email. RSS is a supplemental communication
channel that can be used to deliver content. Email
newsletters have had an increasing problem with
spam. Email open rates have plummeted, filtering
systems have become increasingly complex and with
the complexity and volume even "approved" messages
have been unable to get through.
RSS feeds are opt-in, and in most
cases subscribers need not provide any personal
information to subscribe. RSS is simply an alternative
method to communicate with your audience.
Use RSS to supplement email. RSS
technology is a great supplement to email communication,
it will allow you to avoid spam filters and quite
possibly reach a new audience that is leery of
providing personal information to subscribe.
RSS does not have the problems that
are inherent to email marketing. Email filters,
do not prevent the message from going through.
RSS does not have any costs associated with list
maintenance. With RSS, the sender is known, compliance
with the CAN SPAM act is not an issue. RSS is
100% opt-in, there are not any worries of misdirected
email or customers not receiving the information
due to spam.
RSS and email are not mutually exclusive.
While it is true that there are significant benefits
to RSS that are not inherent to email communications.
RSS has not yet reached the tipping point. Therefore
it is best to offer both RSS and email as options
RSS Does Not Equal Blogs
Many assume that RSS is only for syndicating the
contents of blogs, nothing could be further from
the truth. Blogs and online journals have rocketed
to popularity in the last few years, and many
bloggers use RSS as a means to distribute and
syndicate their blog posts. Subscribers receive
information each time the blog is updated. However
this is NOT the only use for RSS. RSS can deliver
any kind of content, including forum posts, discount
coupons, newsletters or press releases. Blogs
are just one type of information syndicated by
Blogs may be syndicated using RSS,
but do not assume that content found in an RSS
feed is from a blog.
How is Podcasting Related to
Podcasts are simply RSS feeds that contain audio
content in the enclosure field. Over the last
year the term podcast has expanded to include
RSS feeds that contain videos as well as audio
files. Podcasts use the RSS specification to deliver
the rich media.
In the short time RSS has been around,
many misconceptions have been formed for a surprisingly
simple concept. RSS is simply a standard for syndicating
information (any type of information) on the web.
Users opt to subscribe the information in an RSS
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll
software for creating, editing, publishing RSS
feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages
marketing for NotePage http://www.notepage.net
a wireless text messaging software company.