Maximizing RSS Feeds

A new study published by MarCom Ink says that 70% of B2B tech companies are not using RSS feeds within their websites to reach their target audience. A bit perplexing considering these are companies selling to technology customers. Somewhat ironic too considering the tech segment is probably the most prolific user of RSS technology.

While it is true that less than 20% of the public uses RSS, this number has been growing lately over the past few years. Also considering that Microsoft’s latest release of Outlook has a built in RSS reader, public usage of RSS will no doubt see a significant increase in the not too distant future. That is why I believe marketers who are not using RSS to broadcast their website content are missing out on a receptive audience. In fact I’m always surprised by how little marketers even know about RSS. So, lets start with the very basics.

What is RSS?

RSS stands for Real Simple Syndication. It is a format for delivering regularly changing web content. RSS is a great tool for webmasters because it easily allows them to broadcast updated information to subscribers. From the users perspective, RSS allows the ability to receive content directly without having to visit the website on a regular basis. For example if one were to subscribe to CNNMoney, all updates on that site would be delivered to your RSS reader as it is published. Another way to think of RSS is in terms of a radio broadcast. RSS is the radio signal from the station (your website/blog) which is received on a local radio (users reader such as Google Reader, Outlook Reader etc.)

Here is a video that explains RSS in plain English:

Here is a brief video explaining how you can set up a Google Reader account:

Why is RSS Important?

RSS is important becuase it makes content consumption easy for the user. Once you determine that you like the website you can subscribe to it via your RSS reader. Hence, every time the site is updated you automatically receive the content. All you have to do is check your reader, and you’ll never have to visit the website. Its a lot better than bookmarking a website, because with bookmarks you still have to go back to the website and determine what is new to you. So in a way RSS also saves the user time. In some ways RSS is similar to a eNewsletter. However, I think its even better becuase RSS doesn’t get blocked by a spam filter. For the marketer RSS affords the opportunity to continually broadcast their message to a willing audience. This of course without any gatekeeper to slow the process or hamper the delivery.

Maximizing use of RSS

While making RSS feeds available to your visitors is a great start, there are ways to maximize your RSS feeds. This can be done by segmenting your feeds into relevant categories. This is especially true for sites which cover a range of topics. Allowing your visitors to subscribe by topic/category enables you to deliver targeted content to those who are seeking it. Additionally, I think users are more likely to subscribe if there is an option to subscribe to only specific content, since it means they will not have to wade through a plethora of unwanted content.

Tags: Aggregator, RSS, Web content, Website