What is an RSS Feed?

RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication" and it is basically a form of web output wherein you distribute your site's content by having other web sites place your RSS feed on their site. This works well for any site who frequently updates their content.
Having an RSS feed on your site is different from displaying RSS feeds on your site. Some RSS feeds comes into your site and do something, while others originate from your site but is available off of your site.

Whenever you display an RSS feed on your site they are coming from other sites. If you use the right feed items display program then you can collect items from various feeds and display them on your site as new content that is continuously being updated. Of course, you can also extract data from your own site and build an RSS feed for syndication.

There are a variety of programs available that use RSS feeds in their site structure. These are blogging platforms and content management systems. Sometimes directory and page generation programs also create feeds.

Feeds thrive off of content. A feed without content is not going to do a whole lot for your site. Many readers and RSS feed directories track items and feed build times.

Having your own RSS feed will help you get your pages indexed by the Search Engines. They will also help you reach new customers, build traffic and gain back links. As such, RSS feeds are now becoming a very important part of web site marketing. Their usage is on the rise as more web site owners see that they can attract Search Engine spiders, include deep links and be picked up and subscribed to as a form of syndication. RSS feed directories provide even more exposure.

Unfortunately RSS feeds take time and effort to build. This is because each site's structure is different. Meta keywords and descriptions also have to be created for the feed. Of course, there are various tools that can be used to help you here. Some of these tools are free. Nevertheless, this is still time consuming, as it has to be done manually and has to be partially redone with each update.

Word Press is a blogging platform that automatically constructs RSS feeds for you. It has a lot of different templates available. This is a great option for RSS formation.

Regardless of the kind of web site you have, an RSS feed can be a great asset. It is probably too hard and would take too much time to add an RSS feed to an older site. However, each new site that you build should include a live, updating RSS feed. This is a great way to gain a competitive edge.