What is the Value of RSS Feed for my business website?

By Administrator • July 19, 2007

Have you ever wondered out loud about the business value of an RSS feed? Well, wonder no longer.
Virtual Business Solutions can help you use RSS Feed to promote your business in ways a traditionally built website can not. Setup an appointment to have Virtual Business Solutions provide a business website makeover or business website tuneup to provide a powerful marketing and advertising tool for your business.

Future-proof your business website by using improved language called XML, RSS Feed is an extension of XML and what I want to focus on explaining to you.

While websites were once built on HTML, now can be written with improved language called XML. XML allows for vast amount of functionality that HTML cannot provide. HTML displays data whereas XML carries data. XML uses tags to identify fields.HTML is the foundation of the Web whereas XML is the future of web. With XML, information is indexed quickly because search engine bots are better equipped to interpret it. This means that your audience will receive your posts faster and more efficiently.

By utilizing RSS, an extension of XML, business blogging can take on dimensions most business owners never thought possible. In addition to effectively tracking information, RSS can help you to deliver information to your audience far more efficiently than ever before. Built on the foundations of XML, RSS is a dynamic tool that encapsulates and transfers data to specified targets.

Using RSS to reach your target market.

Today RSS has become the most effective way for a business to reach their target market. Before using RSS, it is important for you to have an understanding of how that information flows, resulting in exposure to a worldwide audience.

Write your content by posting an entry, this info is automatically converted into an RSS feed file, updating your blog immediately.

Directories are updated, and the search engines are alerted
Spiders reach the content to automatically read and index your newly updated RSS feed file.
Spiders automatically “spider” (or “read”) your new content, instantly indexing it to your newly updated RSS feed file.This information is now available in the directories.

An instant alert is sent to your RSS feed file subscribers, alerting them to the delivery of new content.
(via desktop RSS reader or online aggregator, through Google, Yahoo or MSN or via built-in RSS feeds available in the following browsers: Firefox, IE7, and Safari)

Moreover, if your feed is syndicated and shown on another website, the content that appears there is instantly updated and visible.
Because of RSS, various search engines make this new content available to searchers also.

Your blog can become a favorite with major search engines by consistently providing them “on topic”, relevant, and frequently updated new content, employing RSS feeds to deliver content to their users. Because your content is presented as an RSS feed, search engine bots will frequently come to your RSS feed file. This allows the search engines to quickly update their files with your RSS delivered content.

By updating your feed and “pinging” these directories, your content is updated and easily found on these directories. A recent survey (Jan2006) conducted by Technorati revealed that there were over 75,000 thousand blogs created daily that play an integral part in delivering content to internet users who use RSS & Blogs to get content and information. Thus, RSS & Blogs has influenced buying decisions. Users are adopting RSS at a rate that is doubling approximately every 4-6 months.

Thousands of commercial web sites and blogs now publish content summaries in an RSS feed.

Here are some examples of how you can distribute all types of content.The potential for RSS as a content distribution method is significant, the following is a sampling of uses for RSS feeds:

New Homes – realtors can provide updated feeds of new home listings on the market

Job Openings – placement firms and newspapers can provide a classifieds feed of job vacancies

Auction Items – auction vendors can provide feeds containing items that have been recently added to ebay or other auction sites.

Forum Headlines – support forums can provide a listing of new forum threads

Product Sales or Specials – one look at Amazon opens the mind to the endless product sale potential using RSS. Currently Amazon delivering a headline-view of the top 10 bestsellers in that category or set of search results.

Airlines – report flight delays

Schools – schools can relay homework assignments and quickly announce school cancellations.

Entertainment – listings of the latest tv programs or movies at local theaters

Press Distribution – feed for press with new releases

News & Announcements – headlines, notices and any list of announcements

Document listings – lists of added or changed pages, so that people don’t need to constantly check for updates

Bookmarks and other external links – perfect for sharing lists of external links

Calendars – listings of past or upcoming events, deadlines or holidays

Search results – to let people track changing or new results to their searches

The possibilities are simply endless !

WANT TO REPRINT THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE, BLOG OR WEBSITE?
You may, as long as it remains intact and you include this complete blurb with it:

Laura Gonzalez President of Virtual Business Solutions, providing Business and Website Consultant and Coach. Specializing in teaching professionals how to leverage the internet and their website as a tool to generate new customers, increase sales and be more productive.
Get FREE access to the Virtual Business Solutions Learning Center by visiting www.VirtualBusinessSolutions.com

© 2009 Laura Gonzalez & Virtual Business Solutions