RSS Feeds
Really Simple Syndication or "RSS Feeds" have become a major part of the Internet, but many users don't understand what they are. News groups, developer forums and any site that wants to quickly share, and broadcast news with people make solid use of this! Not only can you reach a huge audience quickly, user's will also integrate feeds into their own website, BBC news feeds is a good example of how powerful this tool is.
They allow people to see when their favourite websites have added new content without having to actually go to that website, subscribing to these feeds can be easily done using simple and often free software called an RSS reader, feed reader or aggregator (Aggregator refers to a web site or computer software that aggregates a specific type of information from multiple online sources). The RSS reader checks the user's subscribed feed and downloads any updates available, and provides a user interface to make it possible to read.
Getting started!
First we need a newsreader to be able to view the RSS feed. There are many to choose from, some Internet browsers such as Firefox have a built in RSS reader but there are many stand alone software packages which are also free that will enable you to receive the latest feeds.
You can subscribe to any RSS feeds by clicking on the orange RSS feed symbol (usually looks similar the image shown on this page). Alternatively, some websites may not provide you with the RSS feed button, but may provide you with a link. Simply copy and paste this link into your news reader and you will be able to pick up the feed.
RSS Feeds provide many benefits to both business owners, customers and general internet users, it's just a quick and simple way to share or view news from your favourite sources with minimum effort.
Feedzilla have many site feeds to get you started!
