What is RSS?

Note: If you already have an RSS reader, click here for one-click subscriptions to popular RSS readers.

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is a content distribution channel for content publishers of all kinds.

What makes it different from another delivery channel like e-mail?

1. It doesn’t require you to give away your credentials - Yes, no name and e-mail information need to be given away. Just subscribe to it and the whole content update will be delivered to you at any time you want.
2. No undelivered message - Content really get through, without any concern that aggressive spam filters send it into oblivion.
3. Subscribe and unsubscribe on demand - Just try to subscribe and sample the content. If it’s not appropriate for you, unsubscribe is a matter of seconds. You never give your information away so no worry about privacy by unscrupulous party.
4. Lots of content to choose from - Many publishers begin to syndicate their content through RSS to reach as many audience as possible. You have more power and choice within a simple distribution channel.
5. Free from various Internet threat - Currently RSS is free from various Internet threat like virus, spyware, worm, etc. The technology itself is not designed to be threat-free but simple. Both safe practice from publishers and users allow easier prevention than other uncontrollable environment.

RSS is distributed on demand, means you need to actually pull the content for it to move from publishers to you, instead of the other way around. It uses the same protocol as the one you use for web browsing, so no additional effort required for the delivery too.

RSS uses a different format than the one used for publishing web pages. You need special software, news aggregator (or news reader), installed to read RSS content. This software basically needs less configuration than a desktop e-mail software. Best of all, once installed you have access to countless content stream on demand with benefits like above.

How do you start? Installing and start using news aggregator take only a few minutes top:

1. Find a news aggregator. You can find a list of free and paid news reader at Wikipedia.
2. Download and install it into your computer. Usually it takes only a few minutes to download even on dial-up, and another few minutes for installation and configuration.
3. Start searching and subscribing to feeds. From now on, you can ignore the two steps above. Every time you see an image or link saying RSS, XML, syndicate, Atom feed, and similar you can subscribe to it using a simple method by copying the link and add it to your RSS reader.
4. That’s all. Your reader will regularly check (defined by your configuration) to see if there are new content for the feed you subscribe and display them.

Finally, subscribe to Marketing Loop’s RSS feed:

If you need more information about this syndication channel, refer to my dedicated blog about this very topic: RSS Marketing and Publishing.