What Is RSS

What is RSS and why is is important to a WordPress Site?

Really Simple Syndication

RSS stands for really simple syndication, and it is a system that allows people to subscribe to your content.  Whenever you add a new blog post an update ise automatically sent out to your subscribers.

WordPress Comes With RSS By Default, if you go to yourdomain.com/feed you can see the RSS feed in action.

Push not Pull

It’s a push technology, it sends out an update of your content whenever you add new stuff automatically to your subscribers.  This means your people get the new stuff without having to visit your site checking for new posts.

This is a great way to ensure your newest posts are always in delivered to your readers.

Who Uses RSS

It tends to be people who are comfortable  and aware of  the technology that use RSS, so if you have a tech savvy audience, they will expect that you have an RSS feed available for them.  Increasingly this means anybody who reads a lot of blogs.

Imagine the scenario, your reader subscribes to a dozen blogs, their email inbox is already full, they discover that RSS removes some of the clutter and they want less stuff in their inbox.  If you don’t have the RSS option, chances are you are going to lose a reader.

How People Use RSS

People setup a feed reader, this can either be a desktop system or an online service like Google reader.  People then click on the RSS icon on a site they like,  this allows them to add that feed into their reader of choice.

People like RSS because it allows them to follow multiple sites from a single aggregated feed reader.  You can read your content when you like without having to visit multiple sites.

Lets face it who is going to sift through the noise to come back to an individual site.  Providing an RSS feed to your readers lets them consume your work at a time that is right for them.

Why Use RSS

I’m not going to say abandon your email list for RSS, it’s not that widely adopted, and it is not as effective a marketing tool as email,  but I would put RSS in your marketing arsenal for the people who like the technology to ensure your content gets to as many people as possible.

Subscribe To My Feed

You can subscribe to my fee from the following URL WPDude RSS Feed

Want More Information?

I’m running a live coaching workshop this week to teach people more about using RSS on their site.  I will be teaching you:

• What is RSS in more depth
• Configuring your RSS feed
• Displaying your feed to your users
• Collecting Stats from your feed
• RSS / Email integration
• RSS plugins
• Q & A

This training is for members of my WordPress coaching program the WP Owners Club and I’m offering new members a 14 day free trial of the club.  So you can check out my coaching style, watch some of the members only pre-recorded workshops and get a feel for the club at no risk to yourself.  If it’s not for you, simply cancel your subscription before 14 days are up and there is nothing to pay.

Image by kiewic