Website owners, do you want one more place to get word out about your business? For the month of January, just submit your information and pictures to me and I’ll submit a post for you for free. Just e-mail the information to newarkohiolinks@gmail.com. It’s my late Christmas give to website owners.

This week, I’m going to talk about RSS feeds. RSS feeds are an easy way to see if a website has made updates. You can use any RSS reader and many browsers have bookmark features to all for RSS as well. Readers allow you to quickly scan many websites for posts. This is a big time savings because you do not need to visit the website to find out if there is a new post or scan all of the posts.

If You Own A Website You probably need RSS.

I’ve noticed the majority of Newark, Ohio websites are lacking RSS feeds. RSS is syndication of your content. If you’re using a Content Management system like WordPress, Drupal, or Joomla, RSS feeds are used by default. I have seen many websites very concerned with Web 2.0 and they go on to explain how much you need to utilize Twitter, Facebook, etc. This is all very true, but the untold secret is that eventually Twitter, Facebook, and most of the other methods of social networking will fade away. RSS is here to stay.

Why Haven’t I Heard Of RSS?

Many haven’t heard of RSS, don’t understand how to use it, or do not understand the benefits.

RSS benefits you by broadcasting to any website that has linked to your feed that there is an update. You don’t have to contact them and the website linking to you doesn’t have to change anything. It’s all automated syndication.

If your designer hasn’t included an RSS feed, they’ve let you down. They are easy to include and it is a massive advantage to alert many places that you have a message to share with them. Look at it this way, your website is the equivalent of a newspaper article and RSS is the equivalent of a flyer that can be sent out at will for free.  If you’re website doesn’t have RSS, visit Mark Spearman Web Design or any other web service to find out more.

If you’re web designer doesn’t have you using a Content Management System enabling you to add RSS feeds for a minimal cost, fire them or at least get another website going that does.  I’m sorry to say it, but they’re not worth what your paying them if this is the case, even if you have a free website.