RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and is a useful tool that allows you to save and retain information on your website or websites that you may visit. RSS uses an XML code which continuously scans the content of certain sites searching for new fresh information and then sends this information to subscribers.

RSS feeds are usually added to blogs. You can also add them to a website if you want to broadcast and publish information. This new information that you will receive will contain a headline and text. The text can be an extract of the article or the first few sentences. To read the article, you need to click on the link.

To be able to accept RSS feeds, you need a feed reader and this is called an aggregator. Aggregators are available online. If you are using WordPress you can use the RSS feed they provide either the widget RSS or a plugin. You use the interface that best suits you. RSS can be viewed and read on your mobile phone or a PDA such as a palmtop computer.

If you find a website that you want to add or insert to the aggregator, there are two ways to do this. Almost all sites will offer an RSS feed display button or there may be a “XLM” button on the home page. Now if you click on that button, you can add the feed to your aggregator. There are some aggregators where you will be required to copy and paste the URL of the feed into the program.

Either way, as soon as this is done, the feed will be available and then the next update to that site will arrive automatically. IF you find that you do not want any more information, it is a simple process to delete or erase that feed from you aggregator.

Some people are now opting to send information through RSS feeds rather than emails. One reason for this is that the RSS feed is never caught in a spam filter.

RSS feeds are now widely used and accepted by people or understand and appreciate how fast these reports are delivered. You can elect to read all the information sent or only certain pieces of it.

Aggregators

“Aggregator refers to a web site or computer software that aggregates a specific type of information from multiple online sources:

  • News aggregator, a computer software or website that aggregates news from other news sources
  • Poll aggregator, a website that aggregates polling data for upcoming elections
  • Review aggregator, a website that aggregates reviews of movies or other products or services
  • Search aggregator, software that runs on a user’s computer and fetches, filters, and organizes a specific search from various search engines
  • Social network aggregation, the collection of content from multiple social network services
  • Video aggregator, a website that collects and organizes online video sources”

This is directly from Wikipedia. As you can see there are several aggregators available and within each category there are several types.

Each aggregator has special features that allow you to perform different actions like hiding entries that have been viewed or combining related feeds into a single view.

Having an RSS feed allows your viewers instant access to the information you are providing on your site. If they do not have the feed they have to keep viewing your site to see if you have provided any new content.

So if you want people to be able to see what you are doing on your site, make sure that you add a feed for your visitors and then all they have to do is add it to their aggregator.