Our Blog - Know your RSS from your elbow...
[What is...] RSS
RSS stands for really simple syndication. So, you know that RSS is all about syndication, and that it is simple - really simple - but what does it mean to you and your business, and more importantly: why should you or your business care?
RSS is a format for delivering regularly changing web content¹ directly to those people who want it. Web content could be your company’s latest news, blog posts or your new product range - whatever content your customers may be interested in hearing about. RSS feeds allow web users to automate the task of checking their favourite websites for updates - the updates are delivered straight to them. (for more on how feeds work and how you can use them, the BBC has a great section on it here)
More important than the technology is what it can mean to your business; you can deliver news and information quickly (in seconds), cheaply (for free) and easily (the click of a mouse) to those who want to hear what you have to say. RSS feeds are allowing people to control exactly what they read and when they read it. If your customers want to hear from you, how are you helping them?
RSS allows you to reach hundreds/thousands/millions of your customers in seconds, and not just any customers, but fully qualified ‘I’ve signed up to your RSS feed to learn more about what you have to say‘-type customers. And they’re your favourite type. (right?)
In a future post I’ll look at how you can use RSS as an effective communication tool (and point out some companies who are already benefiting from it). If you would like to read more about RSS feeds and other web technologies that can help your business why not subscribe to our RSS feed? you’ll find our feed to the right of this post (click that pretty orange button), and you’ll find a list of RSS readers here.
¹ WhatisRSS.com
Tags: communication, RSS, web 2.0, web feeds
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