via Feed Reader
What is RSS?
RSS stands for Rich Site Summary. But you don’t need to know what it stands for, you need to know what it does and how you can use it to save you time.
RSS is a format used for delivering regularly changing web content such as blogs, articles and news feeds.
When you use RSS feeds, you are using a really efficient method to keep up to date with all that is happening on the internet.
Before RSS
Before RSS came on the scene if you wanted to keep up with your favourite blogs and news sites you had to visit each site separately and see if any new information was available.
This was a particularly time-consuming way to check for new and current information.
The RSS feed is usually indicated on a website by a distinctive orange and white icon.
You can see the BloggingTimeSavers RSS feed icon to the left of this post. (It’s the cute little guy reading the RSS newspaper)
RSS – the perfect blog tool
Using RSS feeds, you can literally have all of the new information available from your favourite blogs and websites brought to you, all in one single place on the web.
Using RSS feeds to monitor the content that interest you, saves you time and protects your privacy.
You don’t have to visit each site separately and you don’t have to leave your email address to subscribe to an RSS feed like you do when you subscribe to a newsletter.
Using RSS as a Blog Tool
Step 1 – you need to have a home for the RSS feeds that you subscribe to. Your home for your RSS feeds is called a reader or news aggregator.
In the past there were programs that you could load onto your computer to manage your RSS subscriptions but now the most commonly used readers are web based.
The 3 most commonly used RSS readers are:
Google reader www.google.com/reader ,
My Yahoo www.myyahoo.com
Bloglines www.bloglines.com
Step 2 – set up a connection between your favourite blogs and websites. They way to do this is to subscribe to their RSS feed.
For example if you wanted to be sure that you never missed one of our BloggingTimeSavers posts then after you have registered for your reader account you can click on the RSS guy on the top left hand corner of the blog and now you will never miss one of our posts.
Step 3 – You can use RSS feeds to gather information and keep in touch with what is new and what other people are talking about in your special area of interest or niche.
In this way you always have the latest information and you can always find inspiration for your next blog post or article.
Click on our RSS icon just below to subscribe to our RSS feed and never miss an update from the BloggingTimeSavers blog again.
via Feed Reader
TALK to us!
...an extensive 9-part audio report that will change the way you think about blogging! CLICK HERE.