It's been around for a while and only matured in the last two or three years. Many of the people we speak to still don't have any idea of what RSS is and how they can benefit.
Read the bit in italics if you've got time otherwise skip down...
When we're doing the background on a new website we're developing, we will look at the objectives / purpose of the site.
Some websites are just online brochures where they just provide additional information and images for a business. The traffic for these sites is generally driven via off line means like brochures and real world advertising. Other sites are looking to pull traffic through online means - organic (natural) search engine results and links from other sites.
The "Pull" traffic sites are generally more long term while brochures sites will have a limited lifespan or evolve into "Pull" traffic sites as they mature or objectives change.
Web sites that "Pull" visitors need to have content, it needs to be fresh and updated. This takes a serious commitment.
If you are going to work so hard at attracting people to your site, wouldn't it be good to keep them coming back? This is where RSS comes in.
RSS allows people to know when you've added something new to your blog or news page. Here is a great little clip that explains RSS in a really simple way.
Having a news page has many benefits....
- Adds content to your site
- Shows visitors your business is progressive
- Shows you have expert knowledge about your subject
- Increases the amount of links Google has of your site in it's results
- Shows Google your site is alive (not stagnant)
- Increases the rate that Google revisits your site
- Broadens your ability to focus on different keywords
- you get the picture
Be wary of anyone that says they can get you in the top rankings of Google without any effort or content. Short term it is possible, but keep in mind that your competitors will only be too happy to highlight to Google the dodgy tactics your search engine optimiser has used on your site and it will be removed from Google completely. Hey, it even happened to BMW last year (see article).
In a nutshell, it takes a well designed website, great content, time, effort, and patience. RSS is an easy/free way to more mileage out of your new content.
Good luck,
David
Posted on Wednesday, April 25, 2007