11 Practical Uses for RSS in Business
Are you wondering what you can use RSS for right now? Here are some practical examples of RSS at work.
Using Your Own Content
Almost ANY web based content on your web site can be transformed into an RSS Feed. The only real requirement is that the information changes regularly (an RSS feed which never changes is... well... pretty pointless).
- News Headlines RSS Feed
Typically the main use of RSS is to present headlines and a short introduction to "newsy" stories. Create a news RSS feed on your site featuring your company press releases, site updates, etc.
- Upcoming Events RSS Feed
RSS is a great way to let people know of events and activities that may be happening in the near future... and it's faily easy to turn an "events" page into an RSS feed.
- Thoughts/Commentary RSS Feed
You've probably heard of the term "blog" or "weblog" - it's a page that displays (in chronological order) a series of writings on whatever the author wants to write about. While a normal blog also provides the ability for others to add their comments to yours, you don't have to offer that functionality.
Set up a page where you regularly add your thoughts (on all sorts of issues - or just one issue) with the most recent post at the top of the page. Include these items in an RSS feed, and you've got a whole new audience for your pearls of wisdom.
- Articles RSS Feed
Share your knowledge. This is a more "formal" type of writing, where you write a series of articles on a specific topic. Add a new article on that topic every week or so. Set up a several topics and you've got several new RSS feeds to attract more interest in what you know.
Don't forget to include a resource box in the article which allow others to reproduce your article on their site, with an obvious link back to you.
- New Products RSS Feed
Got an online store with new inventory added regulary? Add details about your newly added items to an RSS Feed to let people know what's just come in.
- Weekly/Monthly Specials RSS Feed
Do you regularly make special offers on different products in your inventory? Again - RSS is a great way to tell people what's on special this week... or this month.
- Newsletter RSS Feed
If you regularly produce an email newsletter, then consider converting it to RSS format as well as continuing to email it. After all, your newsletters ARE also shown on your web site... aren't they?
- New Links RSS Feed
If you have a links directory, consider creating an RSS Feed of the new links added to your directory in the last week or so... if you have a category structure within that directory, with links added often, you can create a feed for each category.
- New Member RSS Feed
Do you run a public membership site? Recently joined members could be listed in an RSS Feed with links direct to their profiles. What a great way to welcome new members!
- Ticker RSS Feeds
Have you got timely information - e.g. important stock figures - that needs to be communicated to your customers? It would be painful to do this manually, so automate the process with software and RSS can feed such critical information to people on an hourly basis (or even more frequently if needed).
Note - aim to have up to 15-20 items in each RSS feed if possible. You can have more items you want... 50 or even 100 if you really wanted to. Just remember that most feed reading software will NOT display all of the items. Many may only show just the first 5 or 10.
Once you've got your feeds going... remember to submit your feed URLs to the various RSS feed directories, including RSSisKing.com.
Using Content From OTHER Web Sites
- If a site offers an RSS feed for people to subscribe to, you can possibly use that feed on your site. Just check the terms and conditions on the site first to see if you can reproduce the feed. If in doubt - send an email or phone them to ask permission.
What you are aiming for is to build lots of extra pages of useful content on topics of value to your visitors. Don't worry that the links in the feed will take people off site (try to make that happen in a new window). The content is what is needed for search engines and people to devour :)
Check the RSSisKing.com Feed Directory for feeds you can use on your site.
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