How To Use RSS Feeds In Your Marketing

It was Friday night. I finished reading a book about RSS feeds. Quickly set up one for my site, submitted it on directories and went to bed.

Sunday morning, I noticed a sale. Idly, I scanned my logs to see where the buyer had found me.

It was from Yahoo! Now that may not seem surprising, except... I had not been listed in Yahoo! before.

Curious, I did a Yahoo! Search for my domain name... and almost fainted in shock! There were 123 of my pages listed - many of them in the top 10 ranks on my best keywords.

My RSS feed had been listed within 48 hours - and since my other pages were linked from it, they had all been indexed by Yahoo! just as quickly. And for free!

Since then I have heard many others share similar experiences. It is no fluke. RSS is H-O-T. And search engines LOVE it.

So what is RSS? An acronym for Really Simple Syndication, it is a web language format designed to help syndicate content across different sources.

RSS has been around for more than 10 years but has only recently become popular. RSS feeds provide headlines and summaries of information in a concise and standardized way.

The rise in RSS popularity, specially among marketers, has many reasons. Email filters and new legislation have lowered the effectiveness of email marketing. Content syndication in many different ways is gathering momentum. And fresh, frequently updated content is the very essence of the Web.

How can you use RSS feeds in your marketing? Is there a way to turn RSS feeds into profits?

Absolutely. Here are some ideas:

1. Beat email filters. Ask your subscribers, prospects and clients to sign up to your RSS feed along with your email newsletter. If the ezine gets blocked, they'll still get your RSS feed.
   

2. Spread the word. Offer your new, valuable content to many other 'lazy' website owners - in return for getting extra exposure of your name and brand to their audiences.
   

3. Get listed on search engines. No one knows how long this 'honeymoon' will last. But ride the wave - and get into search engines quickly, inexpensively - by submitting your RSS feeds to them.
   

4. Use the first-mover advantage. Dedicated RSS directories are mushrooming. Make sure your RSS feed is indexed in them and you could future-proof your business. Imagine if you were one of the first sites to be indexed in Google or Yahoo 5 years ago!
   

5. Offer your readers new content. Keep creating your own content - but also use RSS feed syndication to offer other people's content to your list. Less pain, less strain, more gain.
   

 Dr. Mani Sivasubramanian

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