RSS

"It helped get this site to Number 1"

A while ago I received an email from one of my visitors explaining that, because I was now offering a blog, he felt it would help him so he set up an RSS Reader. He also asked me how could he build it into his website.

Here's my reply -

Hello Richard,

Good to hear from you - I hope that you are well and flourishing.

Thanks for subscribing to my website blog.

Yes, RSS does help in the way you describe. Now I know what it is and how to be a user, I think of it as a bit like a newspaper delivery service :-

1 - I have the choice to receive the paper or not. (i.e. Set up my Reader - I use the Internet Explorer Version 7 facility.)

2 - I decide what news it contains. (i.e. Which sites and blogs my Reader tells me about - mine watches for news and information on several sites I have selected across different topics e.g. photography, travel, golf, music, art and crafts, technology etc.)

3 - I decide from the headline whether to read the article. (i.e. Whether to click on a link which takes me to the exact place in the site or blog.)

This means I don't have to keep checking many different sites to see if there has been an addition, update or news item. RSS notifies me automatically. It also means I don't have to disclose my email address to subscribe to newsletters if I don't want to - and in these days of spambots I'd prefer not to receive yet more offers to enlarge parts of my anatomy!

As a website owner offering this service I am providing my visitors with something they appreciate as users. Of course, this means I can be sure they are kept up to date about new ideas and techniques or information I think might interest them.

I set mine up by following the advice at -

http://rss.sitesell.com/aloteasier.html

It was worth following because it helped me to get it right without falling into any traps.

I hope this is useful to you,

All the best,

John

P.S. You don't have to be a SiteBuildIt! user to set up Really Simple Syndication on your website but it does make it more straightforward. I'm an SBI! user because most of my IT knowledge is out of date and I wanted a service which didn't mean going back to college or threaten my pension fund!

SiteBuildIt! has meant that better-photographs.com is at number 1 at google.com, yahoo.com, msn.com, ask.com and google-images this morning and has over 5,000 visitors a month - a number which continues to increase.

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