Quick Series Recap – 2009 Online Marketing Trends for Small Business:
- Part 1 – Series Introduction & Personalized Search
- Part 2 – Bounce Rates Will Affect Your Rankings
- Part 3 – Online Conversations (Social Networking) will Foster Offline Connections
Part 4: RSS Feeds Will Go Mainstream
When I give presentations on internet marketing, Web 2.0 and social media, very rarely do I have an audience that understands the concept of RSS (Real Simple Syndication). There might be a few that raise their hands when I ask the RSS question, but even then I notice the worried looks on their faces that say, “Please don’t ask me to explain it.”
According to an October 2008 report from Forrester, consumer adoption of RSS is only 11%, while roughly 50% of the interactive marketing community is using it. I guess it’s pretty safe to attribute this to the tech-savvy nature of internet marketers, but as mainstream marketers and consumers learn about RSS’ many benefits and get more comfortable with the initial set-up requirements, I believe adoption will really take off. So, I’m going to take on a little of the educational burden and try to explain the RSS concept with an analogy of a technology that has seen much more widespread adoption…
RSS Feeds: Like DVR for Your Favorite Websites
RSS is a lot like DVR, but for the web. Just as we record our favorite TV shows on our DVR boxes to watch when our schedules permit, RSS technology delivers the latest content updates from our favorite websites to our RSS reader, a simple aggregator website that displays the updates. You can then pull up your RSS reader at your leisure to read, listen or watch your latest updates from your favorite websites.
On the flip side, your DVR can record any TV show you want, but some websites do not offer RSS feeds and therefore can’t be “recorded” persay. Standard, HTML-based websites typically don’t come equipped with RSS technology, while CMS/database-driven websites, blogs, forums and social networking sites often do. Does your website utilize RSS? Would one of your customers want to get your latest updates on their DVR (RSS reader)?
Getting updates from your “favorite, RSS-capable websites” is just the tip of the iceberg though. RSS-capable websites within your industry or local community may be crawling with sales opportunities. Your competitors may have a popular “TV show” that needs to be monitored. And don’t forget that there are websites popping up everyday that may help you do your job better. The web is wrought with powerful intel and many sites offer RSS feeds. As an added bonus, you can even set up your RSS reader on any web-enabled mobile device.
Stay tuned for a special series I’m writing called “A Small Business Guide to RSS”, which will be published in April. If you haven’t already done so, subscribe to my “Isn’t That Something” blog and receive this upcoming series via e-mail.
I have to disagree with you on the RSS going mainstream. RSS feeds are awkward and difficult to subscribe to. And you have to use a reader to get it.
I actually got rid of my RSS feed because since I created it in 2006, I only had one subscriber. Everyone used the email signup instead.
I have RSS feeds on my website to add fresh content in addition to my blog and my newsleter and articles. But I don’t think RSS feeds will ever amount to anything more than that.
I work with small business owners every day and if I mention RSS feeds, they don’t have a clue and don’t want to. Until some bright geek figures out how to make RSS actually simple for consumers to use, it will never catch on.
[...] is the mechanism by which websites make their content available for syndication. In a recent post, I described RSS as the DVR of the web. So then an RSS feed is what makes a website “DVR-enabled”. For example, a blog comes [...]
[...] – For the purposes of this article, I’m going to skip the "What Is RSS" content and focus on how you can leverage your blog’s RSS feed (assuming your website/blog [...]
[...] is the mechanism by which websites make their content available for syndication. In a recent post, I described RSS as the DVR of the web. So then an RSS feed is what makes a website “DVR-enabled”. For example, a blog comes [...]
[...] – For the purposes of this article, I’m going to skip the "What Is RSS" content and focus on how you can leverage your blog’s RSS feed (assuming your website/blog [...]
According to the study, the most important tool for small businesses to succeed in 2010 is search engine marketing, while email marketing, public relations and social media cited as crucial for success.
23.8% of all small businesses reported that search engine marketing was the tool most needed for their business to succeed in 2010.
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