When Impulse works with clients on their web design, the subject of RSS feeds often comes up. Clientele want to know: should they provide feeds from their own sites? Should they include feeds from other sites on their own?

In this, the information age, it seems that the more up-to-date information you can provide, the better you’ll fare; however, as with any web development decision, a bit of education is necessary in order to decide if a feature might be right for your application.

So, here we go.

RSS, originally indicative of “RDF Site Summary,” but now commonly known as “Really Simply Syndication,” provides participants with immediate links to fresh new content like blogs and other newly uploaded audio and video.

Providing an RSS feed for your clients, fans, and readers will automatically promote your newest offerings, saving you promotion time. It also saves your subscribers time. Each reader can scan headlines and follow only the links that appeal to them (which, with clever headline and content writing, will be many of them). Subscribers won’t have to suffer through spam with RSS – it will only contain feeds to which they’ve subscribed.

When consumers see the RSS icon in your web design, most will recognise it – and those interested in what you have to offer will be more likely to subscribe than if you’re using a less-recognisable application. This trusted reputation is bolstered by the fact that, at any time, people can unsubscribe from any feed, making the decision to sign on risk-free.

As any internet marketing professional will tell you, the more channels you use, the greater your brand visibility will be. RSS is yet another one of those available channels.

When you provide the option to subscribe to your RSS feed in your web design, you ensure that your readers are notified immediately after all content is uploaded, giving time-sensitive material the attention it deserves.

As you may know, Google looks at the number of links to your website when determining placement in search results. An RSS feed builds this number, with every syndication location acting as a backlink.

Of course, as with any web application, there are disadvantages. Firstly, an RSS feed will not provide the kind of analytics that some webmasters expect from an application designed to increase website traffic. Numbers of subscribers, cancellations, reasons for cancellations, and site visits are not provided. Furthermore, readers of feeds will be hard-pressed to determine just where the information is coming from (unless they click on the link to see the entire piece), because URLs are not displayed. Some web hosting services don’t support RSS; however, if you have your web design built from scratch by a company like Impulse, you’ll have no worries.

RSS isn’t meant to stand alone. It is a supplement, an additional channel with which to gain exposure and increase traffic. To learn more about RSS, web design York, and web development York, phone us on 01904 430 666 or get in touch with us via the contact form below.