So, what is RSS?

RSS, often short for "Really Simple Syndication" or "Rich Site Summary," is a type of technology that helps to increase your efficiency at the end of the day. It's a way for websites to publish various works such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video, in a standardized format. An RSS document (referred to as a "feed," "web feed," or "channel") includes full or summarized text, publishing dates, and authorship information. These feeds are automatically syndicated, or updated, so people can read them in their RSS readers (also known as a "feed reader" or "aggregator"). These readers can be web-based, desktop-based, or mobile-device based. In other words, you can receive updates from dozens of websites on nearly anything connected to the web! Are you still with me?

Cool, now how do I use this?

Typically, RSS-savvy people had to take the URL of the RSS feed (something like http://blog.dalelittle.com/feed/) and enter it into the RSS reader. Nowadays, some web browsers, such as Firefox, allow users to easily subscribe to an RSS feed simply by clicking on the RSS icon (looks like ). After clicking on the icon, the viewer is presented with an option to subscribe to the feed in Google Reader (a common RSS reader). And it's that simple! When the owner of dalelittle.com (Dale) updates her blog, Google Reader (and other RSS readers) will automatically pick it up and show the new article. Note that some RSS readers such as Google Reader can take a few hours to show updated content (because they're probably looking for updates on millions of other feeds from other users). If you'd like to find an RSS reader on an iPhone or android-powered device, try searching for "RSS" in the market/store. Personally, I use Google Reader from my android-powered Google phone.

Nice, but how do I get started?

As a Google advocate (can you tell by now?), I'd recommend using Google Reader. It's simple, popular, mobile-friendly, and gets the job done. You can create an account at http://reader.google.com/ on the bottom right hand side of the screen. As a test, try subscribing to Dale's blog. There are several other applications for an RSS reader too. For instance, if you want to see if anyone mentions your business on Twitter, you can have an RSS feed for that. Go to http://search.twitter.com/, enter your business name, click search, and then look for "Feed for this query" on the top right. If you have Firefox, you can click on that and subscribe with Google Reader. Otherwise, right click on it and select "Copy Link Location" and enter it into your RSS of choice. When someone mentions your business, you'll see it in Google Reader!

And that's that! Feel free to contact us if you need any clarification.