What You Should Know About

The arguments continue to rage over the ambiguities in the RSS specifications. But the fact is: RSS is here to stay, and the currently defined RSS 2.0 specification is likely to be as good as it will have. Have tried to create "best practices" documents and specification clarifications. We thought it would be useful to provide the General guidelines for those constructing an RSS 2.0 feed. In General, the following guidelines for the construction of an RSS feed. It is good to get into a habit to validate the RSS feed, either with the software or with an online validator. Here are some general guidelines for creating RSS Feeds: 1. Sample local includes only one enclosure per item for maximum compatibility. RSS 2.0 specification does not clearly state whether multiple enclosures are allowed or not, but most RSS readers support only a single chassis. It is therefore best to satisfy your readers, and includes only a single enclosure in each item of RSS. 2. date formats, date formats, can be very difficult; Make sure that all dates are formatted correctly. 3. Codingcoding required for specific characters. If you are using software to create the feed, it must handle the character encoding for you. 4. HTML specification is not explicit, it is generally a good idea not to use HTML coding in the channel or item titles. For maximum feed compatibility, is the only place you need to use HTML in RSS Feed item description. 5. GUID GUID (Global Unique IDentifiers) are not required. However, publishers are encouraged to use a unique string in the GUID. Many RSS readers look for GUID changes to determine if new items are available in an RSS feed. 6. Images if you include an image with a feed, the suggested image size is 88 x 31 (the maximum allowable size is 144 x 400). If you include an image in the RSS feed item description or enclosure fields, not size, but keep in mind that excessively large graphics negative effect on the amount of time it takes to load the feed. 7. Favicons some RSS readers and search engines favicon of video hosting services domain beside the list to an RSS feed. To your feed to stand out, make sure that you include a favicon in the root directory of your site's domain. 8. Urlsuse "absolute" URLs for images, home pages and links, instead of "relative" URLs. The intent of RSS is to publish content, so the RSS feed may not always be local to the person who sees the diet. As such, it should be full web path for all images, Web sites and malicious hyperlinks used. In other words, do not use ".../ImageUrl.gif ", but instead use the full URL address" http://www.mydomain.com/imageurl.gif "by linking to content. 9. Titlesuse a meaningful title for the channel feed and RSS feed elements. Most RSS directories and search engines use the words in the channel title and topic title to classify RSS feeds.10. MIME typesif you include a file in the enclosure in an RSS feed, you must remember to properly define "file size" and "MIME-type" of the file enclosure. A list of properly MIME-type formats can be found here-http://www.feedforall.com/mime-types.htm. 11. Auto-Discovery includes RSS feed "auto-discovery" code in the HTML header. This will allow certain browsers and RSS feed readers to automatically know that an RSS feed is available for specific content. Tool to createAutoDiscovery code-http://www.feedforall.com/autodiscovery.htm 12. Volume the number of items in a feed is important. Establish a history and expand the feed on a regular basis. Cropping RSS feed if it becomes too long; This will help to make the RSS feed load faster. About the author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing and publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com audio recording and editing software.

RSS: the Amazing profit potential
Copyright 2005 Rok Hrastnik all e-mail marketers are experiencing this issue delivery email hoped to equal way our messages will reach our customers and subscribers this time ... and then hope that they will open them, instead of taking them for spam error. Reality hits us usually hard. Email is still the primary and most important internet marketing tool, we must begin to use other free tools to get our content delivered. Most important among them is RSS (Real Simple Syndication) that gets your content directly in your readers without having to face any filters along the way. And it is easy and even free to use ... The marketing and profit potential of RSS is, simply said, quite amazing. It is not just good for blogs, and it is certainly much more than just another way to get your content to your readers. And it is just to reach the turning point. There is still only a few RSS publishers and RSS usage is growing every day. This is your best opportunity to get on the wave ... In order to get you started hers a quick overview of what can RSS do for the company internet ...1. DOWNLOADING your content delivered
AOL blocks about 75% of 2 billion e-mail messages they receive on a daily basis and on average, over 64,7% of all business email that you send, not even opened, let alone read. These two facts are destroying the company internet. But fortunately, RSS has a solution. It gets your content delivered directly to your subscribers, prospects and customers, when you want, and how often you want. In essence, this means that 100% of your marketing messages are delivered to your RSS subscribers, and it is 100% of possibilities to make sales, and improve the relationship.2. improve your site's RANKING
Traffic is each internet business lifeline, and RSS makes better ranking a breeze. Combined with specific Web sites, called blog sites (Advanced blogs), is RSS demonstrated to bring total newcomers on the market to the # 1 Search positions for their selected keywords, and that without any costs. And it is easy. All it takes to publish an RSS feed, send it to the right locations to keep it updated and uses some other little known but easy techniques.3. GENERATING AMAZING new traffic
But the traditional search engines is not all, RSS offers. Far From It. There are now more than 100 search engines and directories that specialize in aggregating content from RSS feeds. To get in them is easy, and each of them gives you new spending ' traffic.4. Get your content published on other sites
Traffic stop, not here. RSS makes it easy to publish your content on other sites, which creates additional exposure and more important, brings you new targeted customers.5. discover new business opportunities
But it is really all about the new business opportunities, as yet did not exist before RSS popular. Most of these have not yet even been discovered by the majority of marketers. We are talking about new and effective ways to get new content for your readers, content, which will make them buy. Just think of easily delivering daily or even hourly content updates, coupons, customized product updates, audio (podcasting), video content (video casting), white papers and free reports, and so on. 6. get more subscribers more easily
Because RSS is so fundamentally different than email, get more subscribers easy as 1-2-3. Profit potential is amazing: just imagine converting more than 50% more of your visitors in e-zine subscribers ... And much, much more ... And the list stop not far from here. RSS feeds also make for an excellent affiliate marketing tool and help you get the most out of your affiliates, etc. With this many profit opportunities, is the even greater advantage that most marketers have not yet touched them yet. You can be one of the first today. About the author:
Rok Hrastnik is the author of Unleash the marketing and Publishing power of RSS, hailed as the best and most comprehensive guide to RSS for marketers leading RSS experts. Complete guide to RSS for marketers: http://rss.marketingstudies.net/index.html

Places to get ideas for blog posts
By Sharon Housley

Best blogs and feeds are those that contain unique, fresh, compelling, content. Where do these prolific posters so that their ideas? I spoke to a handful of bloggers to determine where their inspiration came from for their content. Not surprisingly, ideas for Blog posts or RSS feed items originate or are influenced by other Web content. The following are meeting places for finding your online muse: 1. Google News
Monitor Google News for keywords related to your industry. If you find a story disagree with or agree completely with write about it. Add your thoughts, and editorialize content. This does not mean you should just Send again Google news summaries. The value is not only in News aggregation, but in the comment, you grant. Bind news items for specific events, conditions, or the impact of specific news on the industry. Add a point or reference to a news article adds genuine value. 2. Web Logs
Look at your websites "long tail" and examine your web logs. Find phrases that are relevant to your site and write in-depth information about these topics. This is especially useful if your blog or RSS feed is used as a marketing tool for your Web site. By focusing on obscure or less popular keywords and phrases that exist in your web logs, you will not only find that you give your readers the content of interest, but you will attract additional web traffic. 3, assemble
Many bloggers have established themselves as "experts" by simply to gather and organize a large collection of information related to a specific field. Use the blog or feed to announce and organize information, new products or services in an unbiased manner within a specific industry. 4. Search
Most people assume that there is information on each topic on the Internet, but it is not necessarily the case. If you stumble on an area where there is minimal content, consider it an opportunity. Continue to develop content. Chances are if you're looking for content as well as another is, develop a blog posts or RSS feed information, find inaccessible. 5. Untouchable content
Consider tackling all content, many other publishers find difficult or unpleasant. Controversial or content that is difficult to write about often overlooked, look at challenging content as an option.6. monitor authority Blogs
Watch authority blogs for developing countries industry news. Comment to any new or leaders, as you either agree or disagree. This can attract attention from an authority blog and could lead to a link to your comment. Be sure to credit the source of any blog posts that you comment on or quote. 7. Advice
If you are an expert? Consider developing an advice column. Let readers send questions and post questions and answers in your blog or RSS feed. This allows readers to direct your content. 8. Conversations
Many bloggers and publishers discover topic ideas from conversations. Create dialogue with both individuals familiar and know your blog topic, the questions that come up could be good fodder for posts. 9. Forums/newsgroups/Usenet
Forums are great places to find topic ideas. Read topic specific forum posts and then editorialize and summarize positions. 10. Look outside the box
Do not constrain your thinking parameters that exist online. Best RSS feeds and blogs are targeted, clear, consistent and unambiguous. It is okay to occasionally step outside your comfort zone to find appealing content. While breaking news has obvious value to make timeless content and "how to" posts. Don't be afraid to mix it and give your readers a combination of the two. About the author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing and publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for Note Page http://www.notepage.net a wireless text messaging software company.

Hanover, MA -Have your company website reviewed, analysed and dissected by two online marketing specialists-live, in public and free of charge.

Sharon Housley Note Page, Inc. And Dave Collins of Shareware Promotions have been running their live website critiques at software conferences around the world for many years.

With a combined 25 years of marketing experience between them, Housley and Collins have worked extensively with a wide variety of products, sites, and markets, and know how to optimize a website to the greatest possible impact.

On Wednesday April 29th at 5: 00 PM UK time (12: 00 pm Eastern, 11: 00 Central), Housley and Collins will host their first website Critique Webinar. Participants can choose to sit passively, enjoy information and enjoy the Show, or if they are brave enough, can offer their own homepage to dissection.

Topics covered will include the first impression created by each website, structure, navigation, communication, sales process, SEO Setup and more.

Participants should note that the main purpose of the webinar is to share feedback and provoke new ideas, tone and approach of these sessions are very informal and sometimes entertaining. Those who are easily offended by criticism should not submit their website for appraisal.

Webinar will take place on Wednesday 29 april.

Registration is free, but availability is limited. For more information about the webinar, panellists and how to register can be found at http://sharewarepromotions.com/website-critique.html.

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You think you have learned to RSS, but how much do you really know? Take RSS quiz to test your knowledge of RSS.
Question: If something is in an RSS feed, it is perfectly fine to reproduce the content of the diet. I believe after all RSS means really simple syndication, right? Reply: no, it is not true. Regardless of whether the content is in a feed or not, has the original creator of content the right to restrict its use. While most people feel that if the content is in an RSS feed, it will be available for syndication--it is not always the case. Various groups have made efforts to add namespaces which expand the tags used in RSS, define whether the content is available for syndication. The two most notable namespaces that detailed permissions are Creative Commons extension and Blog lines ' access extension. These two extensions not yet widely supported so that it is always best to check the conditions for the service associated with the feed or Web site on the feed is available for syndication.Questions: RSS is only for blogs right? All blogs have RSS feeds right? Reply: no, and no! While blogs may have contributed to the increasing popularity of RSS feeds, RSS feeds are not specific to blogs. RSS feeds can be used for all types of content not just blogs. In fact, there are probably several RSS feeds for non-blogs than there are feeds for blogs. Publishers have used RSS feeds for articles, press releases, discounts, podcasts, calendars, alerts, and the list goes on and. Question: when I add a new item to the feed, do I edit just the old rss file or do I create a new one? Reply: If you want to add content in connection with the theme of the original RSS feed, you should always extend your existing RSS feed, rather than to create a new feed. Do not edit any of the RSS feed existing elements, only to add a new item to your existing RSS feed.Question: can RSS Feeds be configured for private list subscribers and what kind of security is available for the RSS sources to support a private feed? Reply: Yes, while there is no provision in the RSS 2.0 specification for passwords or protect files, you can use any available security mechanism on the http server to protect your entire RSS feed. Security settings are dependent on the capabilities of your Web server.Question: what is a feed reader? Reply: A feed reader can also refer to a news aggregator. RSS feed-readers come in all shapes and sizes and are just tools that make it easy for users to view content or headlines in RSS feeds they subscribe to. Feed readers can be desktop applications or Web applications. Desktop readers are applications that behave similar to an e-mail client, you add new feeds, and when RSS feeds that you subscribe to is updated new elements can appear in the RSS reader. Web aggregators Web sites that aggregate all of your favorite feeds, the Web page is updated dynamically as new items are added to the feeds you subscribe to. Many e-mail programs now includes also the possibility to monitor RSS feeds. RSS popularity increases, expand the options to read and monitor RSS feeds.Question: can you block a search engine from access to a feed? Reply: You can use a robots.txt file to indicate to search engines, there are specific RSS feeds do not want indexed. Most search engines will comply with the contents of a correctly formatted robots.txt file. Question: what is a GUID? Reply: A GUID is a globally unique identifier. RSS specification strongly suggests that each RSS feed item has a unique GUID. If you are creating feeds, a GUID is important because Guids are often used by feed readers and aggregators to determine whether a feed item is new or simply an existing element that has been updated. Each element in the RSS feed should have a different GUID. Interested in additional RSS FAQs visit RSS Knowledge base http://www.feedforall.com/knowledgebase.htm or subscribe to the RSS Knowledgebase feed http://www.feedforall.com/knowledgebase.php about the author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing and publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for Note Page http://www.notepage.net a wireless text messaging software company.

Ego searches are free and simple searches designed to monitor blogs and news portals for mentions of your company, product, competitors or other specific keywords. Conducting ego searches not only allows you to keep you informed, but also makes it possible to maintain a strategic advantage over competing companies. A number of new internet services are freely available, make these ' ego searches ' painless and easy. Dynamically created keyword based RSS feeds, update in your RSS reader or news aggregators, appears each time new information containing the keyword in the searched resources. Dynamic feeds match requests against new information as it comes online in real time.The following free services allow for RSS feed ego searches.google News -just do a keyword search Google News, and then click the text that says "rss" save the url of the RSS feed in reader news. Each time a new article with the keyword appears in the Google news feed in your RSS reader is updated automatically.
http://News.Google.com/news Blog Pulse -Find out what is being said about your products, your company or your industry in the blogosphere. Carry out a keyword or URL-search on Blog Pulse. Click the orange RSS icon above the search results and save the feed into the reader. Each time the keyword appears in a blog indexed by Blog Pulse will you receive a new item in your feed reader. Another feature of Blog Pulse is it will graph the keyword occurrences, make an image representation, so that trends can be easily visualized. Hovering over the lines in the graph will give details of the actual blog mentions.
http://www.blogpulse.comPubSub -search on a keyword, then save and add the feed to your RSS reader, use the icons provided. Optionally with PubSub direct your search to only warn you of posts in specific areas of interest including press releases, SEC/EDGAR Filings, newsgroup posts or blog entries
http://www.pubsub.comTechnorati -create watch lists by inserting the keyword to add the item to the list watch, then scroll to the bottom, click the blue RSS icon to get the URL of the RSS feed can be added to your reader. Technorati is a real-time search engine that keeps track of what is happening in the blogosphere. In order to setup a WATCHLIST you must create a Technorati account.
http://www.Technorati.comIce Rocket -just investigate Ice Rocket then click button RSS 2.0 download url to the RSS feed that contain your search term. Add the URL to your RSS reader or newsaggregator.
http://www.icerocket.com/
Find articles -traditional media channels can even be monitored using RSS. FindArticles scanner routinely magazines and publications for the keyword mentions. Perform a search, and then click the "RSS Alert" for the URL to the RSS feed. Add the feed to your reader to receive instant notification of new articles.
http://www.findarticles.com/ NewsTrove -NewsTrove indexes millions of news articles from a myriad of sources. Build an RSS feed on all imaginable topics. Enter your keywords in the search box. Click ' Search ' click on the orange XML icon on the right side of the page with search results, and save the feed to your news reader.
http://www.newstrove.com BlogDigger -BlogDigger monitor the blogosphere and, in General, what has to be said daily in blogs. Make a search on Blogdigger, and click the orange XML icon to retrieve the url for the search feed. Feed should then be added to your RSS reader.
http://www.blogdigger.com/DayPop -perform a search and click the icon to the right, say XML, save the feed to your RSS aggregator. Only the most recent search results will be displayed.
http://www.daypop.com Yahoo News -perform a search, and then click "show as RSS" in the right column, save the feed in your aggregator. The feed will check the Yahoo News for denominator.
http://News.yahoo.com/Overall, ego searches are an excellent way to keep you informed and maintain a strategic advantage over competitors. To know exactly what your competitors are doing online gives a competitive advantage that can be used to your advantage. Keyword RSS feeds can be used to monitor key phrases to trademark abuse or monitoring the effectiveness of a specific press promotion. Although the sounds scary is ego searches simply good business sense.About the author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing and publishing RSS feeds and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for FeedForDev http://www.feedfordev.com an RSS element for developers.

Microsoft and Google shows it is time for RSS marketing
Copyright 2005 Rok Hrastnik many internet marketers are still considering whether to start marketing with RSS or not. It seems that not even all case studies, hard metrics and benefits available can t to convince them, or everyone would jump on the RSS bandwagon now. Like overview, here are some of the benefits of marketers missing out on by not marketing with RSS: A] 100% delivery of their marketing, relationship building and educational messages to their subscribers, customers, prospects and partners. Email isn t to get shipped, but with RSS, you will achieve 100% delivery. (B)] increased search engines and fast indexing and increased traffic from other RSS-enabled online sources. (C)] get your content on the Internet published on other sites. (D)] creates new subscribers more easily and quickly. (E)], and much much more even if you don t believe that RSS is used by enough people right now that s still no excuse not to start using it as a vehicle to generate more traffic to your websites. But soon all this will also change. As it was widely predicted, Microsoft to integrate RSS support in the next version of its Internet Explorer, and perhaps more importantly, it makes it an integral part of its long-awaited Longhorn operating system. What does it mean for marketers? (A)] in the process of being integrated into IE, and other Microsoft software, achieves mass penetration RSS. This means for marketers, RSS finally will be one of the standard tools of mass communication and content delivery. In addition, start internet users expect RSS from marketers, probably even more than e-mail newsletters. (B)] marketers will no longer (Finally, of course, when most of the world starts by using the latest software versions) have to explain how you get an RSS reader, but will be able to focus only on presenting their activities and benefits to the end-user. (C)] broader RSS integration in Microsoft's tools provide additional RSS applications far beyond basic content delivery in the form of stories, podcasts, and products. Marketers and developers will be able to deploy rich interaction programs to make communication and business/personal interaction more liquid, easier and more efficient. In essence, for many advanced marketers marketing with RSS capability will mean their either in or out of the game. (D)] this is now official. Marketers must start leading and implementing RSS feeds accross their communicational innitiatives from PR to direct marketing and sales. And above all this, Google recently began serving Google AdSense ads in RSS feeds, as well as. The profound meaning behind this are four-fold: A] new "automatic" is the perfect option for RSS publishers to monetize their RSS feeds. With Google's default inclussion in "runnings" of AdSense ads, publishers expect to monetize on RSS immediately. (B)] this is another reason for publishers to begin to publish their content through RSS, especially since it will not cost them nothing or very little, but will provide them with an extra source of revenue. With low cost aspect of the RSS, we can expect a flood of new publishers to the set-up RSS feeds of their content to generate more AdSense clicks. (C)] with RSS ads included in the feeds, you will be more advertisers aware of RSS and its marketing potential. (D)] by using the RSS advertising publishers are now not only create an additional revenue source, but it is actually ensure that they do not lose ad revenue opportunities. We used to refer to RSS as a future. Well, that future is now. If you re not ready to start marketing with RSS, can only run you over time. As well as your competitors

About the author:
Rok Hrastnik is the author of Unleash the marketing and Publishing power of RSS, hailed as the best and most comprehensive guide on marketing with RSS by top RSS industry leaders, experts, developers, and top marketers. Find out everything you need to know about RSS and how do I use to get your content delivered, win back your customers, make more sales and increase search engine rankings http://rss.marketingstudies.net/index.html