What You Should Know About

If you are struggling with the decision to implement RSS feeds or not, you must consider the following pros and cons for webmasters who use RSS feeds as part of their content and message plan ...
Benefits (pros of using RSS)
The benefits for a webmaster who opts to implement RSS feeds on their website are numerous:
1. saves time
RSS feeds save time. RSS subscribers can quickly scan RSS feeds, without having to visit each site. Subscribers can then click on the topics they are interested in, to get more information.

2. Timely
RSS feeds are timely. RSS feeds will automatically update itself at any time new information is posted, so that the information your subscribers receive via RSS reader or news aggregator is timely.

3. Spam free
RSS is free of spam. Subscribers do not need to worry about wading through huge amounts of spam in an attempt to get the information they're actually interested in.

4. Opt-In
RSS subscriber chooses what they want to see, and what information they wish to receive. Know they have full control, and that they should not provide personal information to subscribe, they will be more inclined to opt-in.

5. subscription is easy
It is also easy to unsubscribe from an RSS feed. If they do not like the contents of an RSS feed, they can simply remove the RSS feed from their RSS reader or news aggregator in order to unsubscribe.

6. Alternate communication channel
RSS provides you with an alternate communication channel for your business. And the more channels you provide, the more opportunities you have connected to your customers and potential customers.

7. Expands audience through Syndication
The very nature of RSS is that it has been developed specifically for syndication (i.e. publication by others). And widespread syndication can expand your company's reach and strengthen the company brand.

8. can increase Backlinks
When an RSS feed is syndicated, it may increase the number of links back to the original site. And additional inbound links helps often better in organic search rankings home page rank.

9. increases productivity
RSS increases productivity, allowing people to quickly scan new posts and headlines, and only clicking through and spending time on topics of interest.

10. competitive
Whether you decide to implement RSS feeds or not, your competitors likely will. as a way to remain competitive is to implement RSS feeds and other 2.0 Web technology, and allows your competition getting ahead of you.

Negatives (Cons against using RSS)

1. not widely adopted yet

Outside technical circles, has not yet widely adopted RSS. It is becoming more and more popular, it is still far from a mainstream technology.

2. content can easily be copied
The contents of an RSS feed can be easily copied and replicated, regardless of whether you want it, or not. Few aggregators respect the copyrights of the contents of an RSS feed.

3. Tracking subscribers is difficult
It is very difficult to track exactly the number of subscribers who read an RSS feed or the elements in an RSS feed. This is partly because the RSS in the heart, is all about achieving the broadest possible syndication.

4. Source origination difficult
It is sometimes difficult to distinguish the origin of an RSS feed item. When an item is syndicated, the source does not always. The available metrics are not always reflect the traffic received.

Consider the advantages and disadvantages of implementing an RSS feed as a communication channel, and decide whether the benefits outweigh the risks in your own situation.

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.