RSS content can be read using software called a "feed reader" or an "aggregator." The user subscribes to a feed by entering the feed's link into the reader or by clicking an RSS icon in a browser that initiates the subscription process. The reader checks the user's subscribed feeds regularly for new content, downloading any updates that it finds.
The initials "RSS" are used to refer to the following formats:
- Really Simple Syndication (RSS 2.0)
- RDF Site Summary (RSS 1.0 and RSS 0.90)
- Rich Site Summary (RSS 0.91)
RSS formats are specified using XML, a generic specification for the creation of data formats."
What does this mean for you, a budding internet marketer? Well, it means that you create a blog, such as BlogFather.net, and then you post keyword specific information to that blog daily, and you begin to get excellent search engine positions on Google. The key here is the content. You have probably heard that "content is king on Google." That is the bottom line to effective marketing on the most powerful search engine on the planet. Its time to quit your surfing for some magic button and start writing. Ok, so you are going to tell me now that you can't write, right? I am here to tell you that you can write. You learn the art of writing by writing. Move past your fear of the keyboard and begin the process. It may be tough at first, but you will get the hang of it quickly.
History of RSS
"The RSS formats were preceded by several attempts at syndication that did not achieve widespread popularity. The basic idea of restructuring information about web sites goes back to at least 1995, when Ramanathan V. Guha and others in Apple Computer's Advanced Technology Group developed the Meta Content Framework (MCF).[2]. For a more detailed discussion of these early developments, see the history of web syndication technology.
RDF Site Summary, the first version of RSS, was created by Guha at Netscape in March 1999 for use on the My.Netscape.Com portal. This version became known as RSS 0.9.[3] In July 1999, Dan Libby of Netscape produced a new version, RSS 0.91[4], that simplified the format by removing RDF elements and incorporating elements from Dave Winer's scriptingNews syndication format.[5] Libby also renamed RSS to Rich Site Summary and outlined further development of the format in a "futures document."[6]
This would be Netscape's last participation in RSS development for eight years. As RSS was being embraced by web publishers who wanted their feeds to be used on My.Netscape.Com and other early RSS portals, Netscape dropped RSS support from My.Netscape.Com in April 2001 during new owner AOL's restructuring of the company, also removing documentation and tools that supported the format.[7]
Two entities emerged to fill the void, neither with Netscape's help or approval: The RSS-DEV Working Group and Winer, whose UserLand Software had published some of the first publishing tools outside of Netscape that could read and write RSS.
Winer published a modified version of the RSS 0.91 specification on the UserLand web site, covering how it was being used in his company's products, and claimed copyright to the document.[8] A few months later, UserLand filed a U.S. trademark registration for RSS, but failed to respond to a USPTO trademark examiner's request and the request was rejected in December 2001.[9]
The RSS-DEV group, a project whose members included Guha and representatives of O'Reilly Media and Moreover, produced RSS 1.0 in December 2000.[10] This new version, which reclaimed the name RDF Site Summary from RSS 0.9, reintroduced support for RDF and added XML namespaces support, adopting elements from standard metadata vocabularies such as Dublin Core.
In December 2000, Winer released RSS 0.92[11] a minor set of changes aside from the introduction of the enclosure element, which permitted audio files to be carried in RSS feeds and helped spark podcasting. He also released drafts of RSS 0.93 and RSS 0.94 that were subsequently withdrawn.[12]
In September 2002, Winer released a major new version of the format, RSS 2.0, that redubbed its initials Really Simple Syndication. RSS 2.0 removed the type attribute added in the RSS 0.94 draft and added support for namespaces.
Because neither Winer nor the RSS-DEV Working Group had Netscape's involvement, they could not make an official claim on the RSS name or format. This has fueled ongoing controversy in the syndication development community as to which entity was the proper publisher of RSS.
One product of that contentious debate was the creation of a rival syndication format, Atom, that began in June 2003. The Atom syndication format, whose creation was in part motivated by a desire to get a clean start free of the issues surrounding RSS, has been adopted as an IETF standard.
In July 2003, Winer and UserLand Software assigned the copyright of the RSS 2.0 specification to Harvard's Berkman Center for the Internet & Society, where he had just begun a term as a visiting fellow.[13] At the same time, Winer launched the RSS Advisory Board with Brent Simmons and Jon Udell, a group whose purpose was to maintain and publish the specification and answer questions about the format.[14]
In December 2005, the Microsoft Internet Explorer team and Outlook team announced on their blogs that they were adopting the feed icon first used in the Mozilla Firefox browser 
In January 2006, RSS Advisory Board chairman Rogers Cadenhead announced that eight new members had joined the group, continuing the development of the RSS format and resolving ambiguities in the RSS 2.0 specification. Netscape developer Chris Finke joined the board in March 2007, the company's first involvement in RSS since the publication of RSS 0.91. In June 2007, the board revised its version of the specification to confirm that namespaces may extend core elements with namespace attributes, as Microsoft has done in Internet Explorer 7. In its view, a difference of interpretation left publishers unsure of whether this was permitted or forbidden."
This brief history of rss feeds gives you insight and perspectives into the nature of RSS feeds. Now, you probably are wondering exactly how to use RSS Feeds in your normal routine of promoting on Google. Each time that you post an article into a blog, you will see a unique link that has been created. This is called link building and this is the key to successful search engine rankings on Google. You have also created an RSS Feed link by using the blogging system. This will be called something like an xml file. You will place the link for that file into a hyperlink format into your website. Each time you post to your blog, you will then be submitting fresh content into your website automatically.
Search engine spiders love constantly changing content. They do not like static, or non-changing sites. This is the workaround to that stagnation. Of course, you must have a website that you control the content on, or this process will not work. If you are going to be a professional internet marketer, you must purchase your domain name, and then build an informational site that has all the elements needed for online success. If you have not done that, you are simply not going to have much of a chance of success on Google.
RSS Feeds Can Become Viral Marketing Tools
You may not have thought of RSS Feeds as being anything but changing content for your website, but in all actuality, it can become a viral marketing tool for you as well. You see, anytime that you find a site or a blog that has an RSS Feed on it, you can grab that content and place it on your site. If that person is writing great information that you can use to assist you in your business, you have this tool available to you at all time. You simply click on the link you placed on your site, and you have access to their information. I have been syndicated hundreds of times. Therefore, my information is widespread across the internet without me doing any additional work. The whole process boils down to the content that you write. If it is information, and not advertising, chances are good that people will begin to see you as credible. You can become very popular on Google by using this technique.
Here are a few of my RSS Feeds for you to view.
Butch Hamilton's SEO RSS Feed In this blog, I post at least seven or eight articles per day. I am talking about seo, web conferencing, lead generating, about leads and other information. I also use blogs for my seo clients, as they get terrific search engine rankings on Google.
Butch Hamilton's SEO Services RSS Feed In this blog, I post consistently all the time. I post all types of information here. This is an extremely powerful blog, as I have about 300 articles permanently stored about search engine optimization, obtaining top positions on Google, Jaguar Marketing, search engine optimizer and other articles as well.
About Leads Blog RSS Feed In this blog, which I host on my server at ButchHamiltonsBestDomains.com, I provide yet another way to post clear and concise information to the search engine spiders. This blog is extremely powerful. I am always obtaining top positions for any information I place here.
In conclusion, RSS Feeds are extremely powerful internet promoting tools when used correctly. The whole process is based solely on your ability to write insightful, thought provoking and beneficial information that people can use to their distinct advantage.
