Syndicating websites with RSS Feeds

About This Book

After I had maintained my own Web site for several years, I had the opportu¬nity to teach several courses on creating Web sites. Being a writer, I naturally emphasized the importance of content and organization. Then I started an e-mail newsletter and saw firsthand some of the problems that entails. When I first heard about RSS, I was immediately excited about the possibilities and thought it was a great idea. (My publisher took longer to come around!) And I was impressed with how quickly it seemed to be catching on.

Having written books on several other computer topics, I decided that I wanted to write a book on RSS. The only book available on the subject was directed toward programmers. I thought that people who weren’t program¬mers also needed a tool to help them get started with RSS. After all, most people who have Web sites are not programmers; they are people who want to sell a product or service, or communicate news and ideas. These people need RSS, too.

Because RSS is fairly new, many people who want to create RSS feeds have never even subscribed to one. So I cover the topic from the beginning, assum¬ing that you aren’t already subscribed to dozens of feeds. The rest of the book provides you with the tools you need to create your own RSS feeds. I also ruminate on best practices and ways to promote your feed — and your Web site.

RSS is a rapidly expanding field, and it seems as if each day brings a new twist. I explain some of the more interesting uses for RSS, such as podcasting and republishing RSS feeds on your site.

How This Book Is Organized

I’ve organized this book in the order that I think will help you understand RSS from scratch, and then I develop your understanding and skills to a more sophisticated level. I don’t know exactly how much you already know or want to know, so I’ve tried to include all the important stuff in the order most people need to know it.

More specifically, I’ve divided the book into five parts plus an appendix. Each part has two or more chapters that relate to the topic of that part. In the next few sections, I explain what each part contains.

Part I: Controlling the Information Explosion

Part I provides you with an overview of RSS, including its context in the com¬munication revolution and how RSS started. Chapter 1 explains why RSS is so useful for subscribers and why publishers like RSS so much. I also talk about how companies can use RSS.

Chapter 2 gets right down to choosing an RSS reader. I cover the two types of readers and the advantages and disadvantages of each. Chapter 3 goes on to explain how to find the best news feeds and get them into your reader so that you can start reading. I end up with a short section on getting RSS on your PDA or mobile phone.

Part II: Developing Great RSS Content

Before you create your RSS feed, you should consider what you want to write about and why. Chapter 4 is about blogging and how to use RSS to spread and publicize your blog. Chapter 5 is a more general chapter about writing to get the results you want. I talk about choosing an audience, deciding on a topic, and finding resources for content. Because many people use RSS feeds to bring traffic to their Web site, I also discuss how to optimize a Web site for best search engine ranking and how to use RSS to market your site.

Part III: Launching Your RSS Feed

In this part, I explain the ways to create an RSS feed. Chapter 6 discusses the various RSS formats so that you can choose the one you want. I start by showing you the easiest way to create an RSS feed from Web-site content in Chapter 6. I also explain how to structure a Web site for the easiest transla¬tion to an RSS feed.

Chapter 7 gets into the nitty-gritty of the XML files that are the basis of RSS and shows you how to create a feed from scratch. It isn’t hard — I promise — and you don’t have to understand XML to do it. But you see some of the advanced options that are available. I also show you how to make sure that your feed works perfectly, using a simple Web-based validation service. Then I explain some options for automating the creation of an RSS feed in Chapter 8.

Chapter 9 explains how to create the newest kind of RSS feed, a podcast. A podcast includes a multimedia file, usually an MP3 file. People use podcasts to create independent talk shows and music broadcasts.

Part IV: Getting the Most Out of RSS Feeds

Here I give you the information you need to continue to develop your feeds and increase their value. Chapter 10 discusses best practices, including vali¬dation, filename extensions, timeliness, and the choice of headlines.

Chapter 11 covers some ways to promote your feed, including registration with directories, links to your feed, your RSS or XML button, promotion of RSS, an e-zine, and more. Chapter 12 explains how to resyndicate RSS feeds by placing them on your Web site so that you can pull together and incorpo¬rate the most appropriate news for your visitors.

Part V: The Part of Tens

The For Dummies series is well known for the Part of Tens, where you get great lists that describe the best of the best. In this part, Chapter 13 includes my list of the ten best RSS readers. Chapter 14 covers ten ways to market your Web site, and Chapter 15 collects all the best RSS resources that I could find — in ten categories, of course!

In case you don’t already have a Web site, I’ve added an appendix that explains the basics of how to set up a Web site, from registering your own URL and finding a Web host to choosing an HTML editor, organizing your menus, and adding your content. I briefly explain how to sell from your site, upload content, and test your site until it works just the way you want it to.
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