I have mentioned and/or discussed in depth the subject of RSS feeds (Real Simple Syndication) in many of my articles, as well as suggesting RSS to clients frequently. More often than not the subject appears to create hesitation, confusion or the feeling that I am making suggestions on too high of a technical level.
I was reminded of that scenario when I stumbled across this video from Google, and decided it would be beneficial to include it here with a brief how to blog post for anyone who wants to get their feet wet and test the waters of syndicated information.
Let's start the video clip:
The first step of course is to login to your Google account and add Google Reader. You will find this by going to Google, clicking on "My Account" to the top right of your screen, then scrolling down to "Try Something New". If you don't see Google Reader there, click on "More >>".
Once you have added Google Reader you can start adding RSS feeds to it. There are a couple of methods to adding feeds.
One method can be utilized while you are browsing the Internet.
If you find yourself on a web page, blog or news site of interest you will usually find an icon something similar to the icons pictured to the right of this paragraph. Other times it is a text link like the one I have at the top of this blog. These links and icons vary from site to site, but after a few glances you will begin to become more familiar with them. When logged into your Google Reader account you can simply click on the link or icon and the following page will allow you to click on "Add To Google Reader". All set!The other method is to manually add an RSS feed. To add a feed manually you will need to know the feed URL. The easy way to grab the feed URL is to right click on the link or RSS icon and select "Copy Link Location". You may then go to Google Reader, press the "Add A Subscription" button and paste the URL into the field.
Google Reader also allows you to search for feeds you may be interested in directly from your Google Reader page. You can also organize your feeds into folders by selecting "Manage Subscriptions" in the bottom left corner of your Google Reader screen.
An example of how to take advantage of RSS would be to reflect on how you read your local newspaper. I tend to breeze through the front page news rather quickly, then dig out the sports page and occasionally the metro section to see what's happening in my neighborhood. In an online world using RSS feeds, I simply subscribe to the RSS feeds "Front Page", "Sports" and "Metro" from my local newspaper.
I also categorize my subscriptions by keeping them in folders within Google Reader:
Sports: The sports feed from the local paper, the Dallas Cowboys feed along with the rest of my favorite sports teams, Indy Car Racing etc.
Business: I subscribe to many industry related news feeds, stay on top of search engine happenings and follow blogs that keep me in touch and up to speed with what's going on in my field of work.
News: Simply put, I drop all of my news subscriptions there.
Darts: All things dart related.
If you're catching on you're beginning to see that I can log in to Google Reader in the morning and absorb all the news and information I need for the day within a few minutes rather than browsing through bookmarks and links for an hour or more. In addition I can select feeds to be sent to my Blackberry for news on the fly, alerts that are critical to any of my web sites or just to have something nearby to read if I'm stuck waiting for a meeting to get started.
Once you get the hang of RSS you can then start enjoying not only a faster paced gathering of information, but also begin to understand how RSS can benefit your business, provide you with Internet Marketing channels or simplify your daily work routine in some way.
For readers with a few more minutes to view video tutorials, the Google Reader Help Channel has a few more clips that should clear up any other questions.
