In yesterday’s post we looked at a few ways to add fresh content to a business Web site. Fresh content improves a site’s organic search performance. Furthermore, fresh content enriches customer relationships and attracts more business–but only if customers read it!

Since you’ve gone to the trouble to build fresh content on your site, why not use the information for your sales and marketing advantage?

That’s where RSS, or “Really Simple Syndication” comes in. RSS allows readers to subscribe to a Web page or blog so that fresh content is delivered to them as soon as it is posted. Feeds are commonly delivered to two destinations–

1. A feed aggregating Web site such as Bloglines.
2. An e-mail box.

RSS subscriptions offer readers a number of benefits.

1. They no longer have to scour your Web site for new information. (Let’s face it–how many customers are going to make a point of checking out your Web site every day, week, or month?)
2. They immediately find out what’s new.
3. They can keep current with multiple Web sites or blogs in less time, since new information is funneled to them into one place (either an e-mail box or a feed aggregator).

At the top of the sidebar of this blog, you see the orange square that has become the standard RSS symbol. Clicking on it allows readers to subscribe to this blog’s feed by directing it to their preferred feed aggregator or to their e-mail account. Just below on the sidebar, I have an e-mail RSS subscription box so readers can set up an e-mail feed in a more familiar way.

Webmasters have a number of options for setting up RSS feeds on their site. I use Feedburner because it’s easy, robust, and provides useful analytical data. And oh, yes–it’s free.

Although RSS has been around for awhile, it’s just starting to catch on. Since feeds give complete control of information to the reader, RSS will grow rapidly in popularity. It makes sense to RSS-enable Web pages with company news, press releases, new product and promotional information, etc. Encourage customers to subscribe. Build enough of a subscription base, and RSS might become an alternative or a powerful supplement to electronic newsletters and other forms of promotion and public relations. And oh, yes–it’s an alternative that’s free.

For further reading …

An RSS overview with useful links from Lee Odden.

A detailed evaluation of Feedburner from Aaron Brazell.