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Hi Winston;
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Could you please go into a little more detail on the differences between "Content Syndication" and "RSS Syndication". I'm trying to get my head around these two terms and I don't really understand the difference in the two or where one would be more applicable to use than the other.
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Can do!
RSS Syndication is really just a type of content syndication. The first syndicated content on the web was generated via a syndication script.
The way it worked is that you could post anything on your site and allow other webmasters to put a snippet of "syndication" code on their website that would bring your content into their site. Most often, it was used for articles and cartoons.
So, let's say you had a parenting site where you'd post parenting articles. Sue has a family site and wants content for the parenting section. She pastes your "syndicator" code (a few lines) into her site - and each time you post a new article, it appears on her page, too. She gets content, you get a linkback and name recognition among her visitors.
RSS, today, stands for "Real Simple Syndication" -- but in the early days (RSS 0.91) - the abbreviation stood for "Rich Site Summary" - which is probably a better definition.
To add RSS to your site, you use special software (provided in CMS systems and blogs) that creates a machine readable XML string that other people can paste on their site, and that visitors can "subscribe" to.
The "feed" provides a line or two of the content, with a link to read the rest.
So - applying that to the same example as above - let's say you still have that parenting site. You make an RSS feed available. Sue puts it on the parenting page of her family site. But - this time - instead of getting a whole fresh article, she gets a line or two and a link to read the rest at your site.
And, anyone that has an RSS reader can subscribe to your feed - and whenever you post something new, they will receive that line or two in their reader to know that you have fresh content.
As for opinions (is there a time I don't have one?) -- I think RSS has good potential, but I think over zealous marketers and bloggers could easily ruin it. I don't think "everything" is important enough to be sent out via RSS feed.
I equate it a little to email. When I open an RSS reader, I don't need to receive hundreds of messages from personal blogs hearing what Sally had for dinner last night, 15 requests to join up now and get rich, 22 feeds about the latest and greatest autosurf, etc., etc.
The good thing about RSS, though, is that you won't get someone's RSS feeds unless you click the little "RSS" button on their site to add their feed to your reader. That is, of course, until someone figures out how to sneak them onto our computers the same way they do with viruses and cookies.
Does that help?
: )
Linda
P.S. Even in saying all that, I do realize that there are groups and communities where people would want to receive feeds. Take your target market, for example. Model builders tend to be very, very "into" their hobbies and if they found a site that gives great info, tips, etc - they'd probably want to know when you have something new.
It's mostly the "join under me, get rich, buy now, don't miss the launch" internet marketing sites and blogs that make me cringe when I see an RSS button on the bottom of the page.
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