A lot of people have been asking me recently about RSS - what it is, how do I use it and probably most often WHY should I use it?

This guide is written to explain the basics of RSS and how you can benefit from using it.

Why Use RSS?
First, let's answer the why question. The biggest benefit of using RSS feeds is that, unlike getting website updates or ezines by email, RSS feeds give you absolute, 100% total control over what content pops up on your screen. There is no email address involved and thus there is no way that you'll be forced to wade through unwanted spam emails. That also means that there is no risk of viruses, phishing or identity theft from unsolicited emails.

That's the beauty of RSS - you can subscribe and unsubscribe to content as easily as you can flip from one TV channel to the next. And with feed subscriptions completely under your control, you'll never have to take the time to delete spam from your Inbox again.

What is RSS?
For those who are not familiar with the term RSS, it is a simply an Internet technology standard that allows busy people to receive updates to web-based content of interest. Basically, that's the essence of an RSS feed - you subscribe and then receive new content automatically in your feed reader.

What is a Feed Reader?
You may already be using a form of feed reader and not even realize it. If you use personalized home page services like My Yahoo or a personalized Google home page, you've got RSS capabilities built in. That is how syndicated content like news, weather and stock quotes appears on your personal page. You can also add content from any blog or other site that uses RSS to provide updates. If you use the Firefox browser, you can also receive RSS feeds from your tool bar by using the Live Bookmarks function. The next version of Internet Explorer will add this feature as well. There are also desktop-based feed readers. These are similar to desktop email programs, such as Outlook or Lotus Notes, for feeds. A couple examples include Newsgator and Feed Demon.

How Do I Subscribe to a Feed?
First of all, look for the subscription or feed options (some web sites make this more difficult than it needs to be). You will most likely see a variety of buttons which are called "chicklets".

Sometimes there will be a chicklet for your particular reader right on the blog that will take you to the appropriate subscription page. You may see these (among others):

In the case of Top Review Shop, you'll see a small "Add Feed" button that has a drop-down menu with all of the popular feed readers used on the web today. Clicking on these buttons will take you to a subscription page where you can confirm that you want to add the feed to your feed reader. That's all there is to it! And as a web site owner, RSS is a great way to reach visitors and to make sure they feel comfortable subscribing to my content. It's also a great way to make sure the message is not filtered out by an over-active email spam filter!

Conclusion
RSS solves big problems that have arisen as web surfing and email have become part of everyday culture. Because it provides benefits for both readers and for publishers, RSS is being adopted at a phenomenal rate. For those of you who haven't tried it yet, give it a shot - there's really nothing to lose by trying it out, and a lot to gain!