If you’re reading this via RSS already, then congratulate yourself. You’ve already arrived!

What the Heck is RSS?

RSS= Really Simple Syndication The technical definition is…well…nevermind. I just Googled it and the definitions may not make much sense to you without looking up all of the other words in the definition, so let me put it to you in human terms. You have a lot of favorite web sites that you like to visit and read the latest information, right? This probably means you have all these sites bookmarked in your browser and every time you want to check on them, you have to find the bookmark and click…wait for the page to load…click the link to read the latest article…click again to read the next article, etc. Then you have to find the bookmark for the next site you want to go to…wait for it to load…find the link to click… it’s time-consuming!
Most web sites are now using this RSS technology to publish those new articles into a feed for you to conveniently access from a free piece of web technology called an RSS Reader or even from your mobile device.

Here’s how you can take advantage of this technology to save yourself hours of waiting time on the Internet. Using a free piece of web technology called an RSS Reader, you can have all of those articles delivered to you in an inbox of sorts that you can access with a single click. Yes – you read that right – one click! You don’t really need to know how it works. You just need to know how to set it up and use it to your advantage so let’s do it…

Demystifying the RSS Reader

You will need to set up an RSS reader to read the RSS snippets. These little batches of text and images are also called “feeds” because they are being fed into the reader which then displays them on your screen in the browser window. Let’s take a look at my favorite reader called Google Reader. There are many feed readers out there, but I think Google is the easiest to set up and use. To use Google reader (or any reader) you will need to set up an account. If you don’t already have a Google account such as gmail, then go ahead and sign up for one. It’s free. I’ll wait.

Ok let’s sign in to Google Reader: http://www.google.com/reader It’s pretty empty, isn’t it? Fear not. We are going to get all of those crazy bookmarks into your reader so you can enjoy having all of your favorite site updates delivered to you instantly. Here is a peek at my Google Reader (click to see a larger image):

1. Total number of new posts you have yet to dive into
2. One of your RSS feeds (number of unread posts for that site)
3. Star – for marking your favorite posts for posterity or for easy reading at a later date

Ok this is all fine and dandy, but how does one go about adding new RSS feeds to the reader? I’m so glad you asked…

Finding and Adding RSS Feeds

If an RSS feed is present, web sites usually want you to know that and if they are smart they will will make it obvious about how to sign up for or “subscribe” to their feed. In my case, there are two types of ways to subscribe to Girls Can’t WHAT? feeds. Did I say feeds? Yes – there is more than one way to get your info.

First, take a look at this screen shot. See the big orange RSS icon? Most RSS icons look like this.  If you are already logged into Google Reader, clicking an RSS icon will pop up your reader and ask you if you really meant to subscribe. Go ahead and click the orange RSS icon and follow the onscreen instructions to finish adding the feed to your reader.

(Note: In some cases the feed is being run through a service called “Feedburner” so that the feed can be tracked. By using Feedburner, I can discover how many people are subscribed and what articles interest you. That’s the only information I get from this service. If a Feedburner page opens instead of your reader, choose your reader from the list on the page and continue with the onscreen instructions.)

Most sites have caught on to the tremendous benefits of RSS and make that available to us, their audience. You will sometimes encounter sites that don’t offer RSS. You can either snub them, continually go back to them and painstakingly wait for their pages to load or do what I do and send them a polite email asking that they catch up with the 21st century. Perhaps even point them to this post so they can see what a grand service they will be providing to their visitors.

But I WANT to See the Real Site!

No problem. Clicking the title of any post from your reader screen will open a new window and load the actual web site. If you want to post a comment on the article or see features of the site itself, you will need to click the link and actually visit the site. The point of RSS is to feed you just what you need, when you need it, and save valuable minutes of your day that would otherwise be wasted watching web pages load line by blasted line.

Now What Do I Do?

Congratulations, if you set up your first RSS feed (hopefully to this site) you have just gained 1,000 geeky points. Do you feel smarter now? I’m very proud of you for taking this incredible step and learning how to save time on the Internet. Now for your homework….go back to all of your bookmarks and look for that RSS icon. Start clicking and adding the feeds to your reader. Once you’ve done that, start scrolling through all the posts that have accumulated in your reader and catch up on anything you might not have read yet.

You will be amazed at how fast you can get through the material. You can easily scan through posts and determine instantly if you want to read it or not. If not, keep scrolling. The post is marked as “read” in your reader and the next unread post shows up. I currently have over 60 unread posts in my reader. That looks like a lot, but by scanning and browsing quickly through everything in a single window, what would have taken well over an hour to load and read will now take about 15 minutes.

If you get really short on time, you can close the browser window and the unread posts will stay marked as unread so you can come back later. You can also click the star icon to mark articles as “favorites” so you can return later and read them at your leisure.

For the Ultra-Geeky

If you really want to save time, setup an RSS feeder on your mobile phone and check your feeds while waiting in line at the grocery store or the doctor’s office. I can’t tell you how much more I can learn by using these otherwise “wasted” minutes. I enjoy it so much I don’t usually mind the wait anymore. Google again comes to the rescue with it’s mobile version of the reader. You can catch these mobile apps at www.google.com/m.

So….what are you going to do with all the time you’re saving now?

1. You sign up for a third-party email subscription service.  We recommend aweber.com for their outstanding customer interaction and full-featured service.

2.  A sign-up box is placed on your site, telling your visitors that they can sign up to receive email updates from you.  You will want to specify how often they can expect it and what type of information will be included.

3.  When a visitor signs up, they receive an email asking them to confirm their subscription.  This prevents unwanted spam and fake sign-ups.

4.  You post articles, news, tips and information to your site. These articles are picked up by your subscription service via the RSS feed and placed into a template that Thyme For Design creates to match your site’s theme elements, logo, etc.

5.  Your branded newsletter is sent out to your subscribers on the day/time you choose or can be held in a queue until you manually activate it.  If you choose the manual option, you can preview the newsletter before it is sent.  (Previewing is a good idea the first few times to ensure the formatting and amount of content is on target.)

Tips:

• The newsletter can be setup to include full articles or just excerpts.  We recommend using excerpts that function as teasers to bring visitors back to your site for further information or to take advantage of a special offer.
• Keep the number of articles to a minimum for each newsletter.  Too much information is overwhelming and may cause people to unsubscribe.  You may want to adjust your sending frequency a few times until you find the right balance.
• Promote your subscription service by putting the signup box in an obvious spot on all your pages such as the top of a sidebar.  Be sure to mention it to customers in any paper and email correspondence.
• Your primary objective is to benefit the reader.  Make sure the articles you include in your newsletter are beneficial to your customers and draw them to interact with your web site or your business.
• Most newsletter companies provide statistics to see how many clicks you get back to your site from the newsletter.  This is a good way to gauge how your content is being received by your customers.
• Newsletter services can be used to send out urgent bulletins and special event invitations as well.  You can also have separate lists for different groups of people or type of news.

Are you ready to add an automated newsletter to your site?  Drop us a line and let’s get started.

1. Be simple

Complicated and long forms will scare people away.  Keep it short and sweet.  If you’re not going to ship anything then don’t ask for a mailing address.  Stick to the point and you’ll have a much higher response rate.

2. Collect the right data

If the form exists to solve a problem, give the visitor room to explain the situation.  If you need to know a model or order number to help the customer, include a place to enter it on the form.  Nothing is more frustrating to a customer than for you to respond with “We need more information in order to assist you.”  Give them the opportunity to explain their situation the first time.

3. Provide feedback

A good form has an autoresponder set that let’s the visitor know their information was received by sending them a courtesy copy and also includes a time frame of when they should hear back from you.  It’s also a good idea to include business hours and phone numbers for their reference.

What else should you be doing?

Test your forms!  Not only should you make sure the form is functional once you’ve launched it, but you should also review the autoresponse emails and the follow up message on the screen once they click submit.  Walk yourself through the entire process.  It is also a good idea to let someone else test it.  If they end up having questions about the form, then it’s likely your visitors will too.  You can never over-test your communication systems.