The WebDev Buzz

The major goal of all web promotion strategies is to increase traffic in the website. Traffic is directly related to sales. This means that an increased in traffic means an increased in sales. To increase the website traffic, one of the best and proven methods is to provide free information. In search of free information, Internet users will visit the website. And when these users are in the website, there is a golden opportunity to have a sale.

A summary of the free information in the website can also be distributed to other websites. This is called syndication. The process of syndication can be carried out using RSS or Rich Site Summary. The RSS was first developed by Netscape in 1999, but it immediately transformed into one of the most popular format for syndicating content. It is utilized by CNET, ZDNet, CNN, and Wired.

Using the RSS is merely creating a file in the XML format. Once the file is created, it is now ready to be submitted to web browsers, such as Netscape. From the browsers, other websites can subscribe and access the RSS file. To create the RSS file, here are the simple steps.

• Step 1: Create the code for the XML format. The format appears like this:
• Step 2: Create the channel header. The code will appear like this:
  http://yourwebsite.com Web Promotion syndication feeds! en-usTo guide the beginner, here is the explanation:
  • The channel tag gives the signal that a new channel is being created
  • The title tag shows the name of the channel
  • The link tag leads to the website
  • The description tag tells about the channel
  • The language tag indicates the language. In this case, the US English.

  There is also an option to display a logo. But the image is limited to a maximum of 88 pixels in width and 31 pixels in height.

• Step 3: Create headlines. To create headlines, an “item tag” must be written. There should be at least five and a maximum of fifteen items. A description would help, but not quite necessary. Here is how the creation of headlines should be done:
  http://yourwebsite.com/web_promotion_tips_1.htm Write description here
• Step 4: End the XML file by adding these tags.Then, save this file using the .rss extension. Once saved, this RSS file can be easily uploaded to the web server.
• Step 5: Validate the RSS fileA web marketer may visit one of these websites to have the RSS file validated. These websites have provided simple instructions on how to accomplish the validation.

  http://aggregator.userland.com/ http://www.ldodds.com/rss_validator/1.0/validator.html