You see it everywhere on the Internet now – that orange square under the title “Subscribe to RSS“  in the middle column.  RSS is a relatively new technology that you can use to subscribe to this blog and any other blog where you see that icon.

In the old days ( a year or so ago..lol) you would have had to have subscribed by email. That option is also available right under the RSS by the way. With email, you are always concerned about the amount of junk mail you get and filtering out the real messages you want. With the RSS option, every new post that is made goes into your RSS feedreading service which you can look at any time you want. It is there and will remain there for as long as you like. Additionally, the whole history of blog posts are right there for easy reference if you choose whereas each post would be in a separate email if you subscribe by email.

Another way RSS is better is because the reader has more immediate control over what they get. If you want to unsubscribe you can do that instantly with a push of a button whereas with email you sometimes continue to get emails for several days after you unsubscribe.  

In the end, RSS is just more efficient than email and it’s popularity will only increase with time as people discover and begin to understand it. If you have a blog of your own, make sure you add this feature for your readers. And if you are reading this blog right now, I hope you subscribe to mine.

Technorati Tags: What is RSS, RSS review, Fedreading service, Feedburner, Traffic tips