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If you frequent Weblogs, you’ve seen the little XML icons inviting you to “syndicate this site”, but what does that really mean? A long time ago, newspaper managers realized that if they could use articles and stories from other newspapers in their paper, they could garner more readers because they could cover a wider area than they could with just their own reporters. This is an example of how syndication can work in print.

Online, there are potentially millions of authors writing about millions of topics each day. It can be very difficult to keep track of without some type of automated system. And that’s where RSS comes in. Really Simple Syndication (RSS) is an easy way for Web sites to share headlines and stories from other sites. Web surfers can use sophisticated news readers to surf these headlines using RSS aggregators.

A Brief History of RSS

RSS was first invented by Netscape, when they were trying to get into the portal business. They wanted an XML format (RSS .90) that would be easy for them to get news stories and information from other sites and have them automatically added to their site. They then came out with RSS .91 and dropped it when they decided to get out of the portal business.

UserLand Software picked up RSS .91 and continued to develop it, coming out with .92, .93, and .94. At the same time as UserLand, a non-commercial group picked up RSS and developed RSS 1.0 based on their interpretation of the original principles of RSS. They based RSS 1.0 on RDF and re-named it RDF Site Summary. UserLand was not happy with RSS 1.0, and continued development of their version of RSS (Really Simple Syndication), eventually releasing RSS 2.0.

Which Version of RSS To Use
and Does It Matter?

For the purposes of this article, no it doesn’t. If you were going to build your own aggregator or a program to read RSS feeds, you would care, but that’s not the point of this article.

Here are the basics of RSS (no matter what the version) (view sample RSS – right click or click and hold to open in a new window):

1. It is XML. This means it must be well-formed, include a prolog and DTD, and all elements must be closed.
2. The first element in the document is the <rss> element. This includes a mandatory version attribute.
3. The next element is the <channel> element. This is the main container for all RSS data.
4. The <title> element is the title, either of the entire site (if it’s at the top) or of the current item (if it’s within an <item>).
5. The <link> element indicates the URL of the Web page that corresponds to the RSS feed, or if it’s within an <item>, the URL to that item.
6. The <description> element describes the RSS feed or the item.
7. The <item> element is the meat of the feed. These are all the headlines (<title>), URLs (<link>) and descriptions that will be in your feed.

Using those basic elements, you can create an RSS feed of your site. But it can get very tedious to create that feed manually every time you update your site. The best way to create an RSS feed is to use a tool, such as a Weblog, to create the headlines, links and descriptions for you automatically. I’ve listed my favorite blogging programs – all of which will create RSS for you along with the HTML for the blog.

Dell, a US-based computer company that sells desktop computers and laptops, is running an online banner ad campaign across major portals and search marketing to drive traffic to a microsite called Takeyourownpath.com.

The site is targeted at entrepreneurs and small and medium size businesses (SMBs) and is a part of Dell’s first brand-building campaign in India. The campaign comprises online, print and out-of-home media.

Though Dell has always used the online medium to push its sales or sell its products directly to consumers, this website is not intended for any such purpose. In fact, it does not even display Dell products.

Instead, it carries the real-life success stories of five Dell consumers who have established themselves as entrepreneurs. It shares the challenges they faced and how Dell helped them to evolve and grow in their industry.

The entrepreneurs whose success stories are chronicled on the website are P Rajendran, cofounder and chief operating officer of NIIT; Raman Roy, who founded Spectramind and now runs Quattro, a BPO company; VK Prakash, a filmmaker and the founder of Trends AdFilm Makers; Prasad Bidappa, a fashion consultant; and Sanjan Ratnam, a bridal fashion designer.

The website indicates clearly that there has been a change in Dell’s sales strategy in India.

“There are 7.5 million entrepreneurs and SMBs in India and they form the backbone of the Indian economy. Out of these, 3.9 million entrepreneurs are information technology addressable or our prospective customers. Their planning to purchase cycle is short as compared to that of large business organisations.”

“Our research indicated that every entrepreneur or SMB has great aspirations and they are always thinking of competing and becoming the best in the world. Takeyourownpath.com talks about real-life heroes who started small on their own and grew over a period of time and how Dell, as a technology provider, helped them to scale up their businesses. We want to convey that Dell has products and solutions which can help SMBs to grow.”

He adds, “We opted for real-life heroes, instead of using celebrity endorsements, because we wanted to make our campaign more credible. And we think that the best way of conveying the benefits of using Dell computers or laptops or how Dell technology can help you grow is by narrating real-life success stories.”

The company claims that the entrepreneurs used in the banner ads and website are actual Dell consumers.
Apart from the success stories, the website also provides tools that will help entrepreneurs to run or set up their business. Information on ways to write a business plan, calculate return on investment, find customers and motivate employees is also available on the site.

Dell India was not ready to share the traffic and budget details of the campaign, but it indicated that it was spending a large chunk of its advertising budget on online communications.

website design company-A2zdesignwork

A2zdesignwork is a Professional Web Design Company based in Bangalore, India. We specialize in website design and web application development which satisfies the diverse needs of end users, senior management and IT professionals. Our teams are working with clients for Internet Marketing strategy development which gives substantial online result. A2zdesignwork can help mid size enterprises to build Internet strategy by delivering industry-specific online business solutions developed through years of working with companies of all sizes.

Our services range from basic Website Design to complete e-commerce website development. We serve website design need of small scale companies to large scale Business organization.