Even before RSS feeds for text content has become common and a majority of web site owners have implemented it, a new wave is coming. Look for Podcasting - RSS feeds for audio and video content.
Podcasting is derived from iPod and webcasting. It essentially consists of an RSS feed (version 2) that lets you know when new audio/video content is available. It can be used for posting content related to Internet radio, interviews, training material and any similar stuff that is not standard text files like HTML, PDF etc. It makes use of the ‘enclosure’ tag in the items to indicate the URL, type (audio, video etc) and size of the content.
As you can possibly guess by looking at the term ‘iPod’, you can listen to the audio file even when you are offline (not connected to Internet), on an iPod or through the standard media player of your computer system.
There are several tools to access podcasts but the most popular combination is iPodder and iTunes.
I should be preparing a step-by-step guide to installing the feed reading setup and then I will cover how you can create your own podcasts. So stay tuned…
A reader of my RSS feed guide, Roseanne van Langenberg of www.marketingdefined.com/blog.html was wondering how to add her blog to her My Yahoo! account because Yahoo won’t accept a HTML page.
Here’s how –
Blogger blogs like this generate an Atom feed instead of an RSS feed. However Yahoo is smart enough to be able to interprete that this is an Atom feed and update its directory accordingly. The typical URL for the Atom feed will be www.domain.com/atom.xml .
You can find out the exact URL for your feed from the control panel of your blog. Click on the Settings tab and then Site Feed tab within the sub-menu. You can see the exact URL of your feed there. You selected ‘Yes’ in the “publish site feed’ option. No?
RSS feeds let you take a dynamic look at the web. You can learn about updates to web sites and information as they are take place. In almost real-time. I predict that RSS is going to be the most happening thing in 2005. Have you joined the revolution yet?
As you have already seen, I have prepared a FREE guide for those hesitating to take the plunge. My FREE guide to your own RSS Feeds takes an uninitiated webmaster or site owner by hand and helps him to publish his first RSS feed. If you don’t have an RSS feed yet, I strongly recommend you download this 16-page, quick-read guide and go, do it. It is easier than you expected!
Keep coming back. I will be reporting about the discoveries I make in my exploration of this vast RSS field. You can learn about creating better feeds and more importantly, about putting these feeds to use - in making your site popular and making money.
Best wishes for a great 2005!
By The Way, feel free to post your comment and talk back to me but keep your post on related topics of RSS and blogs. Remember that the comments are moderated, so don’t post again if you don’t see your comment appear immediately.