Managing The Web's Information Overload - Part II

Harness The Power of RSS

There is a constant flow of new information on the internet, whether it be news stories, blogs, press releases, etc. But how do you track the miniscule but crucial information that may be relevant to your business? It's like looking for a needle in a haystack. With RSS technology, you can easily keep up with the news that is important to you -- and never see the rest. Without going into the technology behind RSS, suffice it to say that RSS is the tool that allows you, via your computer, to be instantly notified when a selected source updates its content. It allows you to subscribe to information, organize the information, and add or delete sources. And best of all, with a little bit of effort upfront, it's easy to set up, and easy to work with.

Figuring Out What Information Sources You Can Subscribe To

More often than not, you will be able to subscribe to the news and information you want. Here is an example. I randomly searched on the term "legal news" and quickly ended up at NPR's Legal Affairs webpage. I'm a fan of National Public Radio news, so let's say I want to "subscribe" to this page, to be updated whenever a new story is added. Can I do it? Yes. Small orange buttons labelled "RSS" are sprinkled around the page -- these orange buttons are the main signpost that a given webpage is accessible by RSS. I simply click on the orange button, and follow the instructions to add the "feed", as it is sometimes called, to my newsreader. So what is a "newsreader?"

Managing Your RSS Subscriptions

Now you know how to determine if particular content conforms to RSS. That's the first step. But where does it all go? Where on your pc does it end up? This is where the newsreader comes in. Think of your pc as the receiving end of this information flow. How is it managed? Via a program called a "newsreader." There are hundreds of newsreaders out there. How do you know which to choose? By far the simplest method, in my opinion, is to utilize the My Yahoo! tool from Yahoo! It's free, it's easy, it's web-based (so you can access it from anywhere) and it's highly effective. In addition, since so many web publishers want to make it easy for you to subscribe to their content, they often provide a button that is labelled "Add To My Yahoo!" which makes grabbing the content as simple as pie (and eliminates the "orange button" method mentioned earlier).

Getting Used To RSS

So you simply need to go over to the My Yahoo! page, set up a free account (if you don't already have one) and start adding anything you want to your newsreader. It's that simple. As you play around with the tool, you'll get used to the various features involved. You can add or delete as many information sources as you want. And every time those sources are updated, you'll see the latest headline in your newsreader. You can check your reader as often as you like. If you find that a particular source is not delivering for you, then you just drop it. After a while, you will most likely come to enjoy the incredible control this gives you in terms of managing your news. Plus, the My Yahoo! tool allows you to add keyword alerts, mentioned in Part I of this series, so you have all your selected news at your fingertips. This form of dynamic delivery of information is the new direction of the internet, and it will only grow more feature-rich, and prevalent, as time passes. Now is a good time for small business website owners to get on board.