What exactly is that orange square supposed to mean?

If you’re a blogger and you still have no idea what that tiny button means, you’re in trouble. That tiny square thing is not Spongebob’s drier cousin; it’s the near-universal symbol for Really Simple Syndication, better known as RSS.

I won’t go into the technical details; it’s unnecessary to go the jargon route, anyway. For us bloggers, the only thing that makes RSS worth noticing is its ability to increase traffic. It’s one of the best and most recommended means to increase your number of site visitors and readers.

So how does it work? Simply put, RSS is your personal news channel. In the same way that news is delivered straight to your home via television, RSS allows you to deliver your latest post to your subscribers automatically. It’s a news feed, actually, and any reader who wishes to remain updated on your articles could always subscribe to your RSS feed.

It’s also a very good way to promote your website. You can submit your RSS feed to Yahoo, Google and other search engines and websites. It’s a great way to get the news out there without having to promote each post through article submission sites, which can get pretty tedious.

Now back to that orange thing. As I said, almost everyone online knows that it’s the symbol for RSS. If they find your site interesting and would like to receive your latest posts through e-mail or a reader, then all they have to do is click on that symbol. That’s also the reason why many bloggers emphasize their RSS feeds with a really noticeable icon in a prominent area of their website. The more readers you have, the more popular your blog (and the better for your ego, too). My own RSS icon is quite prominent and easily visible so potential readers could easily be lured into subscribing to my feed. And no, it’s not some guy reading the newspaper on the toilet.

The concept of RSS is simple: readers don’t always have the time to drop by your site. Sometimes they forget, sometimes they just don’t care. When they get the posts delivered right to their e-mail doorsteps, though, the chances of them liking something you wrote becomes at least 50% (better than the 0% you get when they don’t even drop by your site). It’s a fighting chance as long as you write interesting and informative content.

So how do you make an RSS feed? I chose Feedburner to create mine; you don’t need to do anything other than visit the Feedburner website, provide the necessary details and that’s it. You’ve got your feed. Mine looks like this: http://feeds.feedburner.com/MissWrite. This is your feed, so make sure you keep it in mind. You’ll be needing it every time someone asks for your RSS feed.

How can you get more readers to subscribe? As I said earlier, make it prominent. Here’s a set of RSS icons that really stand out from the crowd. Pick one that works best with your layout and put it in a prominent spot. Above the fold is a very good location, since it makes it much easier for the reader to notice your feed.

You can also get a “reader counter” that’ll keep tabs on the number of people subscribed to your bog. It’s not exactly important, but some visitors give more credence to the writer’s opinions when there are more readers subscribed. Don’t ask me why — it’s probably the herd mentality at work. In any case, it does work, so adding the counter won’t hurt.

Now that you know what that orange thing really is for, get your ass to work immediately. Don’t just let that orange square waste away in oblivion. Take charge of your website’s destiny and get your RSS feed up and running now.

XOXO,