You’ve seen this symbol in many shapes and forms, asking you to subscribe, get free updates, etc… What the heck does it do?

RSS Feeds, Really Simple Syndication, allows readers to bring updated material (such as news and blogs) to their reader of choice. For website owners, RSS feeds can be used to generate updated content from external websites (take a look at drudgereport.com). Even for you Craigslist Fanatics, you can subscribe to a specific category’s RSS to receive updates whenever someone posts a new item (I know how much you love to peruse the Rants and Rave section during work hours).

How do you set one up?

First thing to do is choose a reader that you like. There are an infinite amount of options out there and it really is a matter of preference.  If you’re a Google-user, Google Reader is a great option to aggregate all of your RSS feeds into one location.

Website: Google Reader

If you don’t already have a google account, you can sign up for one for free. If you do, just simply log in. Here’s a screenshot of what you’ll be treated to (click to enlarge):

Now that you have a reader, it’s time to add some subscriptions. Whenever you see the RSS icon on a website, you can add it to your reader in a couple of quick clicks.

Click on the icon:

Select your reader:

Click Add to Google Reader:

And you’re done!

You will now see the RSS feed under the “Subscriptions” section. It wasn’t so hard was it? Once you get used to the reader, you can even take it a step further and organize your feeds into folders (as I’ve done in the above image).

Remember, there are a ton of FREE readers to choose from – desktop readers, search-engine readers like My Yahoo, and even ones that can send feeds to your email. Figure out which one is best for you and start organizing your RSS Feeds. Happy reading!

Quicklist of Readers:

Feed Demon 3.0 for Windows

NetNewsWire 3.2 for Macs

Use Internet Explorer or Outlook

Bloglines – Browser Based Reader