Why Use Web Syndication?

Web syndication is the online form of making information available to a wide range of customers. The information here is the (partial) content of a site, which is made available to other sites, internet users and media - the site syndicates its content. This can be as simple as licensing a piece of text for reuse, for example with a Creative Commons license. Often, however, by web syndication we mean the syndication of web feeds.

Web syndication can make a website more dynamic. For example, a web feed on a personal blog can automatically show the latest news, the (complete) content of which is on another site. This does not need to be updated manually, and yet the site is always provided with new information (e.g. the weather). If the provider (the content provider) changes their site content, this also changes on the customer's site.

Benefits of Web Content Syndication

For the provider:

• The provider can provide a link to the entire content.
• Attract more visitors without extra work.
• The provider can show his content on several websites at the same time, which increases his reach.
• Automatic inbound links to the providers website.

For the customer:

• Without spending a lot of time and effort, web syndication allows the customer to keep his website updated and dynamic.
• The visitor of a feed aggregation site gets an overview of recent information and doesn't have to search the web all the time.

The Semantic Web

Web syndication is also part of the semantic web. The XML application can be used for any kind of information that needs to be aggregated at meta-level.

In his book 'The World Wide Web', World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee gives an example of how in principle non-interconnectable load systems can still exchange information with each other.

He also discusses an example where someone would like to buy a yellow car but cannot find web services with a current range of products of his interest. Provided it is formatted in the right XML schema, this type of supply and demand can also be brought together via RSS feeds.

Social Syndication and Benefits

Most people spend a large part of the time they spend online on social platforms. This makes feeds particularly useful for spreading your message automatically on social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkdIn and similar platforms.

Instead of you hunting for your visitor on the open web, it becomes more like fishing in a pool. You have direct access to the gathering grounds of large numbers of internet users.

Conclussion:

There are many benefits of using feeds in your online marketing efforts. Reach, less work, brand awareness and automatic backlinks are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.