Webmaster Resources : Article Syndication - A New Vehicle for King Content

Summary : When evaluating website traffic, it is easy to see that the low cost of syndicated content can increase a website's marketing and informational value.

Creating Content

New websites are launched daily. To compete, webmaster resources that distinguish a site are critical. Highly focused articles are in constant demand. Why? Because content is still king! To attract search engines spiders and site visitors, webmasters rely heavily on providing new, innovative and fresh content. If the website's content is rich, visitors will come. If the website content is updated regularly, visitors will return. When evaluating website traffic, it is easy to see that the low cost of syndicated content can increase a website's marketing and informational value. Sites that contain multiple pages related to a specific topic increase the likelihood of being 'found' via a search engine.

By creating a niche resource, webmasters are viewed as industry experts and their websites are more likely to receive incoming directory links. This also attracts search engine attention. A number of publishers provide free content, the only stipulation being that the webmaster serving the content must include the author's resource box. Webmasters utilizing free content can easily create portals teeming with themed content.

Unlocking the Key to RSS

Many webmasters struggle to find fresh, innovative content, while savvy webmasters have realized the potential hidden within RSS and are adopting the technology at a maddening pace. By utilizing RSS, webmasters tap numerous free content sources with very little effort. RSS truly is the webmaster resource for free content.

Webmasters interested in taking advantage of RSS have a number of resources available :

GoArticles is a free content directory with more than 20,000 articles available for syndication. Recently, GoArticles added a feature allowing webmasters and site owners to add dynamically updated article headlines by simply inserting a line of javascript into their webpage. More than 100 articles are added daily to GoArticles. The content is refreshed and indexed every 3 hours, so new articles are updated on the site 8 times a day. Webmasters looking for content can include theme-based RSS feeds into their site, using javascript supplied by GoArticles. The java cript accesses an RSS feed containing the article headlines on the GoArticles site.

GoArticles has 64 article categories, making it easy for webmasters to find relevant content. Webmasters can select either the most recent articles, or the most popular articles in a specific category. As new articles are added to the GoArticles directory, the content on the websites using the javascript dynamically updates.

• Additional details at: http://www.goarticles.com
• Example of a site using GoArticle's feed - http://www.small-business-software.net/goa-seo-headlines.htm

Another webmaster resource for articles Article Central's tracker script. Webmasters can easily insert javascript into their website to list all of Article Central's new content, or site owners can customize the tracker code to list only those articles chosen from the category list. Articles related to web development, design and technology-related issues are updated daily.

• Additional details at: http://thewhir.com/find/articlecentral/tracker.asp
• Example of a site using Article Central's feed - - http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/articledirectory-headlines.htm

Content syndication is a win-win for both the publisher and the webmaster. As a result of these new distribution opportunities provided by GoArticles and Article Central, publishers receive increased exposure for their work and webmasters have a new source for fresh content.

Webmasters interested in creating dynamic content from other free sources can use the free service provided by Feed2JS. All webmasters need to do is enter the URL of the RSS source. Feed2JS creates javascript that can be inserted into the HTML of the site pages. Webmasters are also given control over how their content is served, meaning they can customize the look and appearance of the headlines.

• Example of site using Feed2JS - http://www.feedforall.com/rss2java-rssblog.htm

Search engines are looking for theme-based portals featuring specific targeted content, where the webmasters are likely to be defined as industry experts. RSS is a free and easy way to promote a site and its content without advertising. RSS is defined specifically for syndication; in fact the acronym RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. This means that webmasters serving RSS content do not need to negotiate complicated content sharing partnerships to use material contained within an RSS feed.

In order to completely understand the power and potential of RSS, visit the following webmaster resources:

• RSS Specifications - everything you need to know about RSS - http://www.rss-specifications.com
• FeedForAll - create RSS feeds from your own content http://www.feedforall.com
• FeedDemon - desktop RSS reader - http://www.feeddemon.com

Copyright © 2005 Sharon Housley

About the author : Sharon Housley manages marketing for the NotePage http://www.notepage.net and FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com product lines.