Today, thanks to following MayhemStudios on Twitter, I was introduced to a great article called "50 Simple Ways to Gain RSS Subscribers". I thought the article was so great, I took one of the tips from it and customized my RSS feed button (seen to the right). And while I was showing off my shiny new icon, someone asked me "What the heck is RSS anyway? I never really understood it." Without much thought I rattled off a brief explanation and went about my way. But after I explained it, I started to think maybe there were more folks out there that don’t really understand RSS or why it is a good thing to either use or have on your site.

So I did a little digging and I found a great website: whatisrss.com

This is a great, one page, simple site that gives you the "down and dirty" on RSS and what it’s all about, and – they even have a blog for those that want to dig deeper into the info. Now, although this site is great – one thing that isn’t on the one page, is why it’s a good thing to obtain RSS subscribers on your site. So let me tell you…

When people click the little icon on your site, that looks something similar to the one above, then your viewers are being recorded. For those of you that are really new to this, recorded viewers are also known as "site traffic". And the more you can record how much consistent traffic there is on your site, the better you will be able to market your brand to companies. In other words – the RSS subscriber numbers act as proof that people actually visit your website. And the more subscribers you can get, the better potential you have of selling add space on your site to big named companies and retiring early.

So if you own a website, or just like to read a lot of things on a regular basis – be sure to check out whatisrss.com. And if you like what you read here, be sure to hit the RSS button on this site and subscribe on your way out.