SEO, or search engine optimization, strategists are starting to suggest that the simple addition of an RSS news feed on a website could dramatically increase the ranking of a website on a search engine. Before you rush off and insert RSS news feeds on all your websites and blogs in an effort to increase your Google or Bing ranking, take a closer look at if this theory even works or if it is a myth that is spreading across the SEO world.
A news RSS feed is a small application that can be provided on a website. This application is designed to provide people that visit the website or blog with the latest updates and news from around the Internet. The owner of the website or blog will program the RSS application with URLs of favorite sites. Updates that occur on those favorite sites will be shown as a link and small blurb.
The basic theory in regards to SEO is that these RSS feeds will help increase traffic to a website. The traffic to a website or blog will be increased because visitors of one website or blog will see an update from another website or blog, and want to visit it. Once they visit it, they will see it is a site they like and hopefully frequent the website or blog.
This SEO strategy may work in theory, but it is not the RSS feed that is doing the work. It is the website or blog owner. Creating high quality, creative content will help keep those people visiting the website. The RSS feed may help attract the attention of others and encourage people who would never visit your website to visit it, but it does not do all the work.
Another theory in regards to the SEO strategy is that the links from an RSS feed will be viewed as backlinks by search engines. Many search engines like to rate websites with numerous backlinks higher than those that do not have as many because it shows it is a popular site.
Unfortunately, this theory has not been explored enough. People will just have to use this part of the SEO strategy and RSS feeds at their own risk.
The ultimate question is do RSS applications help SEO strategies of websites? The answer is maybe. Only time will really tell.