RSS or Rich Site Syndication is a file format similar to XML, and is used by publishers to make their content available to others in a format that can be universally understood.

RSS allows publishers to "syndicate" their content through distribution of lists of hyperlinks.

It has actually been around for a while, but with advent of spam filters and online blogging, it is fast becoming choice of ezine publishers who want to get their message across to their subscribers.

However, not much attention has been given to advantages RSS provides for search engine optimization.

Why Search Engines Love RSS

Many SEO experts believe that sites optimized around themes,or niches, where all pages correspond to a particular subject or set of keywords, rank better in search engines.

For example, if your website is designed to sell tennis rackets, your entire site content would be focused around tennis and tennis rackets.

Search engines like Google seem to prefer tightly-themed pages.

But where does RSS figure in all this?

RSS feeds, usually sourced from newsfeeds or blogs, often correspond to a particular theme or niche.

By using highly targeted RSS feeds, you can enhance your site's content without having to write a single line on your own.

ItÂ’s like having your own content writer - writing theme-based articles for you - for free!

How can RSS improve my Search Engine Rankings?

There are three powerful reasons why content from RSS Feeds is irresistible bait for search engine spiders.

1. RSS Feeds Provide Instant Themed Content

There are several publishers of RSS feeds that are specific to a particular theme.

Since feed is highly targeted, it could contain several keywords that you want to rank highly for.

Adding these keywords to your pages helps Google tag your site as one with relevant content.

2. RSS Feeds Provide Fresh, Updated Content

RSS feeds from large publishers are updated at specific intervals. When publisher adds a new article to feed, oldest article is dropped.

Meta Tags are information inserted in area of HTML code of your web pages, where apart from Title Tag, other information inserted is not visible to person surfing your web page but is intended for search engine crawlers. Meta Tags are included so that search engines are able to list your site in their indexes more accurately.

Using Meta Tags in HTML is not necessary while making your web pages. There are many websites that don’t feel requirement to use Meta Tags at all. In short Meta information is used to communicate information to search engine crawlers that a human visitor may not be concerned with. Infoseek and AltaVista were first major crawler based search engines to support Meta keywords Tag in 1996. Inktomi and Lycos too followed thereafter.

Why are Meta Tags used?

Meta Tags were originally designed to provide webmasters with a way to help search engines know what their site was about. This in turn helped search engines decide how to rank sites in their search results. Making Meta Tags is a simple process. As competition increased, webmasters started manipulating this tool through spamming of keywords. In turn most search engines withdrew their support to Meta keywords Tag, which included Lycos and AltaVista. From being considered as one of most reliable and important tool, Meta Tags are now often abused. In present day scenario a vital feature that Meta Tags provide to websites is ability to control, to a certain extent, how some search engines describe its web pages. Apart from this, Meta Tags also offer ability to specify that a certain website page should not be indexed.

Using Meta Tags, however, provides no guarantee that your website page would rank highly in search engine rankings. Due to rampant abuse and manipulation of Meta keywords Tag by webmasters, most search engines don't support it anymore.

Types of Meta Tags

The more important Meta Tags are discussed below in detail.

The Title Tag