How to subscribe for FREE!


How to subscribe to the RSS feedIt doesn’t matter if you’ve just hopped onto the Internet super-highway or have been cruising its routes for some time, chances are that you have seen the phrases like “Subscribe to the RSS feed!”, “Subscribe in an RSS Reader” or even just “Subscribe!”

Which, to most people, brings the following questions to a confused mind:

  • What is an RSS feed?
  • Why should I subscribe to the RSS feed?
  • What is an RSS reader?
  • Which RSS reader should I use?

The best way to explain will be with a video. Just click the little ‘play’ arrow. (By the way, that’s not me in the video. It ’s a video I found on YouTube)




RSS readers fall into 2 categories: RSS readers you access through your browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Opera, etc.) sometimes called “online RSS readers” and stand-alone applications (i.e. software programs)

Online RSS Readers

Online RSS readers abound in the World Wide Web. Pretty much all of them are free to use and only require you to sign up and create an account.

Some of the more popular online RSS readers include:
Google Reader
My Yahoo
My AOL
Windows Live
Bloglines
News Gator

Stand-alone, application RSS readers

This category includes all computer software that has the ability to read RSS feeds. Many are free to download, but there are also some RSS readers that cost a few bucks.

The free RSS readers can be very powerful to use and have many features. The RSS reader software that costs a few bucks often have more features – which can be great if you are very computer literate. But for most people, the free RSS readers are a perfect choice.

Here are a few free Windows RSS readers:
Newz Crawler
Feed Demon
Omea Reader
Awasu

Here are a few free Mac RSS readers:
Net News Reader (What I use)
Shrook
News Fire
Vienna