Help, I don't know RSS! What do I need to know to set-up my own feeds?

• I am very confused about RSS. I suspect that I am either doing it wrong and/or not leveraging it as fully as I could/should. I know that I want to use RSS feeds but I'm not sure what major issues should be the focus during feed set-up. Can you help?

image credit: Rogers Cadenhead - Workbench

Answer: To learn the ins and outs of RSS (Really Simple Syndication), we suggest you begin by checking out WhatIsRSS.com. It's a quick read, at only a single page, and presents a concise overview of RSS.

When implementing RSS you must consider the following four questions and plan accordingly:

1. What is the best way to set up an RSS feed for a blog? — Use a free RSS channel tool which allows you to set-up custom RSS feeds on a variety of different categories in seconds—without formal HTML knowledge. Here is a detailed tutorial using the (above mentioned) free RSS channel tool which guides you through all of the necessary steps to create the final RSS feed.
2. How should you syndicate the RSS feed to the widest possible audience? — The most popular online option is FeedBurner (a Google com...