Did you know that RSS feeds have been around since 1995? For a web application, this is quite the accomplishment. Email has been around as long, but has undergone more changes to infrastructure than RSS has. RSS has remained a simple and useful web application over the past two decades. Here is your quick guide to using RSS, and how to make it work for you.

1. Adding is Easy

Some people will look at this list, and wonder how to use RSS feeds for websites if I did not include instructions. On most websites, there is an indication of where you can subscribe to their RSS feed. On simpler websites, this might just be a link that says subscribe. Most websites today, however, will include it as an orange button next to where you would find their Twitter or Facebook information. Just click! If you want to customize a feed, there are many feed readers you can find online. Just experiment until you find the right one. Google Reader is a favorite for many people.

2. Make RSS Your Servant

Ever wanted to pay a servant to do things for you, even though you barely have enough couch quarters to buy a taco? Think of RSS as your personal servant. RSS feeds can aggregate updates for you from a number of different websites, including news sites. It is like having your paperboy deliver an up to the minute newspaper right to your waiting hands. Follow your favorite news sites for the latest news updates, or use RSS for websites to follow webcomics, blogs, video sites, or other websites you enjoy catching up on.

3. Get Ahead with RSS

How can RSS help you get ahead in life? It is easy to tailor RSS to your everyday needs, especially when it comes to finding products or even opportunities. Say you want a pug dog, but you want to adopt an adult rather than deal with raising a puppy. You can follow sites like Craigslist and Petfinder using RSS for websites. This way, instead of having to click to these pages and scroll through numerous entries everyday, you can get specific pug updates from multiple sites, all in the same place.

Have you used RSS feed for websites in your life? Let us know in the comments!