OPML Exchange
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Recently, a lot has been Talk about OPML (Outline Processor Markup Language) much because of Dave Winer's Share you OPML and OPML Icon Project.OPML can be seen as list of all your RSS feeds or better somewhat like a zip file for RSS feeds. Seeing the maturity of OPML in Internet/ web marketing this OPML Icon project has been starting along with Share your OPML site to standarize the way to share/ publish list of RSS feeds, similar to RSS icon that identify contents to syndicate.
The site is provinding useful hacks for OPML - to download OPML icon, Firefox Add-on.
On contrary questions has been put for adaption of this technology like motivation factor for user to exchange their list of feed as OPML and why, OPML being more technical specially at time when common user still getting familiar to RSS concept, OPML would be more technical to adapt for common internet users.
In my point of view, OPML technology would be more beneficial for SEOs/ webmasters to adapt and implement rather than to put them over common internet audience/ users. A few points to ponder -
- At time when Google is giving more weightage to content driven sites (as apparent in recent google updates), it would boost the content of a site to let the content travel in an OPML way.
- In SEO practice like wise to "Link Exchange", OPML exchange could also be done. Also through RSS to HTML converter, an OPML file can be placed as an html view, thus making a Content driven exchange unlike to text link/ banner exchange that has been done so far by SEOs/ webmasters making informative to users as well as website owner in getting content.
- For a News specific sites (or other sites as well), it is more easy to show off the contents available for syndication as one OPML file. As untill now for a site having different RSS feed for its different sections/ topics webmasters used to make separate xml files for different sections and show them on separate webpage (/rss.htm, rss.html)
Still there are sites spreading the OPML buzz including Bloglines, another one providing search for OPML, FeedMeme's AJAX based OPML reader, hubdog, an OPML reader for Windows Mobile.
Dave Winer is Responsible for starting OPML for Radio Userland and also to convince The New York Times to adapt RSS for its website.He now maintains and develops OPML.org
posted by Seo Space @ 7:22 PM,
