When it comes to understanding new technology, I'd hazard a guess that most people need solid visual examples. Feedburner offers a number of services primarily aimed at promoting web feeds (RSS/Atom/RDF). One service, BuzzBoost, lets you excerpt a feed in HTML and insert it into a blog or website page. This is one way to promote your RSS Feeds.

What better way than excerpting one or more of your web feeds in a "hub" page to showcase your content? In addition to this, add "subscribe to this feed" buttons under each feed excerpt. Add a message such as "Want these headlines delivered straight to your computer?", and a link to a very brief explanation of web feeds. (The brief explanation can link to a more detailed explanation.)

This excerpting+promoting technique goes beyond simply sticking little XML feed button graphics on your site and hoping people understand what they are for. Illustrate to them, and you just may find an increased feed subscriber base.

For a partial example (without promotional messages and feed buttons), please visit my Chameleon Integration website. At the top of the main content section is an excerpt of my BlogSpinner V2.0 blog. Also, over in the right column, under the "Blogcerpts" heading, there is a Feedburner "Headline Animator" graphic that promotes some of my recent BlogSpinner posts. All I need to add is a "subscribe" button.

Links: Feedburner, Chameleon Integration, BlogSpinner V2.0.

(c) Copyright: 2005-present, Raj Kumar Dash, http://www.chameleonintegration.com/