Choosing a decent RSS reader to browse and read your favourite RSS feeds was not a straight forward task. I tried and tested many different windows desktop readers but I ended up uninstalling them for one reason or another. Then I found Bloglines and I am pleased to say I have not yet been disappointed with it.

The reason I need a decent RSS reader is that I spend a lot of time reading feeds. I run an RSS resource website http://www.newsniche.com/ which means I have to keep up to date with all things RSS. Naturally I have come across many RSS readers but have found them always to be lacking in one thing or another. In my research I came across Bloglines which is a web based reader.

It's a shame Bloglines does not have an affiliate program as I would love to promote it, purely because it is such a great tool. Unfortunately for me but fortunately for you this tool is free and everybody loves free internet tools. The main reason I am writing this is because I feel I need to give something back to Bloglines and I also want you to benefit from such a great RSS reader.

Lets start by looking at the main benefits of using Bloglines. Firstly it is fast to use. Now usually web based tools are a lot slower than there desktop counterparts, in this case because Bloglines has a cache of feeds because of its large user base the feeds are already on the Bloglines server. With desktop reader you would have to download the feeds when you start up your reader, if you subscribe to a lot of feeds like me then you will end up waiting a long time.

As it is a popular web based reader you have the advantage of the social side of RSS. There is a directory of all the feeds it there readers have subscribed to and if the reader chooses to make their list of RSS feeds public you can see what everyone else is reading. Another great spin off from this is the ability to see how many Bloglines users are subscribed to each feed.

As you know everything has its down side and Bloglines is no exception. The main negative is that if Bloglines is ever down then you will not be able to access your feeds. Now this is certainly a big potential problem especially if you really heavily on being able to have access to your feeds. Since I have been a user I have as yet not experienced any down time. As a precaution you can export your RSS feed list as an OPML file so you can import into another RSS reader should Bloglines go belly up or experience any serious down time.

I am happy to say Bloglines is a tool I would gladly recommend to an RSS user. It is easy to setup, easy to use and it is at the moment totally free. So why not try it, I promise you that you will quickly become addicted and you will be checking your feeds more than your email.

Allan is the webmaster at http://www.newsniche.com/ an RSS resource for webmasters. Learn how to use RSS to attract and retain visitors to your site.