What it is Content Syndication?
Content syndication is when one or more third-party websites republish web-based content (video, blog post, infographics, etc.). When this happens, content owners get free publicity, exposure, and more backlinks, which in turn boosts their organic traffic.
Content syndication vs guest blogging vs repurposing
What is the difference?
- Guest blogging is when you craft content from scratch for a specific website. That content is not posted anywhere else.
- Repurposing is simply reusing existing content. For example, when you convert an old podcast into video or vice versa.
- Content syndication is different from these two. It is more like a distribution tactic where content on your site gets republished elsewhere as it is—no need to rewrite or repurpose.
Content syndication and SEO
Is syndicated content good for SEO? Google doesn't like duplicated content, and this can hurt your SEO if your content is syndicated poorly. In facts, Google only index one version, mostly the one appearing on a larger, high-traffic site. If you are typical content creator, primarily, the version appearing on a third-party website will be indexed — that is not something you really want to happen. The solution to this is making your syndicated content SEO friendly by making sure it well indexed on your website and elsewhere it appears.
Tips for great content syndication
Find relevant partners
You gain more from content syndication when your content appears on high ranking websites. It thus makes sense to research potential syndication partners, reach out to them, and negotiate. If you produce quality content, there is a possibility they will consider your request.
Work out the best way to syndicate
It is not mandatory to syndicate the entire content. Sometimes it is ok to do so. Other times, it is more appropriates to syndicate just a section. If you researched your partners well, deciding the best way to syndicate shouldn't be a problem.
Plan ahead
It would be unprofessional of you to proceed with content syndication without a solid strategy. A good strategy will guide you in content creation, what you want to achieve, in picking syndication partners to engage, etc.
Type of content syndication
Syndicate third-party content on your blog
This is when you ask other websites for permission to features their content on your site. It is always a good idea to feature content that is valuable to your audience and worth their time. Your site should have about 10% syndicated content.
Syndicate your blog content on other websites
This time you allow your content to be featured on your partner's websites. Make sure to agree with them on who to achieve this to avoid any confusion that may hurt your relationship.
Syndicate old content with similar authority and audience as yours
This approach works well if your focus is more on a niche audience and allows your partner's audience to discover more of your content. A good example is when you want your content republished to sites in your niche that you share a lot of similarities.
Publishing content on websites that syndicate their content
There are sites that purposively syndicate content. Such websites work closely with their syndication partners. Find them and become a contributor.
Self-service syndication
Yes, it is possible to syndicate your own content. Medium, for example, is one great platform to do some self-service syndication, and there are many reasons why you need to consider publishing on it.
Paid content syndication
As the name suggests, paid content syndication is content syndication that you pay for. For quite sometimes, only big brands with huge financial muscles worked closely with publishers to get more eyeballs on their content. Today, things have changed, and tools like Taboola and Outbrain have made it easier for smaller brands to appear as recommended content on platforms like BBC, The Guardian, or CNN. These platforms operate like any PPC campaign.
You can set a capped budget, a cost-per-click, and a target audience. Then the platform serves readers with your ad as a recommended article, featuring a short title, an image, and a link back to your website. Each time a reader clicks any of these ads, you are charged a cost depending on the target audience and other campaign requirements. It is worth noting that these links don't carry any SEO authority. Search engines see them as "sponsored content," sometimes even by readers.
The bottom line
Content syndication provides you with an easy way to increase brand awareness, boost SEO ranking, and generate more traffic. So, don't let that valuable content on your website just site on your site, have it republished elsewhere (preferably on high authority websites).
