24/02/2023
In today’s digital age, creating high-quality content has become essential to any successful marketing strategy. However, even the most engaging content can be ineffective if it doesn’t reach the right audience. This is where content syndication comes in.
Content syndication is a distribution strategy that involves republishing your content on third-party websites, platforms, or publications, with the goal of increasing its visibility and reach. It allows businesses to expand their content’s audience beyond their own website or social media channels, and tap into new, engaged communities of readers.
In this blog post we’ll dive deeper into what content syndication is, how it works, and its benefits and drawbacks for digital marketing. We’ll also provide some tips for effectively syndicating your content and explore some of the best practices that can help you maximise the ROI of your syndication efforts. Whether you’re new to content syndication or looking to optimise your existing strategy, this post will provide you with the insights and tools you need to succeed.
Content syndication is the republishing a piece of content (whether that be an article, infographic or a video) on one or more websites. All publications, big or small, like syndicated content because it providers their readers with fresh information. The authors of the syndicated content benefit from the practice because it gets their content and brand in front of new audiences.
It’s important to know that although they both might seem similar, content syndication is not the same as guest posting (guest blogging) and link building. A guest post is a new piece of content which is written for a single publication or website.
Syndicated content is simply taking the same piece of content and republishing on it on other publications with their permission. In some instances, your content may be edited-down or only snippets may be published.
Readers can normally tell when a piece of content was syndicated, instead of being a guest post, because it will mention where the content originally came from. Most publications mark syndicated content with text like this:
“This article originally appeared in [link] and has been published on this website with our permission.”
Stating where a piece of content has come from is extremely important not just for giving credit to the writer but to also avoid duplicate content issues.
If you weren’t already aware, Google isn’t a fan of duplicate content. But syndicated content is not the same as duplicate content.
Google accepts syndicated content as long as it’s done carefully and makes it evident to readers that what they’re reading is a syndicated piece of information.
In a 2021 article on Google Search Central, Google stated: “If you syndicate your content on other sites, Google will always show the version we think is most appropriate for users in each given search, which may or may not be the version you’d prefer.
However, it is helpful to ensure that each site on which your content is syndicated includes a link back to your original article. You can also ask those who use your syndicated material to use the no index tag to prevent search engines from indexing their version of the content.”
Including a link back to where the content was originally published and getting a third-party publication to include a canonical link, can prevent problems caused by identical content appearing on more than one URL.
There are a few different ways you can syndicate content, and it won’t cost you a penny. Here are the most successful ways to conduct content syndication:
When you syndicate your content on a website with more visitors and higher authority, you’re massively expanding your reach. However, since readers will consume your content on a third-party website, there’s not much incentive for them to go on and seek out of the original source. With this being said, if your goal is to expand your reach and build brand awareness, syndicating content is a road you’ll want to go down.
If you’re currently targeting a niche audience, you should consider syndicating your content on websites that have the same audience and authority as yours. These websites might also allow contextual links so that your content references back to your own blog. This is great for lead generation.
Sometimes it’s good to publish on a big website first as the webmaster/business may only be interested in fresh or “on-trend” content. The biggest benefit of this is getting your content in front of an audience that you’ll have never reached with your own website. Depending on what publication you go for, you’ll then be free to republish the content on your own blog and promote it on your social media channels.
For a detailed step-by-step guide on how to syndicate content successfully, Neil Patel has a useful blog, including how to find websites to publish on and the steps to take to avoid duplicate content issues. Read the step-by-step guide to syndicating content here.
Paid content syndication is exactly what it says on the tin; it’s when you pay a fee to get your content published on a third-party website. The most common paid syndication tactic has been used for years. Large companies often team up directly with big publishing networks to get their content in front of the masses. This tactic, however, wasn’t a financially viable option for smaller companies with tighter budgets.
The good news is, there are free platforms available. This gives smaller companies the opportunity for their content to appear on major websites like the BBC, The Guardian, MSN and The Washington Post.
These platforms work just like a typical PPC or Microsoft Advertising campaign. You can set a pre-defined budget, the audience you wish to target and a cost-per-click. The platforms will then serve readers with an ad that promotes your content as a recommended article and a link back to your website.
It’s worth us mentioning that the links back to your website don’t carry any value to SEO nor your domain authority because they are seen as sponsored content by Google.
Paid content syndication is a much more straightforward process than attempting to get your content featured in major publications. However, paid content syndication doesn’t have the same SEO and brand awareness benefits as free syndication does.
As a digital marketing agency, it’s fair to say that we’re well versed in the content marketing world. This includes knowing what the best content syndication partners and services are. So, here’s a list of some that we recommend making the most of.
Now that you know all about content syndication in digital marketing, here are some dos and don’ts to keep in mind if you plan on syndicating your own content.
A risk of syndicating your content with another publication is that they’ll rank higher in Google and be credited for your work. Like we previously discussed, request that a publication includes a canonical link that directs back to your original content.
A risk of syndicating your content with another publication is that they’ll rank higher in Google and be credited for your work. Like we previously discussed, request that a publication includes a canonical link that directs back to your original content.
Some of the biggest publications that accept syndicated content are picky and receive a lot of requests, so make sure you only send out your best content. Make sure you read a publication’s editorial guidelines first, then create a pitch that is perfectly tailored to their requirements.
To make the most of content syndication, you have to do better than being a one-timer. You’re only going to reap the benefits if you regularly send content to publishers and utilise a syndication network.
Revive.Digital’s content marketing services go far beyond just blog posts and SEO website content. We can lead the creation of innovative and eye-catching content such as videos, animation, infographics, social media assets, photography, e-books, whitepapers, press releases and much more.
Tap into our expertise to create high-quality content that resonates with your target audience and drives traffic to your website. Our team will help you develop a syndication plan that maximises the potential of your content, reaching the right people at the right time.
Interested in improving your content marketing strategy, increasing brand awareness, generating leads, or boosting sales? Get in touch with the team today on 01702 619 139 to start creating a winning content syndication strategy for your business.
