One of the best ways to scale your backlinks for SEO and content marketing is through content syndication.
The first phase merely involves writing and posting the original article (or infographic, or video, or any other kind of content, really). It won’t matter much if you produce something that is educational, amusing, worthwhile, and sharing if no one is actually reading and consuming it.
By making your written or recorded content accessible to a larger audience, syndication seeks to address that issue.
In this article, we’ll explain what free content syndication is, why it’s important to SEO firms, and how to use it to rank your content for many years to come.
If you’re prepared to begin, let’s do it!
What is Content Syndication?
Republishing content on other websites is referred to as “content syndication.” The digital content of any kind can be distributed. This comprises common blog posts and news stories, as well as press releases, pictures, videos, and infographics.
Even though the content syndicated in the online world now may differ slightly from what it was 25 years ago, syndication has been for as long as there have been mass media outlets. Before the World Wide Web, periodicals like newspapers and magazines frequently syndicated articles from independent authors, regional publications, and smaller papers with a small circulation.
Both then and now, the goal of content syndication is to produce a win-win situation for all parties:
The person or business that submits worthwhile material for syndication has access to a much larger target audience.
Without spending internal resources, the publisher that disseminates the syndicated content has access to complementary and/or on-demand content.
Read More:How to Become a Content Writer in 2023
What Are the Advantages of Content Syndication?
We’re largely concentrating on content syndication in this article from the viewpoint of the company delivering the material to the syndicated partner. In other words, we wish to investigate the effects that content syndication may have on your website and brand name.
In light of this, the following are some of the main advantages (other than more visibility):
1. Referral Traffic
Direct referral traffic is the first advantage. There is typically some kind of referral link back to your website if you have an article syndicated. And they’re typically quite noticeable.
You’ll often notice a statement like “This post originally appeared on…” or “This information was first published on…” at the top and/or bottom of the post with a link to your website. A certain percentage of individuals will click the link and visit your website.
2. SEO
Backlinks constitute one of the top five ranking factors for Google and other search engines, as you may already be aware, and they play a significant part in search engine optimization. Having a link from a partner in syndicated content gives your website an authority backlink and a noticeable entry point.
Read More: How to improve Traffic
3. Subscribers
You might be able to gather email subscribers and leads based on the way your own content is syndicated and the kind of call-to-action or link you employ back to your site.
4. Branding
Increasing your company’s visibility and exposure is fantastic from a branding standpoint. As a strategy to gain readers’ trust whenever you syndicate an article, you might include your logo and company name. (Even if they don’t click on the original link or go to your website, there remains some exposure there that might inspire trust in a subsequent conversation.)
5. Resource Maximization
Ultimately, content syndication is a way of content generation that is sustainable. It saves you from having to repeatedly publish new information and helps you make the most of the resources you do have.
Repurposing vs. Guest Blogging vs. Syndication
When talking about content, a variety of different words and phrases are used. Let’s examine three of the most popular terms and discuss how they differ while also being similar.
Repurposing – Repurposing content means making changes to an existing piece of content so that it will work in a new media or format. When you take a podcast episode and transform it into your own blog article, you are repurposing content (or vice versa).
Guest Blogging – When you submit a guest blog post, you really write a brand-new article that has never before been published somewhere else, and you then publish a guest post that includes your own bio and a backlink to your website on a third-party website.
Content Syndication – The last option is content syndication (which is what this article is about). This is the process of syndicating an existing piece of content to another platform. Syndicated content is normally written word-for-word, though minor alterations to the title, formatting, and/or basic structure may be necessary to meet the specific editorial needs of the publisher.
These three ideas are, as you can see, quite connected. The execution and application, however, vary slightly. Making wise and deliberate choices concerning your content strategy will be possible for you if you are aware of this.
The Three Levels of Syndication of Content
There are numerous alternative ways to conceptualize content syndication. However, one approach to look at it is as a set of three “tiers,” which specify an order and level of significance for the success of the campaign as a whole.
Individual brands have a variety of alternatives to select from within each tier. However, all brands should generally prioritize “Tier 1” syndication, then “Tier 2” syndication, and of course “Tier 3.”
Tier 1: External Publishers and Blogs
Getting published on platforms that people are currently using to search and read content is the main goal of the first tier. Instead of the few visitors your blog currently attracts naturally, you could compose an article and submit it to a top industry online magazine, which would expose it to thousands of active readers.
There are numerous alternatives for this kind of content approach, as you might expect. While more seasoned content marketers can move up to national sources, emerging companies in the content industry will likely be limited to local publishers, small publishers, specialized blogs, and forums for their work.
Additionally, this external kind of syndication is not restricted to a single external post. To receive off site advantages, you don’t necessarily need to create and publish offsite content. For instance, by publishing your piece on your blog, you can earn a link from an outside publisher who cites it. The more original research and distinctive assertions you make in your writing, the more probable it is that you will automatically draw links of this nature. Another choice is to use social bookmarking websites like Reddit and StumbleUpon, which allow user-submitted articles to share with their users.
Read More:HARO Link Building: A Comprehensive Guide to Building Backlinks with HARO
Tier 2: Straight Social Media Syndication
Social media syndication is the next level of syndication when a relationship has been established including one or more offsite publications.
This tier is significantly easier than getting published offsite because you have complete control over your distribution and won’t need to try to develop connections with other publications or find links organically.
This is a fantastic way to re-use or recycle previous or current material on your website.
The majority of brands decide to give their content a big push when it is first published by posting a snippet or the title and enticing people with a link, then following up over a period of weeks and months with sporadic varied redistributions of the similar article (to entice more traffic for individuals who missed it the first time).
Tier 3: Influencers
Finally, you should only approach social influencers after you’ve established a traditional, off-site social syndication pattern. You’ll have to make individual pitches (even if they’re brief) and work to build long-term connections with them because you’ll be working with people rather than platforms or free content syndication networks. This will boost your chances of being promoted by them in the future.
Having one of your articles shared by an influencer, who is a social media user with a sizable following and a high level of respect, can expose your audience to thousands of additional prospective readers. If you currently have a sizable social media following and some additional exposure from off-site outlets, this will help to increase your authority even further.
A few important routes, including sponsored organic traffic, email blasts, and subscriber feeds, are left out of this three-tiered scheme, which falls short of covering all options for content syndication. However, it does give a significant chance to gain substantial traffic, visibility, links, and authority with no guidance or work.
When creating a plan for your content syndication, follow this 3-tiered approach as precisely as you can; after testing with various individual channels, you’ll soon find a rhythm that perfectly matches your branding and your broader audience.
Guidelines and Best Practices for Content Syndication
Content Syndication can be an effective way to reach more audiences online. Content syndication is the process of republishing content on third-party websites to broaden its reach. When used effectively it can help build brand awareness, drive traffic to your website and generate potential new leads. To maximize success, use original quality content, make sure to establish control over where the syndicated content appears, secure a link back to your website from any outbound placements, and aim for a high-quality audience engagement (e.g., likes and comments). Content syndication is a powerful tool for promoting your business, but should not be considered a substitute for creating original content.
1. Get Over Your Fear of Duplicate Content
For a very long time, the idea of syndicating digital material terrified people. They were concerned that they might suffer a pricey Google penalty. And there is unquestionably a purpose to exercise diligence. As explained by Google:
Sometimes information is purposefully copied across other domains in an effort to trick search engine results or increase visitors. When a visitor sees essentially the same material repeated within a set of search engine results, deceptive methods like this can lead to a poor user experience.
2. Create Exceptional Content
Quality always takes precedence, whether you are syndicating material or entrusting your online content to a reputable content writing agency in the usa. Always put a focus on producing top-notch material.
You won’t have any issues syndicating if you create high-quality material that satisfies users and offers real value. Content that will benefit its readers is what syndicate partners seek, and quality is always appreciated.
3. Use Nofollow Tags for Internal Links
Use “rel=nofollow” tags on your content’s internal links to make absolutely sure that Google will not really read them in order to compensate for the potential significant backlinking at a large scale. This will ensure that your links work normally for every user, resulting in referral traffic, but it will also reduce the chance that a black hat backlinking technique will be discovered. Making ensuring that every instance of your material is unique is still a smart practice.
4. Prioritize Brand Visibility
When you write a guest blog or syndicate your content, try your best to make your brand visible even if you don’t always have complete control over this. Most third-party websites include a sentence or two to indicate that a post came from an outside source, but you should inquire whether it’s possible to include a bigger brand callout, like a logo design or a more noticeable author bio.
5. Use Syndication as a Secondary Strategy
The main lesson here is this. Syndication should be a supplementary tactic to your main content objectives, either you attempt to republish an article repeatedly or use guest writing.
Excellent written content is the foundation of every successful marketing campaign, and it should be found on your website along with other branding elements. Any additional posts you make should enhance and support this tactic rather than compete with it.
Content syndication has been proven to be a cost-effective way for businesses to scale their backlinks and improve their digital presence. Content syndication allows small and large businesses alike to reach out to larger audiences without having to invest too much money or time in creating new content from scratch. Additionally, content syndication gives brands the opportunity to connect with industry leaders and leverage popular niches through quality-designed campaigns. With the correct implementation of content syndication, businesses can reap the rewards of exponential growth in organic traffic while watching their ROI trends skyrocket. Thus, implementing an effective content syndication strategy is a powerful yet simple solution for any business looking to leverage more leads and maximize its visibility online.
Writer Information
Kashish is a Digital Marketing Expert and also an Outreach Specialist. She loves to talk about SEO, content marketing & digital marketing strategies. In her free time she likes to read & stay updated on the latest digital marketing trends!
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