Content syndication is when content that first appeared on your website gets republished on a third-party website. All formats of digital content can be syndicated, including articles, blog posts, infographics, images, and videos, and so on.
The third-party might syndicate your content in its entirety, edit it to create a shorter piece or publish a small excerpt. However, you will still get credited for being the origihttps://mediaonemarketing.com.sg/guest-posting/nal author, and there is usually a link to your website. Readers will perceive it as a regular guest post, but the site will indicate that the content previously appeared elsewhere.
If you syndicate your content, you benefit from increased exposure and publicity, as well as quality backlinks to your website. This boosts the organic traffic to your site and improves your ranking on SERPs. On the other hand, the third-party publisher gets free and relevant content.
How to Get Started With Content Syndication
Here are the steps to help you get started with content syndication.
- Start guest posting
- Select web syndication partners
- Reach out to the web syndication partners
- SEO-proofing
- Syndicate content on an ongoing basis
Web Content Syndication in Singapore
If you want to start content syndication as part of your content marketing strategy, here are the steps you should follow.
1: Start Guest Posting
You can venture into content syndication immediately after launching your business website in Singapore. The problem, however, is that authority sites are unlikely to be interested in your content. This applies even to high-quality content.
Unless you are an authority in your niche, content syndication requires a substantial amount of effort. A smart way of getting ahead is improving your skills by writing guest posts for leading websites.
Ensure that you only write posts for top sites in your niche. With time, you will have the necessary experience and proof needed to reach out to content syndication platforms.
2: Select Web Syndication Partners
Many websites are open to web syndication. When choosing a web syndication partner, keep in mind that the more popular the site is, the more advantageous it is for your business.
The most popular content syndication platforms publish content that is about or related to marketing. Niche content syndication platforms are available but in much lower numbers. If you are struggling to find an ideal platform to syndicate your content, there are ways to adjust it so that it gets republished on many websites.
If your site falls under a particular niche, you can adjust the content to centre on marketing, which is popular with content syndication platforms. For instance, if you write about food, you can write a post on how to get sustainable ingredients for your cooks.
3: Reach Out to Web Content Syndication Platforms
As is the case with guest posting, you must check if your preferred content syndication platform is accepting content before pitching. The quickest way of doing this is by opening a few articles and seeing if they are originally published on the site or have an attribution message.
If some posts have an attribution message crediting the original author, the site accepts content syndication. Alternatively, you can search for ‘originally appeared on’ using the website’s search engine. If it returns any results, it shows that the site is open to republishing content.
After confirming that your target site supports web syndication, send a pitch to the editor. The email should contain a few of your best-written posts which have the most engagements. The editor’s contacts are usually available on the target website.
Your pitch should be short and concise. Ensure that you provide a link to your best work, as this builds instant credibility. You should also say how you found out that the site syndicates web content.
The most crucial component of your pitch is proof. You must show that you are familiar with creating fantastic content that grabs the attention of readers.
4: SEO-proofing
The most significant problem with content syndication is that it creates duplicate content. When Google notices duplicated syndicated versions of content, it will show what suits the user in a particular search. This means that it might not be the version you prefer.
You have no control over what Google displays. There is a possibility that the syndicated content will outrank your original post. Even worse, the syndicated post might generate more conversions than your content.
Here are ways to avoid such a situation.
Rel=canonical Tag
The rel=canonical tag is a proven solution to issues arising from duplicate web content. When you include this tag, it ensures that Google always prioritises the original content when ranking webpages.
If your content syndication platform adds the rel=canonical tag to your posts, they are pointing Google to the source of the content. The tag assists Google in deciding which version to display when duplicate content occurs.
Besides attribution, the rel=canonical tag allows you to gain from all of the links that the third-party website attracts. Ensure that you request your content syndication website to add the rel=canonical tag to avoid being outranked.
No-Index Tag
When you include the no-index tag in a post, Google crawlers will not index it. This means that it cannot appear on search engine results.
When you are pitching to a content syndication platform, remember to ask if they can include the no-index tag in the syndicated content. This ensures that you will not lose organic web traffic. It also means that you cannot get outranked by the third-party website.
The problem with the no-index tag is that you are not sure if Google crawlers will adhere to it. The rel=canonical tag is by far the more effective option of the two. Always push the republishing website to include it over the no-index tag.
If your content syndication partner refuses to include either of the two tags, make sure that they provide a backlink to your site and attribution at the end of the republished post.
Additionally, you should always let Google index your content before republishing on web syndication platforms. You should pitch to third-party editors at least after a week after the content appears on your website.
5: Syndicating Content on an Ongoing Basis
If you want syndication to impact your content marketing strategy, you need to do it continually. This allows you to form partnerships with established content syndication platforms and grow your site over time.
Once a publisher accepts your content for the first time, make an arrangement with them. Ensure that they republish your content weekly, bi-weekly, monthly or as frequently as you would like.
You have to be an excellent writer to be successful at web content syndication. If you are not and your site is still upcoming, you should do guest posts for a website with access to a syndication network. The site will pitch your post, so that authority sites republish it.
The third-party site will attribute your guest post and not your website. However, you will have something to refer to when you pitch to syndication platforms to republish your content. Another way is by doing a guest post for the big website that you want to republish your content.
If the guest post goes viral, you will have the basis for all your subsequent web syndication pitches.
How to Create a Content Syndication Campaign
Content syndication is one of the many strategies that form a content marketing campaign. Now that you know how to get started with it, here is how to run a syndication campaign.
1: Select the Posts to Promote
It is essential to have compelling titles on the posts that you wish to get republished. This ensures that your posts stand out from the rest of the posts from other publishers on the syndication platform.
The most successful posts on your website should influence the titles you choose. Go for the posts that have generated record numbers of organic traffic. Alternatively, you can select the posts that got the highest engagement levels from social media. This is an indicator that the content is appealing.
2: Analyse the Results
Select a few posts to test and take note of the titles that get the highest traffic levels. Using the results as a guide, adjust your current posts to follow the style of the most popular titles. You can also use the outcome as a guide when creating future posts.
3: Create Content Based on the Results
Over time, you will notice the type of content that appeals to your target audience. Use the performance analytics from the content syndication platforms to direct the kind of content you create. By doing this, you increase the chances of generating traffic to your website. Also, it can potentially improve the ranking of your site on SERPs.
Popular Content Syndication Platforms
If you are looking for a third-party where you can republish your content, here are a few platforms for you to consider.
1: Syndication-friendly Multi-author Blogs
If you write business-related content, you can republish it on Business 2 Community (B2C). The platform accepts posts from all niches provided that it concerns business. You can syndicate content using your website’s RSS feed.
If your website deals with content marketing and digital advertisement, Social Media Today is the best choice. It works similarly to B2C.
2: Social Networks
The majority of leading social networks have inbuilt publishing tools that allow users to post long articles. These include Facebook’s Instant Articles and Notes, Quora blogs and the LinkedIn Publishing Platform. The main advantage of these is the instant popularity and advanced content discovery features.
3: Blogging Platforms
Besides the blog section of your business website, you should also look to republish your content on third-party blogging platforms with an established audience. The best examples are Medium and Tumblr.
Medium is particularly excellent, as it enables you to share your content to other publications and reach their audiences.
Possible Shortcomings of Content Syndication
Content Syndication is a useful content marketing strategy, but it has its shortcomings. Here are the potential disadvantages of syndicating your digital content.
1: Duplicate Content Issues
One of the biggest concerns for marketers is how to deal with content duplication arising from content syndication. Google is firmly against duplicate content. In the case of content syndication, it is challenging to prevent content duplication.
2: Outranking Your Content
If your content gets republished on a more prominent website, Google can rank it above your site. However, you can avoid this by using the rel=canonical tags and no-index tags.
3: Cannot Collect Emails
Another significant concern for marketers looking to syndicate their content is the inability to collect emails. It is impossible to get subscriber emails, as the third-party will not allow you to place an opt-in widget on their website. You will gain exposure, but you cannot use it to convert leads into subscribers.
Content Syndication Best Practices
Despite its effectiveness, content syndication should not be the primary strategy of your content marketing campaign. Ideally, you should spend most of your time on content creation. Always ensure that your content is relevant, accurate, informative and up to date.
Once you are done with creation, focus on content curation, which is the process of adding your voice and value to a handpicked collection of content. This gives your site authority. Then, move on to content syndication. You will have the expertise as well as the popularity needed to republish your content on more prominent platforms successfully.
Conclusion
Content syndication is a proven method of boosting your content marketing campaign. It is also useful in increasing brand awareness and the amount of traffic to your website.
The biggest challenge is developing your writing skills to match the requirements of the authority sites. It is advisable to start with guest posting on smaller niche sites and improve your skills over time. If the guest posts are successful, you are ready to make the step into content syndication.
When you get your content republished on third-party sites, request the editor to include the rel=canonical or no-index tags. This avoids the duplication of content, which can hurt SEO. If this is not possible, make sure you get attribution and a backlink to your site.
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