You will most probably look for the merits of content syndication if you are reading this blog. Because some people say your SEO is affected. Honestly, marketers often confuse the distribution and syndication of content. A lot of blogs support syndication, while many of them oppose it. So, what are you supposed to do exactly?
Don’t worry, with this problem you’re not the only one, there are many. And what do you guess? The solution is simple. All depends on understanding the scope and practises of implementation.
First of all, content syndication is a component of your overall content distribution strategy. It does not define your distribution plan; it does add several channels for content sharing.
This will assist you to share your content with your target audience available on other websites and platforms, which your marketing plan does not include individually.
What is content syndication?
The syndication of content is defined as republishing existing content to other third-party websites on your website. The content type includes e-books, blogs, articles, infographics, videos and so on.
Basically all that is created for your target audience as a marketing asset can be used for syndication.
It is important to note that readers (your target audience) choose their own platforms to use information which best suits their habits, facility and preference for communication medium & format.
For instance, reader A may want to consume content in the form of long readings, reader B rather than infographics (to understand the synopsis & read then), individual C may prefer lists to determine the whole context of the content, or a person who prefers videos to anything.
The silver line here is, you can almost reach all of them with content syndication without the need to create new content. It simply needs to adapt (repurpose) existing content into various formats.
It works like a barter system from the mediaeval age in which trade union sites obtain relevant and quality material for their readers, whilst brands are backlinked and organic traffic is constantly circulating for the website.
Why to go for content syndication?
It doesn’t really matter if you’re a B2C or B2B seller, your priority is to reach and engage your target audience. The internet is largely driven by the availability of information relevant to the problems people look for answers in this digital transformation era.
The content comes with information. The problem of distributing it is the content.
The cost of creating new content for the conventional link building exercise using off-page SEO is still important.
The new referenced domains and backlinks, which either follow or have a permanent nature, are the only thing that a brand gets into return.
You get links back and references to domains, but literally there is nothing that can enhance the reach of your brand.
Furthermore, it is not needed for off-page submissions, or to guarantee conversions, to lead to relevant traffic or even to any traffic on your website.
Content syndication helps brands on the other hand optimise the cost of producing content and also enables them to share their content on platforms that provide high traffic of relevant readers according to the niche of the brand.
Does the syndication of content affect my SEO work?
Content syndication in fact means producing duplicate content on other websites that do not like the algorithm of the search engine by default.
This tends to take into account the contents posted on the high DA/high traffic website as the original content, and to neglect the original source of contents which might be your website.
No matter, if the original content on the website is either not properly indexed, or if the rel=canonical tag on the website has not been implemented by your content syndication partner.
Canonical tags support the search engine to observe and understand that there are multiple versions of this content, but only the original should become indexed to ensure that the brand has maximum SEO advantages and a high ranking of user search objectives.
The purpose is also to add a meta-no-index mark to the page.
By default, most of the established content platforms offer canonical links to original publishers to minimise the risk of their SEO efforts being sabotaged.
Free content syndication platforms
Content syndication can be done either through free platforms or through paid native publicity campaigns using platforms such as Outbrain, Colombia and Taboola. They define themselves as platforms for content discovery and have connections with several world’s leading publishers
Only the platforms of free content syndication are covered for the scope of this blog.
15 of the best free and powerful content syndication platforms you can utilize to communicate your brand without damaging your existing SEO effort:
Pinterest is intended for people who use audio-visuals to collect information as a primary source. Marketers make perfect business sense by creating compelling infographics like a teaser, while at the same time providing a condensed explanation of the blog’s contents, services, etc. It uses an interesting collection of images (read infographics) to find new content across niches on the Internet.
Quora
For content marketers, Quora is considered a gold mine. It provides a conducive setting for brands, who like reading and discussion around the topic to share their thinking, vision and solutions with a large captive audience. You can also participate in question-answer sessions, ease inquiries and fears not simply through sharing their website blogs here.
When used correctly, LinkedIn acts as a large force multiplier. Brands are able to publish their content on the platform on article and post sections. You can also choose to publish or truncate the full article by offering a link to the original host content directly to the “read more.” This ensures that brands have sufficient space to communicate with their public (like a teaser) and then take interested readers to the website. Leveraging LinkedIn groups without spamming their schedules also acts as a catalyst for reaching the desired public.
It’s for people that like to read curated content. Flipboard offers blog content, news, social media, websites for image & video sharing and so on. It allows users to send their own curated magazine articles, news, videos and so forth. It basically acts as a personal magazine with curated information across the interests of a person. In my opinion, flipboards could be viewed as a more detailed Pinterest form.
The ones least used by marketers
Digg
As they say, Digg is the Internet homepage. It is easy to use and features an easy to use interface. You just have the high performance content to submit and let the platform do everything else. There can be no way out of it being viral if one of your content finds traction with your readers. This platform allows you to reap the advantages of almost endless traffic to your website.
Scoopt.It
Scoop. It is a platform for content curation and the best we’ve ever used by far. It helps users like us and you to create theme boards and scoop articles that are shared with the audience (somewhere like Pinterest & Flipboard). The platform comes with integrated social media that facilitate the sharing of interests and thoughts among readers. The trick is to name the subject board (category of content), with which readers can relate directly.
Medium
Medium is an online publishing platform for everyone with minimal user interfaces and an excellent user base. It leads people to enjoy insights and ideas. Perfect platform for the most sensitive and professional sharing of brand communication.
Mix
Mix is a content discovery platform for blog posts. Brands curate and share their loved content. Mix knows about and presents more of this content to users’ specific interests. You can add the same posts to the collections (category of content) and boost payment ads to help drive traffic on the websites of brands. It also allows you to select the best posts that you want and add them to your collection.
GrowthHackers
GrowthHackers began as a growth-based marketing platform for start-ups, but now boasts the presence of large companies as well. It is an ideal platform for small marketing budget companies. It works by sharing brand content snippets with an option ‘Read More’ or ‘View Full.’ It makes discovering content easy and also drives relevant traffic to the website of a brand.
Slideshare
Slideshare is an information centre for people looking for presentations to understand the entire content context. It gives brands that reuse their content for the curious readers a great deal of visibility. The platform offers an enormous integrated audience and options for social media sharing. Works best in brands with complex/technical offers and where explanatory videos are required for product/service uses to communicate their prospects.
The massive traffic sources
Instant Articles
Facebook Instant Articles are flourishing by providing Facebook users with a native content consumption interface. The sole aim is to provide readers with an immersive experience and a seamless UI, which is introduced mainly for the benefit of mobile users. Instant articles allow brands to use publishing tools to ingest their blogs directly into Facebook and to look at the reader. This is not only visible in the organic news feeds of many users with similar interests, but it also appears for the individuals who “loved” or interacted on the brand page.
This causes organic traffic loss because Facebook is used by readers to read and brand awareness is increased several times. Backlinks to the article can always be taken to the brand website.
Product Hunt
Product Hunt serves as an ideal platform to monetize brands’ content and to provide volumes for e-books, whitepapers, data sheets or high-quality information. Brands use this space to share their content with people in PDF format, to download it as a free or paid product. In the PDF document, it is a matter of introducing UTM links which helps readers move to the brand website and learn more. They receive information and brands receive the referral.
Feedly
Feedly is a platform for content discovery that addresses a wide range of industries and niches. This platform allows readers to differentiate the pile of information between insights and noise. It is the place to find traction for content publishers. Feedly provides its user base and different types of readers’ profiles. The trick is natural here with your interests and multiple feeds. The more real and authentic you’re, the more work for you on this platform.
Get Pockets
Get Pockets helps to manage articles lists across the Internet. It adds stored websites to later-reading or referencing libraries. It provides its users with the option of saving, reading, viewing and listening to consumer content formats.
Zest
Zest is a platform for content streaming with a focus on marketing & articles. It enables users to propose content via their LinkedIn account using a chrome extension & login. Again, the idea is to be genuine, and to propose content based on natural interests. Sharing content here doesn’t help, therefore, just from your website.
Conclusion
To find your ideal customer, you should be present on these platforms. And believe me, these are only a couple. Thousands of them, literally. It is the process of thinking that helps people to find their business partners. The more you talk to the target audience, the better.