What is Article Syndication?
Article syndication - aka content syndication - is the practice of republishing a piece of content to other third-party websites or online platforms.
Can you guess why people do this?
Suppose you have created a valuable blog and now you want to share it with others so that they may benefit from it. What would you do? The first thing that you might be thinking about is sharing it on your own website.
But what if you have a limited audience? The second option on your list must be syndicating it.
Its main purpose is to reach a larger audience to increase exposure to the content. The articles that are published on other websites usually have attribution to the author with a link back to their website
This not only increases your site's visibility but also drives traffic and generates leads.
Why is it important?
If you are implementing the article syndication approach in the right way - you can maximize its benefits to a larger extent.
These articles allow their authors to reach a wider audience.
More content syndication means more inbound links to the author's website.
Publishing high-quality content on other platforms allows businesses to attract more customers.
It is a cheap way of targeting a large audience.
How to find article syndication opportunities?
Before adopting a strategy it is always recommended to thoroughly understand it to get the best results.
Article syndication can be done in several ways:
Research first
This is the very first step.
Explore the websites that are relevant to your niche. Make sure they regularly upload syndicated content on their websites.
To find them, you can use phrases like originally published on, originally appeared on, republished with permission, etc. along with a related topic.
Reach out
After identifying the websites - you can now reach out to their owners to see if they are interested in republishing your content. Always ask for it in a polite way and respect their time.
You can also explain to them in detail why your content will be of great value to their audience. Try to convince them but do not force them to syndicate your content.
Join content-sharing communities
You can also take advantage of various online platforms such as Medium or LinkedIn. They allow the users to share their content.
If you want to increase your content reach - these free platforms are best for it.
Paid syndication vs self-syndication - which is good?
You must have heard about these terms. See how they are different and effective.
Paid syndication involves paying a fee to third-party platforms to distribute your content.
These services usually own a network of websites to promote content.
The benefits of paid syndication include increased exposure, access to a larger audience and improved SEO.
The drawback of paid syndication is that it's expensive and may not be convenient for everyone.
Self-syndication - on the other hand - involves promoting your content on your own through various channels like social media, email marketing, etc.
This approach is typically less expensive and more accessible. But here you need to put in more effort.
Ultimately, your goals and resources tell you which method to adopt. If you have the budget to invest in paid syndication or want to quickly increase your reach - then it may be a good option.
If you're willing to invest time and effort to promote your content on your own - then self-syndication may be a more suitable option.
Can article syndication hurt my SEO?
Article syndication may affect your SEO if you are not doing it in the right way.
Below are a few best practices to adopt:
Publish your articles on your own website before syndicating them to another website. This tells search engines where this content belongs to.
Use canonical tags to indicate the original version.
Always look for those websites that are relevant to your niche.
Make sure the platforms that are syndicating your content are properly giving you attribute as an original source.
Keep in mind that the concept of syndicated content is different from plagiarized or duplicate content. The only thing you need to remember is to get it done in the right way. This way you can get the maximum SEO benefits of this approach.