Do you know the author of the best-selling book, Atomic Habits? Yes, we are talking about James Clear. For those of you who don’t know, he is a renowned author who writes about habit building and has sold over a million copies worldwide. He was also an avid blog writer. Wrote on the same topic- habit building. But initially, he wasn’t able to get traction on his blog. His blog on content syndication was as valuable as now. But still, it didn’t perform well.
So, how did he manage to turn it around?
Two words – Content Syndication.
With the help of the right syndication strategies, he was able to expand his reach to new audiences. The following is an excerpt from his interview where he discusses how content syndication platforms helped him:
“… In an article that originally ran on my site and then was re-published by Lifehacker later on. I gained over 600 subscribers from the Lifehacker version and I didn’t have to put in any additional work writing a new article.”
Syndicating content is an important aspect of marketing your content on the web. It helps you get more exposure for your content and drive traffic to your website. Whether you are a blogger, digital marketer, or entrepreneur, there are many reasons why B2B content syndication can help improve conversion rates and generate revenue for your business. In this guide, we will discuss what it is all about, tips to improve your strategy and how you can benefit from it!
What is content syndication?
To give you a simple overview of content syndication, it refers to sharing one’s own published content with other webmasters. Publishers use it to monetize their content and drive more traffic to their websites.
It is basically republishing one’s own or someone else’s published content on another website, in the form of a new article that incorporates links back to the original source material. B2B content syndication can be done manually (which takes time and effort) or automatically (which is more scalable and fast).
Well, by now you might be wondering – “That sounds good but how does it benefit the respective parties?
Syndication platforms help you (the creator) get your content in front of a new audience. It can lead to greater brand awareness, increased web traffic, and improved search engine rankings. The key here is to share relevant content with the right set of people. For this reason, it’s important for marketers to build their own syndication strategy.
Benefits of Syndication for Publishers: Content creators love sharing, repurposing, and curating others’ work. This is why publishers are the biggest beneficiaries of syndication as it helps them guide traffic back to their websites by promoting the original source material on other platforms/websites. It also helps them build a strong community.
These are the two key benefits the creator and the publisher reaps from content syndication. Let’s see what are the other benefits of syndication.
Benefits of content syndication
It’s a great way to promote one’s work
Syndicating content is an excellent tactic for sharing your content with other webmasters. It not only helps you get more exposure but also drives traffic back to your website. This in turn can lead to greater brand awareness, increased blog subscribers and improved search engine rankings! If done properly, it can also lead to more engagement and sharing of your content on other platforms.
Content syndication platform helps you find new readers
This is particularly true for publishers who don’t have a big audience or following yet. Syndicating other people’s work will allow them to tap into their target market by promoting the original source material, which in turn will guide new readers to their websites.
It’s a great way to build relationships with other publishers
Publishers can use B2B content syndication as a way to form relationships with other webmasters. Sharing each other’s work helps create goodwill and opens up opportunities for future collaboration.
It’s a win-win for readers:
Syndicating content benefits readers in many ways – it allows them to discover new content that’s relevant to their interests, it is entertaining and engaging! For example, when you’re reading an article on Business Insider about the latest iPhone launch news; if their website fails (which happens occasionally), you’ll be redirected to another website that has the same content.
It improves your domain authority
Syndication shows search engines that your website or blog has a lot of unique and relevant content. This in turn can help improve your domain authority (DA) which is an indication to search engines about how authoritative you are as a publisher on the Internet.
Now that we have a good idea about syndication, let’s take a look at where can you syndicate your content.
Where to syndicate your content?
Today, there are a plethora of syndication platforms – from social media platforms to websites, and even forums. The key is to find the right set of channels that are relevant to your target market.
Here are some popular places where you can syndicate your content:
- Social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, Tumblr
- Content sharing websites: Medium, LinkedIn Pulse, NewsCred
- Forums and Q&A sites: Yahoo Answers & Quora
B2B content syndication is a powerful tactic that can help you increase your reach on the web. However, it’s important to follow best practices such as adding links back to your website (if allowed), adding relevant hashtags and headlines to increase engagement, using keywords in your content that search engines love etc. Another important aspect is promoting the work on your own website before syndicating it elsewhere!
While syndicating your content, it’s better to have a clear idea of the dos and don’ts of syndication. Here are some pointers we think you should know before going ahead with your syndication strategy:
Points to remember while syndicating your content?
Avoid duplicate penalties:
One of the biggest challenges while performing B2B syndication is avoiding duplicate penalties from Google and other search engines. Make sure that you don’t copy and paste articles word-for-word, as this can lead to your website being penalized by the search engines.
Don’t overdo it:
Syndicating your content on too many channels can actually have a negative impact on your brand. Over-syndication can lead to the dilution of authority and trust on other platforms. This, in turn, can affect engagement levels, referral traffic back to your website or blog, etc.
Monitor content performance:
Don’t just syndicate random pieces of content – you should monitor how it performs and if it is bringing new readers or subscribers to your website. If not, you might want to reconsider syndicating it on other channels.
Make sure you have the rights to republish:
Before syndicating content from other sources, make sure that you have the right to do so! Some publishers may not allow you to reprint their articles without prior consent. Also, link back to your website.
This is one of the most important aspects while syndicating content. You should add links that link directly to your guidepost, page or blog when you share other people’s work on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. This helps in establishing trust between readers and brand – they know where it originated from!
Don’t lose sight of lead generation:
While performing these activities, lead generation should be your sole aim. Make sure that you have attractive and relevant calls-to-action (CTAs) on your website or blog to convert readers into leads.
When done correctly, content syndication can be a powerful tool for businesses of all sizes – it helps in increasing brand awareness, reach, and authority; drives referral traffic back to your website or blog, and also helps in lead generation.
Repurposing is not the same as content syndication:
Not a lot of people know this but repurposing content is a bit different from syndicating it. Repurposing content means taking an old piece of content and reformatting it for a new audience or channel. For example, you can take a blog post and turn it into a video, podcast, or infographic.
Repurposing content is a great way to give your older content a new lease of life and also helps in reaching new audiences.
Conclusion
To sum it up, here are the key points to keep in mind while syndicating your content:
- Don’t copy-paste articles word-for-word – this can lead to duplicate penalties from Google and other search engines.
- Don’t overdo it – this can lead to the dilution of authority and trust on other platforms, which in turn affects engagement levels, referral traffic back to your website or blog, etc.
- Make sure that you have the right to republish content from other sources before doing so!
- Always add links directly related to your post when sharing someone
If you are looking to improve your content syndication strategy, make sure you keep these points in mind!
Do you have any questions about syndication or want to share some tips with us? Let us know in the comments below!