Content syndication is a useful content distribution method that lets you re-publish posts across multiple sites and platforms.
This strategy has numerous advantages. But there are also some factors you need to consider.
In this post, I'll explain content syndication and how to implement it, as well as offer a few tips and tricks for maximizing results.
What you will learn:
- What content syndication is and why it's useful
- The different types of content syndication
- How to syndicate content in five steps
- Seven content syndication best practices
What is content syndication?
Content syndication is the process of distributing your content across multiple platforms or websites to reach a broader audience and increase visibility.
The content is often republished in its entirety, with minimal edits or modifications — just like in KnowTechie's case:
This particular blog post was originally published on The Conversation. The article's content is almost identical on both websites, except for some changes in formatting and visuals.
However, syndicated content can also take the form of fragments or edited-down versions of the original post.
For example, this Medium post from Hot In Social Media shows part of an article that talks about TikTok trends.
It then invites readers to read the article in full on their own site — great for extra traffic.
In any case, "republished" is the keyword here.
Unlike guest posting — which involves creating new content for a specific publication — content syndication distributes existing posts across other channels and aims to drive readers to the original source.
Other content distribution methods like aggregation also don't count as syndication.
Each piece of syndicated content is republished on a separate web page or post.
What are the benefits of content syndication?
Content syndication boosts your content marketing efforts and return on investment.
Specifically, here are some of the key perks that come with content syndication.
Reach a wider audience
As mentioned, the content syndication process involves republishing content on other already-established platforms and publications.
That means you get to reach a wider target audience with the content you already have which maximizes brand visibility and awareness.
Content syndication works as long as you publish posts on platforms where your target audience is present or work with partners that share your target market — but are not your competitors.
SEO improvements
Posting content on other reputable platforms with links back to your own website wins the Google algorithm's favor. Search engines use backlinks to verify your website's authority and trustworthiness.
The more backlinks from authoritative sources you have, the more valuable your website will appear in Google's eyes — and the higher your pages will appear in search results.
It also helps deal with duplicate content — a common issue with content syndication.
Google strongly recommends linking syndicated posts back to the original sources. It lets search engines know you don't intend to use duplicate content as a black hat SEO tactic.
Generate leads and conversions
Educational content that successfully appeals to your target market's needs and pain points earns your readers' trust and increases their likelihood of conversion.
As such, content syndication is an excellent top-of-the-funnel strategy.
You can use it to generate interest among larger audience pools, drive them to your website via links, and guide them down the sales funnel through lead magnets and lead nurturing campaigns.
Boost brand authority
Besides link-building, syndicating content on reputable third-party sites helps highlight your expertise and promotes thought leadership.
Potential customers will take you much more seriously if they see your articles featured or discover you in major publications.
As such, content syndication is an excellent way to get a foothold within your industry and establish yourself as a household name.
How to syndicate content
Now that we've seen the what and why, let's get down to the how. I'll walk you through how to syndicate content in five easy steps.
1. Create syndication-worthy content
High-quality content that appeals to your target audience's pain points with genuinely helpful information is necessary.
Since content syndication typically targets audiences who may not be aware of your brand, some specific content formats work particularly well here, namely:
- How-to guides: Blog posts with practical tips around solving particular pain points provide excellent value to readers and are perfect for introducing your brand to new audiences.
- Industry trends and insights: Industry-related trends and statistics accompanied by your own data-backed insights help highlight your expertise, earn the audience's trust, and establish yourself as a thought leader.
- Infographics: The same idea applies here, but in visual formats. Infographics are easy to digest and highly sharable — perfect for brand awareness and having your content naturally syndicated.
Another easy way to syndicate content is to share your blog's already-existing top-performing content rather than creating new posts from scratch.
In any case, prioritize educational content that provides readers with helpful advice.
You don't want to over-promote yourself — that will only leave a bad first impression.
Creating high-quality content is time-consuming. However, you can leverage AI tools to help with it.
With Surfer AI you can create an article draft in less than 20 minutes.
You can then focus on adding that human value to increase your content's quality:
- Incorporate personal stories or experiences to make the content more relatable and engaging for readers.
- Write in a conversational and friendly tone to make the content feel more human and approachable.
- Adding a bit of humor can make the content more enjoyable and less robotic.
- Pose questions to the readers to encourage interaction and make them feel involved.
- Provide real-world examples or case studies to validate the content and make it more credible.
2. Identify syndication partners
A quick way to find syndication partners is through Google's search bar. For example, here's what happens if I type in "originally appeared on" social media:
The SERP is filled with websites that syndicate content from somewhere else.
Make sure to include quotation marks when typing phrases like "originally appeared on," "republished from," "republished with permission," or "syndicated from" — it ensures Google will display pages that include these exact phrases in their content.
Pick suitable syndication partners that align with your industry and target audience.
Otherwise, your syndication efforts will yield little to no results.
Also, target websites bigger and more authoritative than yours— or at least on the same level as you — to ensure you expand to new audiences and amplify your reach.
You'll usually have to pitch your ideas via contact forms or email.
Although this process varies from publishes to publisher, explain how your content would be a good fit for the partner in question, what value you could bring to their audience, and share some of your best-performing posts.
3. Choose the right syndication channels
There are three syndication channel types: free, paid, and owned. Let's break down each and examine its advantages and disadvantages.
Free syndication
Free content syndication involves collaborating with partners that publish your content on their sites at no cost, which is their main advantage.
Some free content syndication platforms include Bussiness2Community, Fast Company, Search Engine Journal, and Lifehacker.
You can also find potential free partnerships through the abovementioned search bar method.
As for the drawbacks, free syndication websites are not always open for partnership. A good portion of them also target a diverse audience pool — driving qualified traffic via free syndication partners might be a challenge.
Free syndication also often involves a lengthy process of pitching ideas, with a lot of back-and-forth between you and the publication's editors.
Paid syndication
Paid syndication involves collaborating with dedicated content syndication services for a fee. These services have well-established syndication networks.
For instance, paid content syndication services like Outbrain and Taboola work with numerous massive publications — Business Insider, Wired, CNN, and Bloomberg are just a few examples. Having your content featured here is excellent for brand image and awareness.
Another advantage is that most of these services work in a similar format as paid advertisement platforms — set a budget, pick your target audience, campaign goals, and that's it. You have more control over your budget and who you want to reach.
However, this can also be a drawback.
Articles displayed through paid content syndication platforms often resemble advertisements.
This is where banner blindness creeps in—a phenomenon in which website visitors subconsciously ignore any design elements that look like banner ads.
Owned syndication
Owned syndication is republished content on channels already under your control. Some examples include LinkedIn, Medium, or other websites you own.
The main advantage is that owned syndication is free — with the bonus of not having to collaborate with external editors and pitch ideas.
For example, Calendar often republishes content from its company blog to its Medium account.
The problem is that people who regularly visit your site's blog might also follow you on LinkedIn, X, Medium, and vice versa.
Reaching new audiences with owned content syndication might pose a challenge — or require additional efforts to grow your follower base on each specific channel you own.
One way to circumvent this issue is to write guest posts for other platforms first, then syndicate content on your own website.
However, make sure to discuss this beforehand with potential partners and see whether they agree.
4. Implement SEO best practices
Like regular posts, your syndicated content must align with SEO best practices to maximize visibility.
That means your content should be well-structured with headings and subheadings, properly optimized for your target keywords, and include images — complete with optimized alt texts, file names, and so on.
But syndicated content also requires an additional tactic — canonical tags. As mentioned, duplicate content is a common issue with syndication, which causes SEO trouble.
These HTML code snippets tell which content version search engines should index and display in search results. Here's a brief example:
Now let's look at a real-life example. This version is treated as the original.
Also, stick with consistent attribution phrases like "Originally published on [your website]" across all syndication platforms. And of course, always link back to your website.
5. Measure the effects of your syndication efforts
Lastly, continuously measure your content syndication efforts to determine whether this strategy boosts your return on investment — or if you work with the right partners.
Website performance measurement tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console should have you covered.
Google Analytics is perfect for tracking referral traffic coming from content syndication partners to your website.
Google Search Console, on the other hand, focuses more on technical aspects. It helps you verify whether your canonical tags work properly, identify indexing issues like broken links, and monitor keyword performance.
7 content syndication best practices
A well-implemented content syndication strategy also involves following a series of best practices. The tips I'll discuss below cover tactics for optimizing this process and maximum results.
1. Foster relationships with syndication partners
Aim for long-term relationships with your syndication partners. This not only spares you the need to constantly look for new partnerships but also helps you build a consistent presence on their network.
You'll get to win their audience's trust and eventually attract more readers to your site.
Always be transparent about your needs. Collaborate with your content syndication partners to find the content types that work best both for their sites and yours.
Also, your content syndication partner may slightly alter your original article to better suit their requirements. It's best to provide collaborators with your brand guidelines.
This helps ensure your content aligns with your brand's personality and voice across all platforms and publications. It also minimizes the back-and-forth between you and the partner's editors.
2. Avoid duplicate content issues
It's clear that duplicate content is an issue in content syndication, but it's easy to avoid.
Again, talk with your partners and offer them clear instructions for implementing canonical links and attribution of your content.
"Canonical links" is the key phrase here. Search engines won't know which content version to index and display on search results without them. As such, they might leave both your original and syndicated article unindexed.
Make sure syndicated posts always link back to your website.
Developing dedicated content syndication guidelines is also a good idea. They should include details on canonical link implementation, the anchor texts to use, your style guide, and so on.
3. Tailor your content for different audiences
Don't treat content syndication as a copy-and-paste process. Instead, alter your existing content based on your partner's reader base. It's a win-win situation.
Syndication partners benefit from content that requires little to no edits on their part. At the same time, you get to establish a better connection with their audience and potentially drive more traffic to your website.
That said, take the time to study your partner's main audience. Use these details to modify your content's language, format, and style based on their preferences.
4. Add relevant links and CTAs
Content syndication aims to boost your online presence and drive more traffic to your website.
Remind users from third-party sites that they're not reading the original post — just like what Boyden does here:
The post lets readers know about the original source as soon as possible. The text is emboldened and in italics to stand out.
The hyperlinked "Click here to view the original article" text is also a nice touch. It's crystal clear and doubles as a call to action for readers to check the original post.
For owned syndication channels, you can also follow the Hot In Social Media example I showed earlier. You can post a fragment of your post and motivate readers to read it in full on your website.
Also, include any other relevant links leading to your website in your syndicated content. This will further bolster your backlink profile and help pass domain authority from third-party sites to yours.
5. Promote syndicated content on social media
Use your social media accounts to promote the articles published on third-party websites.
Encourage followers to share and interact with your posts to boost reach and attract more viewers.
Aside from getting more people to read your content, social media sharing is also an excellent way to build long-lasting relationships with your syndication networks. You'll drive part of your follower base to their websites — it's a win-win situation.
6. Balance syndicated content and original content
Although syndication marketing can do wonders for your online presence, don't go overboard with it.
You want to drive readers from third-party websites to your own platform, where they can read fresh, original work — not see more of the same content they already viewed on your syndication partners' sites.
This also prevents syndicated content from becoming more popular than the actual original post.
Prioritize your own channels — like your website, socials, and Medium account — while content syndication on third-party websites should be more of a secondary tactic.
7. Manage your brand image
Be picky about who you work with when syndicating content. It's not a good look to have your educational piece appear next to a post discussing controversial topics.
Make sure to thoroughly examine each potential content syndication partner. Look at the topics they cover the most, how they interact with their audiences on social networks and the types of posts that attract the most engagement.
Once again, it is a good idea to provide partners with your brand or dedicated syndication guidelines to maintain consistent branding across all networks.
Key takeaways
- Syndicating your content across multiple platforms helps you reach a broader audience and increase your brand visibility.
- Syndicated content can improve your SEO by earning backlinks from authoritative sites, boosting your website's ranking in search results.
- High-quality syndicated content can attract and convert new leads by driving traffic to your website.
- Publishing your content on reputable third-party sites establishes your expertise and promotes thought leadership.
- Focus on high-quality, educational content that addresses your target audience's pain points and interests.
- Collaborate with syndication partners that align with your industry and target audience for maximum impact.
- Use canonical links, optimize for keywords, and ensure proper attribution to avoid duplicate content issues.
- Use tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to track the effectiveness of your syndication efforts.
- Share your syndicated content on social media to boost reach and engagement.
- Ensure a mix of fresh, original content and syndicated posts to keep your audience engaged and coming back for more.
- Be selective about syndication partners to maintain a positive brand image and avoid controversial associations.
Amplify your reach with content syndication
Content syndication is an effective strategy for expanding the reach of your digital content across multiple platforms, driving increased traffic and visibility.
However, success in syndication requires high-quality, SEO-optimized content that stands out. Surfer AI helps you create engaging, well-optimized content.
By integrating Surfer into your content creation process, you can confidently syndicate your material, knowing it will attract a broader audience and contribute to your brand's growth.
