Syndicated Content and SEO

Content syndication has gotten a bit of a weird reputation for SEO in the past few years. Some people swear by it, while others avoid it like the plague. The truth is that it works in many situations, but you have to take the right the approach. It can also become detrimental if not approached right.

So, what exactly is content syndication? Content syndication is the practice of wholesale putting an article on another platform, like Medium. Some platforms have great tools to import articles, others require work.

Now that we’ve answered what syndication is, let’s go over how syndication impacts SEO, how it can harm SEO, and what can be done to make syndication strategies more efficient.

How Syndication Impacts SEO

Syndication allows you to reach an audience you wouldn’t normally have access to. For instance, with Medium, I can reach people who wouldn’t normally be drawn to my blog. This helps to either generate traffic via backlinks, or at least build some degree of awareness. The fact Medium pays doesn’t hurt either.

Since syndication creates a form of duplicated content, it can harm search engine rankings and other SEO efforts. Fortunately, search engine giants thought about this a decade ago via the rel=canonical tag for links. Using this tag on a link tells a search engine that the content is the same (for good reason) and that it’s not just being used for SEO spam.

Pitfalls of Syndication

Syndication does have some pitfalls, but most aren’t really apparent unless a blog is really small or a blog gets really big. Posting your content elsewhere is going to give a reader who might visit your site a place to read it otherwise. If you are trying to build traffic, this can either slow growth or reduce viewers.

Not using the correct tags (like rel=canonical) will harm your SEO efforts overall. You also lose control over you’re syndicated content on some platforms which means if they get in with something nasty, you may feel the effects. If a site does everything by the books, this isn’t usually an issue.

Robbing Peter to Pay Paul

Certain forms of syndication will end up robbing views. This becomes more problematic when your internal links stay on the syndicated platform. What happens when a reader wants to read more or follow something? They’re going to hit another internal link to the same syndication platform.

Many platforms encourage this as it aids their SEO, but it becomes a dangerous game when it’s followed too much. Try to work in backlinks to your own content while keeping some to the syndicated platform. I try to follow this principle in articles like my article on Writing Evergreen Content. Obviously, keep the links relevant or you’re just hurting yourself.

Using Syndication

The choice to syndicate can be a bit of a double-edged sword, but tends to work out for the better. You don’t need to create new content. If you use the right platform, you get your rel=canonical link, and you get a chance to draw traffic and an audience you never would elsewhere.

It usually doesn’t cost anything. If things don’t work out or end up hurting you, you can always pull the content. As long as you aren’t substantially ahead of your syndication platform of choice, you’re probably going to come out well in advance.

Even if they’re smaller, it can be worth it for a niche audience you wouldn’t otherwise draw. I know multiple people who market to small niche writing audiences because the conversion rate is insane. Having the right content and connecting it to the right audience works out for everyone.

Where to Syndicate

If you use any content syndication site already, just start there. Focus on the lowest hanging fruit to get some traction and move on from there. If you use a specific platform, it can be a great way to jump start since you’ll know the platform’s culture and expectations.

I’ve mentioned Medium several times, and it is one of the easiest sites to syndicate with. Users pay to read and they do provide royalties. You’re probably not going to quit your day job from the payout, but it is decent for the amount of effort required.

Quora is primarily a question and answer platform, but it has added a blogging platform in recent years. It feels a bit like Reddit, but less hostile to blogs. You do have to do some work to start posting. Don’t just try to sell something, contribute.

Reddit and Hacker News are basically the same site with a different focus and different community. You build a profile and build a point based reputation from comments and content. Reddit (and Hacker News) requires far too much work for the reward in my opinion unless you can blog full time or you like the platform.

There are countless other sites which have syndication options, but this is just a small list I have personally dealt with. LinkedIn is powerful, but I intentionally avoid it since I do not want my blog (easily) tied back to my identity.

Picking Where To Syndicate

If you’re doing this on your own (unless you’re targeting a niche audience) skip any platform which you aren’t familiar with and aren’t interested in to start out with. There’s no point adding to the difficulty for something which will slow you down which you won’t enjoy off the bat. Not using Reddit definitely hurts me with the type of content I post, but I’d rather not blog than deal with managing a Reddit account again.

If you’re working for a company or going all in, find your audience. Hacker News is great for technology news, but you probably want to put your knitting blog somewhere else. It’s okay to have some crossover which isn’t relevant, but don’t waste time on the wrong audience.

Target demographics on each site and avoid sites which don’t fit. Don’t waste time on a right-slanting site posting articles about the benefit of socialized medicine. The internet loves its echo chamber, and you’re not going to change that.

Look at location, age, race, gender, education, political affiliation, etc. The more information you can get, the more accurate the picture you can paint about the value of a platform. What is your current audience and what is the audience on a given platform? I try to avoid this in practice on my personal blog, but I have no qualms if it’s handed to me.

As you get familiar with a platform, begin moving onto other less preferential platforms from your list. Apply a data-driven approach to picking your order. Focus on reputation, ease of use, audience size, audience demographics, and niche appeal. A completely passive channel with a smaller audience is worth more than a massive platform with a huge barrier to entry if you are on your own.

Putting It All In Practice

Content syndication gets a bad reputation but it’s undeserved with some basic guidelines. Make sure you avoid mistakes which will cost you SEO ranking by using platforms which respect rel=canonical links. Avoid platforms which are too low in ranking unless it gets you a niche audience worth targeting.

Target platforms in order of efficiency. How you determine that efficiency depends on whether you’re on your own or part of a marketing team. Either way, let the data guide you when targeting a platform, unless you really know a platform and can make it work.

When done right, syndicated content gets you a free market for already created content with no risk. It doesn’t cost you anything (for most platforms), and boosts your SEO and traffic.

Featured image by kconcha from Pixabay