Content Syndication Explained: What It Is & How to Do It

Even the most meticulously crafted, high-quality content can go unnoticed in the vast sea of information that the internet is today. For content creators and businesses, this presents a critical challenge: how to ensure that their content doesn’t just sit there collecting digital dust? 

This is where blog syndication comes into play.

Blog syndication, a subset of content syndication, is an incredibly effective strategy for amplifying the reach of your content. 

By redistributing blog posts and articles across multiple platforms and websites, content creators can access new audiences, enhance their online presence, and ultimately drive more traffic back to their original content. 

Having said that, content syndication is more than just recycling content; it’s a strategic approach to maximize the value of what you create.

On the business front, blog syndication is a powerful tool for bolstering your marketing efforts. It allows businesses to tap into new markets, build brand authority, and establish thought leadership. Moreover, it can significantly enhance SEO efforts by creating more backlinks to your original content.

In this article, we take a look at what blog syndication is, illuminating its inherent features, benefits, and potential impact on content creators and businesses alike. Whether you are an individual blogger, a content marketer, or a business owner, understanding content syndication can be a game-changer for your digital endeavors.

So, let’s begin!

What is Content Syndication?

Simply put, content syndication is a way to help content reach wider audiences.

If you’re running a blog or company, you know how important your content marketing strategy is to your business. In order for it to succeed, your content needs to be read and to do that, it needs to feature on the first few pages of Google or it will be lost in internet clutter. When working in a competitive niche, this can hold your content back.

Syndication can help with that.

Content syndication can take place in two main directions:

1. You can syndicate your content to high-authority websites.
2. You can syndicate other people’s content to your website.

To demonstrate this better, think of your favorite movie or TV series. It is highly probable that you’ve been able to watch it on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and certain TV channels. This technique makes the movie/series get more views, while also increasing the number of users for media service providers.

With content syndication, your WordPress content can reach more people and generate more traffic in the same way. Likewise, your blog can benefit from top-quality articles from other sources. So, let’s uncover blog syndication next.

What is blog syndication?

Blog syndication is the process of distributing blog content to multiple outlets or platforms with the aim to increase exposure and reach a broader audience. 

This doesn’t necessarily mean reposting the entire content verbatim; rather, it often involves publishing a summary or an excerpt of the content, with a link that drives the readers back to the original source.

Benefits of blog syndication

• Expanded reach: One of the primary advantages of blog syndication is that it allows content creators to expand the reach of their content beyond their own website. By having your content featured on various platforms, you’re putting it in front of audiences that you wouldn’t have been able to reach through your website alone.
• Brand awareness: With increased exposure comes increased brand awareness. As more people come across your content through syndication, they become more familiar with your brand, which can be particularly beneficial for new or lesser-known brands seeking to build a presence in the market.
• Lead generation: Blog syndication can also be an effective tool for lead generation. By attracting more traffic to your site through syndicated content, you increase the chances of converting these visitors into leads.
• Backlink creation: Syndicated content typically includes a link back to the original source. These backlinks can be valuable for SEO, as they indicate to search engines that your content is valuable and relevant, which can positively impact your site’s search ranking.

How does content syndication relate to SEO?

Content syndication and SEO are interlinked, and when used judiciously, content syndication can significantly bolster your SEO efforts. However, there are both benefits and potential drawbacks to content syndication from an SEO perspective. 

It’s crucial to approach content syndication ethically and with the primary objective of providing value to the reader, but when done well, content syndication can be instrumental in earning high-quality backlinks and enhancing the domain authority of your website.

Here are some advantages and disadvantages of content syndication for SEO:

Pros of content syndication for SEO

• Quality backlinks: When your content is syndicated on reputable websites, and they link back to your original article, it generates quality backlinks. Search engines consider these backlinks as endorsements, which can boost your site’s domain authority and improve search rankings.
• Increased brand exposure: Syndicating content can enhance your brand’s online presence. When more people see your content, it leads to increased brand recognition, which can positively influence your organic search visibility.
• Referral traffic: A direct benefit of content syndication is the referral traffic that comes from third-party sites. When readers find your content engaging, they are likely to visit your site for more information, which can improve your organic traffic metrics.
• Lead generation: With a wider audience, content syndication can be an effective tool for generating leads. By including calls-to-action within your syndicated content, you can encourage readers to engage further with your brand.
• Cost-effective promotion: Content syndication is a cost-effective way to promote your content. Instead of creating new content for different platforms, you leverage your existing content to gain more search engine visibility and engagement.

Cons of content syndication for SEO

• Duplicate content issues: Search engines generally prefer original content. When the same content appears in multiple locations, it can be seen as duplicate content, which might affect the search rankings of the original piece.
• Competition with original content: Sometimes, the syndicated content might rank higher than your original piece, especially if it’s on a more authoritative site. This can lead to your own content losing visibility in search engine results.

Having said that, there are ways in which you can overcome these drawbacks and ensure only positive SEO results with syndicated content

Best practices for content syndication to improve SEO

• Use canonical tags: Ask the site where your content is being syndicated to use a canonical tag pointing back to your original article. This tells search engines that your piece is the original version and should be given priority in search rankings.
• Syndicate strategically: Choose the websites for syndication carefully. Prioritize sites that have a high domain authority and are relevant to your niche. This ensures that the backlinks generated are of high quality.
• Time your syndication: Allow your original content to be indexed by search engines before you syndicate it. This gives search engines time to recognize your post as the original version.
• Modify headlines or add excerpts: Instead of syndicating the entire content, consider modifying headlines or using excerpts with a link back to the full article on your site. This minimizes the duplicate content issue and can drive more traffic back to your site.
• Monitor and analyze: Keep an eye on the traffic and backlinks generated through content syndication. Use analytics to understand what’s working and refine your syndication strategy accordingly.

Content syndication can be a powerful ally for SEO when executed with care and consideration. By focusing on providing value to the readers and employing the best practices outlined above, you can harness the full potential of content syndication to bolster your SEO efforts.

How to syndicate your blog?

Now that we have grasped what blog syndication is and the myriad benefits it can offer, it’s time to delve into how you can actually put this strategy into action. 

Blog syndication can be achieved through various methods, including legally republishing full articles or excerpts on social media platforms, utilizing RSS feeds, or collaborating with other websites and publishers. 

Each of these methods comes with its own set of considerations, and by carefully selecting the right outlets and adhering to syndication best practices, you can efficiently expand your reach, amplify brand awareness, and drive more traffic to your blog.

In this section, we will break down the steps involved in syndicating your blog, highlighting the strategies and tools that can help you make the most of your content marketing efforts through syndication. 

1. Create quality content

Creating quality content is the bedrock upon which successful blog syndication is built. 

Syndication is a means to amplify the reach of your content, and if the content itself is lackluster, it will not resonate with the audience, regardless of how far its reach extends.

However, when your content is engaging, insightful, and aligns with the interests of your audience, syndication can serve as a catalyst that propels your content to new heights. 

Here are some tips for creating high-quality content:

• Know your audience: Have a crystal-clear understanding of your target audience. Ask yourself – Who are they? What are their pain points? What kind of content are they looking for? What language and tone do they prefer? Understanding what “great content” means to your audience will guide the creation process.
• Maintain consistency and relevance: Consistency does not only mean regular posting; it’s also about maintaining the quality, tone, and relevance of your content. Be sure to cover topics your audience is actively searching for, and don’t hesitate to explore unique angles or insights that make your content stand out.
• Align your content with similar sites: Identify third-party sites that cater to a similar audience. It’s a good strategy to find sites that have a slight variation in audience as well; this way, you can expand your reach beyond the people who already know you. Aligning with websites that share your target audience ensures that your syndicated content is placed in front of eyes that are likely to find it interesting and engaging.

At the end of the day, it’s essential to remain focused on quality, as this will ultimately determine how your audience perceives your brand and interacts with your content.

2. Choose your channels

The next pivotal step in your syndication strategy is selecting the right channels to distribute your content. The channels you choose should align with your target audience and content themes. 

While your primary channel will be your blog, leveraging other platforms can vastly extend your content’s reach and engagement. 

For example, with its professionally inclined audience, LinkedIn can be an excellent channel for syndicating articles that focus on industry insights, career advice, and business strategies. 

Medium, with its in-built audience, can provide your content with exposure to readers who are genuinely interested in insightful and informative articles. Moreover, you can use the “Import Story” feature on Medium, which automatically adds a canonical tag, giving SEO credit to your original post.

Other social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram can also be instrumental in your syndication strategy. Sharing excerpts, quotes, or summaries along with a link back to the full article on your blog can attract a variety of audiences. 

It’s beneficial to leverage social media for sharing your content even before you start syndicating on other blogs, as this tactic can be a signal to search engines like Google about the origin of the content.

For all these platforms, though, it’s important to understand the nuances of each channel and customize your approach accordingly.

3. Join the right syndication network

A syndication network consists of a group of websites or platforms that collaboratively distribute and promote content.

In the sphere of blog syndication, such networks involve an agreement among websites to publish and share each other’s content. This collaborative approach aims to exponentially increase exposure by leveraging the combined audiences of all the participating websites. 

It’s similar to having several marketing channels, but here, the members of the network actively help each other.

You can find syndication networks in various online communities and social platforms such as Facebook, Reddit, or LinkedIn. These networks often have groups or forums where members can discuss syndication opportunities and share each other’s content.

However, joining a syndication network should not be a rushed decision. First, you need to,

1. Evaluate the quality and relevance of the content within the network. 
2. Ensure that the network’s content aligns with your brand and messaging.
3. Pay attention to the reputation and audience of the websites in the network. 

Engaging with a network that does not align with your brand values or content themes can be counterproductive.

4. Make use of automation

As your website grows and the volume of content increases, manual syndication can become cumbersome and time-consuming. This is where automation steps in as a savior. 

Automating content syndication not only saves time but also ensures consistency in content distribution, which is crucial for maintaining engagement and growing your audience. 

It also takes care of repetitive tasks, freeing up your time to focus on content creation and other important aspects of your business. Moreover, automated content syndication tools often come with built-in analytics, allowing you to track the performance of your syndicated content and make data-driven decisions.

If you have built your blog using WordPress, a robust content syndication plugin can be your best solution for implementing automation.

One of the top tools for automating content syndication, especially for WordPress users, is the WP RSS Aggregator plugin. This powerful plugin allows you to import, merge, and display RSS feeds on your WordPress site. 

Not only can you syndicate your content to other sites, but you can also curate content from various sources to be displayed on your own site. This is particularly useful for keeping your site fresh with new content even when you’re not publishing your own.

WP RSS Aggregator comes with a host of features that make it an invaluable tool for content syndication:

• Ease of use: The plugin is designed for ease of use, making it simple to set up RSS feeds and manage syndication settings.
• Supports customization: WP RSS Aggregator offers various customization options, allowing you to determine how the syndicated content is displayed on your site.
• Helps scalability: As your site grows, the plugin can scale with your needs. Whether you are syndicating a few articles or hundreds, WP RSS Aggregator is built to handle it.

With tools like WP RSS Aggregator, you can streamline your content syndication process, ensuring that your content reaches the widest audience possible without placing a strain on your resources.

5. Monitor performance

Having set up content syndication and automated the process, it’s essential not to rest on your laurels. The final, critical step in your content syndication journey is to monitor the performance of your syndicated content. 

Understanding the impact of your syndication efforts helps to evaluate whether your goals are being met and provides insights into optimizing your strategy for better results. Here’s how you can monitor and evaluate your blog’s performance post-syndication.

Depending on your goals, here are some key metrics you should be monitoring:

• Referral traffic: How much traffic is being directed to your site from the platforms where your content is syndicated? This can be tracked using tools like Google Analytics.
• Lead generation: Are you acquiring new leads or subscribers through your syndicated content? Monitor the number of sign-ups or inquiries that are generated through syndication.
• Engagement: How are readers engaging with your syndicated content? Look at metrics like shares, likes, comments, and the time spent on your content.
• Brand visibility: Has there been an increase in brand mentions or search queries for your brand since you started syndicating content?

Once you’ve gathered data on these metrics, the next step is to analyze this data to understand the performance of your syndicated content. 

Here are a few steps for analysis and optimization:

• Compare performance: How does the performance of your syndicated content compare with your original goals? Are there any gaps that need to be addressed?
• Identify successful channels: Which syndication channels are driving the most traffic or engagement? Consider focusing more on these channels.
• Content optimization: Are certain types of content performing better than others? Use these insights to tailor your content to the preferences of your audience.
• Adjust frequency: Experiment with different syndication frequencies to find the sweet spot that maximizes engagement without saturating the audience.

By setting clear goals, tracking the right metrics, and continuously analyzing and optimizing your strategy based on data, you can maximize the benefits of content syndication for your blog. The key to success in content syndication, as with any marketing strategy, is adaptability and a commitment to continuous improvement.

How to Create a WordPress Content Syndication Blog

If you’re running a WordPress site and wish to syndicate content from other websites, you’ll need an RSS aggregator plugin.

These plugins work by having you enter an RSS feed URL. Next, the plugin will import content to your website, either as posts or as lists.

Let’s take a look at a couple of options:

WP RSS Aggregator

WP RSS Aggregator makes it easy to manage multiple feeds and display them in different ways on your site.

The free version will allow you to display lists of content from various websites, whereas the premium version will let you publish content to your website in the form of WordPress posts. WP RSS Aggregator will take care of everything for you, from canonical links to attribution.

It also allows you to add your own commentary or thoughts on the articles you’re publishing to help you avoid any issues with duplicate content.

Feedzy

Similarly, Feedzy allows you to publish articles from feed sources on your WordPress website. You can display content in the form of lists or as content on your WordPress site.

Just like WP RSS Aggregator, you can also “spin” content with third-party content spinners. These programs automatically rewrite your blog content, making each variation look distinct.

Our Top Pick: WP RSS Aggregator

If you’re looking for a holistic plugin to syndicate content to your WordPress site, we recommend WP RSS Aggregator. It’s easy to use, doesn’t require any coding knowledge, and comes with a comprehensive set of features.

What’s more, it’s highly rated and has great customer support!

Start content syndication with WP RSS Aggregator

Content syndication is an essential strategy for expanding the reach of your blog by distributing it across various platforms. By creating high-quality content, choosing the right channels, joining syndication networks, automating the process, and diligently monitoring performance, you can substantially boost your blog’s visibility, traffic, and engagement.

For WordPress users, WP RSS Aggregator emerges as an instrumental tool in the syndication toolkit. It streamlines the syndication process, making it easy even for those not technically inclined. 

Its feature-rich environment allows for customization and scalability, ensuring that as your site grows, WP RSS Aggregator grows with it. Furthermore, for an investment starting at $79 for an annual single site license, it is an affordable option that can yield significant dividends in terms of content reach and audience engagement.

With WP RSS Aggregator, you can evaluate your content, identify synergistic networks and channels, and let automation relieve you of the manual workload. You can also keep a keen eye on performance metrics and be ready to evolve your strategy in response to the insights.

It’s time to take the plunge. Set forth on your content syndication journey with WP RSS Aggregator as your ally!