Content Syndication refers to making your online content available on various websites. It is often used as one of the tactics or approaches of Content Marketing for businesses that are making money online. Essentially, syndication is based on the concept of publishing content on different sources with the writer’s permission. But in most cases of content and blog syndication, the ease of sharing online content has resulted in unsolicited web syndication. However, you would still find many writers involved in the activity of blog syndication.

 

Mostly, bloggers follow a predetermined agreement for providing their blogs to be made available on various websites simultaneously. In this respect, there are various methods of blog syndication. In some cases, bloggers seek to make money online through their blog syndication agreement. This is usually in the form of advertisement-supported syndication of their blog posts. In other words, bloggers receive a monetary reward because of the generated ad revenue.

 

However, free blog syndication is also a common practice whereby the various websites allow bloggers to post their content without any republishing charges whatsoever. On the contrary, licensed form of syndication for blogs allows bloggers to make money online by earning a royalty for their blog content.

 

The Best and the Worst Reasons for Blog Syndication

 

As with many social media marketing practices, blog syndication is an effective tool but has the potential to result in certain disadvantages as well. The main aim should be based on finding a balance between the pros and cons and assess the potential positive impact of blog syndication on your overall blogging strategy.

 

The Plus Side of Blog Syndication

 

1.) Increased Traffic Generation on Your Blog

 

Blog syndication is a means of promoting your blog posts on a variety of relevant websites. By doing so, you basically make your content available to a wider audience as compared to a restricted content source. To put it another way, the more websites there are that contain your blog posts, the more chances you have to acquire new readers. In this regard, the new readers refer to the segment of your target audience which would not have otherwise landed directly on your blog site. So, blog syndication is a means for getting new traffic to your site as they would read your blog post on a different source and would get attracted to checking out your own blog site.

 

2.) Wider Network of Your Online Presence

 

 

When you syndicate your blog posts, you have to create backlinks on the shared content so as to direct interested readers to your web page. So, here is the math. You create backlinks on a single blog post that is published on multiple websites. This means that a single blog post gets to have better “Googleability” because of the multiple backlinks it has. Then, you are also going to continue the practice of blog syndication for many posts. Eventually, your original blog site gets to drastically improve is Search Engine Results Page (SERP) visibility.

 

3.) The Much Desired Lead Generation

 

One of the most important blogging goals is online lead generation. This is why a variety of blogging techniques and best practices are reviewed by bloggers to find ideas that best suit their business objectives, target audience, industry, etc. This is done to increase the potential leads and readership. When it comes to blog syndication, it expands the reach of every blog post that you create and share on diverse online platforms. With this expanded reach, you basically spread the scope of your access to potential leads and customers.

 

The Flip Side of Blog Syndication

 

1.) Spread-Out Reviews & Follow Ups

 

 

With an increase in the number of sources that contain your blog posts, you will find comments and feedback from readers to be spread out across the multiple websites. When it comes to blogging as a social media marketing tool, your responsiveness to your readers plays an important role in image-building, instilling loyalty, future lead generation, and so on. This means that you must address all positive and negative comments promptly.

 

But the fact that they are written across many platforms, it can be challenging to manage interaction with all your readers in a timely fashion. This clearly means that bloggers who are already short of time, finding it difficult to manage their own blogging schedule, must think twice before they venture into blog syndication.

 

2.) Unsolicited Content Alteration

 

Blog syndication includes the risk of bringing changes to your original content. This means that your blog syndication network may alter your content for its own benefit. Secondly, this misconduct is often found to take place without any prior authorization or notification. One of the most common alterations that seem to take place on syndicated blog posts is that the network tends to divide a single blog post into several parts and post them as individual content.

 

Naturally, they do so without considering the impact this malpractice would have on the overall content quality and objective. This is done only so that additional advertisements can be placed on each syndicated blog post. As a result, interested bloggers must notify a clause in their agreement beforehand; although there are cases where some websites tend to overlook many clauses and continue to alter original blog posts for their own benefit.

 

Are you worried about the duplicate content and SEO backlash if you syndicate your blog? Head over to the article “Does Article Syndication Create Duplicate Content?“, written by Brent Carnduff.

 

Popular Networks to Join for Your Blog Syndication Goals

 

The following list of names and links include some popular blog syndication networks:

 

1.) SocialMediaToday.com

 

Social Media Today blog syndication network is a popular one and requires a simple registration process for bloggers to follow. After signing up on this network, bloggers are required to fill out a profile form. Following this, they are scrutinized by this network that requires them to go over links to 3 blog posts and few other simple requirements.

 

2.) Pingler.com

 

Pingler.com also has easy-to-understand procedure whereby bloggers are required to fill out a form containing primary details necessary for blog syndication. This network offers a variety of packages to choose from, the basic one starting from $2.99 per month and allowing up to 25 posts.

 

3.) Business2Community.com

 

Business2Community is my favorite choice of blog syndication platform. It is free and sign up is simple. Another plus is your content syndicated in Business2Community is shared across many Yahoo networks.