Your blog can turn into a very powerful sales and marketing tool if you constantly publish high quality content and build a loyal subscriber base. When you do this, your content receives the social shares and links that directly contribute to your organic search success.
This is something that many people forget — if you actually create a blog that your target audience loves, you receive a major boost in the SERPs for that effort. This is how the biggest blogs online exponentially grow. While they have full-time SEO campaigns, the added social shares and link acquisitions they receive as a result of simply publishing great content is what contributes to their SERP domination.
One of the hardest parts in the beginning is attracting an audience. You can publish content every single day on your blog, but if nobody is going to read it, then what is the point? You have to hit a certain level of authority before your content begins to show up in the organic results, so to get to that point you should really consider leveraging the power and reach of syndicating your blog content.
This strategy puts your content (and blog) in front of people that are likely to be interested in your content. If they enjoy what they see, there is a high probability of them returning to engage with your content in the future, subscribing to your list, and then maybe even converting into a sale.
Just like almost all other online marketing strategies, you have to be willing to put in the work. Don’t expect thousands of visitors to flood your blog overnight. Instead, have realistic goals, and if each syndication win introduces just a few new readers, you will soon see your traffic pick up — as long as you are consistent. Most people will follow these tips for a week and then give up because the results are not overnight.
If you are willing to put in the work and take the time to syndicate your content across these resources, I can promise you that the impact will be positive — in terms of increased traffic, earned links, email subscribers, and blog authority.
Here are ten resources for blog content syndication that I suggest you look into and integrate into your content marketing strategy sooner than later.
1. Mix
If you have been around the block a bit, then you might remember a site called StumbleUpon, which allowed users to submit content that he or she felt was interesting, allowing other users to come across it and “discover” it.
The great thing was the site didn’t host your content. Instead, it just directed the user to your blog. Anytime you can get the user on your own website, it’s a great opportunity and increases the chances of converting them, either into an email subscriber or even a sale.
Well, StumbleUpon is still around, but it’s now Mix. Then name is different, but the concept is still the same. You can sign up for an account and start to engage and share with the community. I would take it easy in the beginning and share some content from major sites within your niche. Slowly build up some credibility and then start to sprinkle in your own content, focused on building an active and authentic looking user profile.
2. Reddit
This can be one of the most lucrative sources of referral traffic, but you have to be very careful and calculated with this strategy, because Reddit users are some of the most intelligent and old school internet users you will ever come in contact with. They are immune to bullshit and take great pleasure in calling it out and roasting businesses that try to game their community.
You don’t want to sign up and start sharing posts. You will look like a spammer and be called out accordingly. You can either register a new account and slowly engage with sub-reddits within your niche, joining conversations and building up some rep before dropping your own post.
Or you can buy an aged Reddit account. There are plenty for sale, but it’s important that you audit it before, making sure it has been active in your niche. If not, you will be called out. This can save you a lot of time and allow you to drop content much sooner. Make sure your posts here offer value and the content you share is not overly promotional. Infographics are great to use here, and you can attract thousands of daily visitors from Reddit alone.
3. Scoop.it
This is probably the largest hub of curated content found online, and it’s very easy to share your blog posts to the community, which is then automatically distributed throughout your network. They offer personal and business plans, as well as a free and multiple paid versions.
I would sign up for the free account and share your posts, but not invest too much time nor money on this resource. It’s very crowded, but since you can leverage it with little time and no money, it’s worth it, even if you only attract a few visitors daily. Over time you are able to introduce a lot of new people to your blog.
Don’t expect Reddit-like traffic numbers from here, but in my eyes, any additional blog traffic should be welcomed if you are serious and not afraid to put in the work.
4. Hacker News
Hacker News has the same look and feel as it did when it launched 12 years ago, but its readership is still massive. If your blog is closely related to anything in technology, business, entrepreneurship, computers, apps, etc. — then it’s worth checking out.
It’s run by Y Combinator, which is one of the most highly respected startup incubators and investment fund. I would suggest you take a look at the guidelines to see what they like to see.
It’s a similar style to Reddit, as users can vote on posts and anyone interested in reading what has been submitted is directed to that URL. Again, it’s a great way to get traffic on your website.
They have zero tolerance for spam, so make sure you really read the guidelines. Don’t waste your time if your content doesn’t match what they are looking for, because it will not last long. If you have tech and business content, this resource can be a goldmine for some of the highest quality referral traffic.
5. Bloglovin’
While Hacker News mentioned above is more tech and business focused, Bloglovin’ is a resource that can apply to almost everyone, as they welcome a lot of creative topics, like beauty, fashion, food, design, culture, etc.
You can read this resource to learn how to add your blog to Bloglovin’ and take advantage of this free syndication option. The purpose of Bloglovin’ is to allow its users to read all of their favorite blogs in one place. While there is plenty of original content here, you can try to get a piece of the action by adding your blog’s RSS feed.
Every WordPress blog has an RSS feed already created, as they come standard. You can read more about what they are and how to access yours here. This is something you will want to understand, as many syndication platforms will ask you for this to allow them to easily pull your content automatically each time you publish a new blog post.
6. Slashdot
Slashdot is another old school discussion platform that can be a great source of traffic for relevant and interesting content. All submissions contain an external link, which pushes the users onto your website, which is great, and the discussion threads have the same Reddit style, where community members discuss the topic.
You can submit a story once you register an account, but I would focus on building up some credibility and age in the community before you start dropping your own links. Become involved in the discussions and share some links, but make sure you share some from major websites first. Nobody is going to accuse you of spamming if you are sharing URLs from CNBC and Huffington Post, as they know you aren’t trying to promote your own content.
Then, after building up some age, mix in your own link between some authority suggestions. Be subtle and make sure what you are sharing is on topic and high in terms of value.
7. Outbrain
This is not a free option, but it’s also one of the most effective, especially if you want to have access to unlimited traffic from some of the world’s most popular websites. With Outbrain, you can syndicate your blog on websites like CNN, People, Barstool Sports, ESPN, TIME, FORTUNE, WIRED, ABC News, and thousands more.
You can choose to syndicate your entire blog, and Outbrain’s AI will help match it with the best placements, or you can select what pieces of content you want to syndicate and pick their placements.
You can register an account and have a campaign running the same day. You are only charged on a CPC basis, and you set your bid based on what you are willing to pay for each visit to your blog. Since you are paying for each visit, I would make sure you have a strong call-to-action within each blog post. You will want to collect emails from as many people as possible to fully maximize this expense.
8. Taboola
This is another paid option, and the concept is very similar to Outbrain. They both came to the market at the same time, and while similar in terms of CPC bidding and being free to set up an account, Taboola is a bit more diverse in terms of niches.
Business blogs can find value on both, and with Taboola, you have access to top publishers like Business Insider, AOL, USA Today, Bloomberg, NBC, msn and The Weather Channel. What Taboola offers in terms of exposure for e-commerce brands, with sites like TMZ and Daily Mail, is what would make this my main paid syndication channel.
A consumer good would do very well if they created an advertorial-type piece of content and then syndicated it across TMZ. A website like that is the perfect audience, and if your blog post has a click-bait title with an interesting “story” for content with multiple CTAs worked in, you can use this strategy to drive a ridiculous amount of sales.
9. Oath Ad Platform (Yahoo Gemini)
Have you ever heard of Oath? Probably not, because many don’t even know it exists. It’s a Verizon company that is now part of Yahoo’s Gemini network, which is also relatively unknown to many business owners and marketers.
If you want to sign up for Oath, you will need to register an account here with Gemini. Google gets most of the attention, but Gemini can help you syndicate your blog on some massive websites, like Huffington Post, Tech Crunch and of course Yahoo. The network serves up more than 2 billion ad impressions daily, so the opportunity is huge.
Since many don’t use this option, the cost is much lower compared to other more popular options, which is why I consider this to be one of the best values out there in terms of the kind of sites you can be seen on.
10. Facebook
When people think of Facebook advertising they usually only focus on traditional ads and not leveraging the reach power of Facebook to promote their blog. Facebook is one of the easiest ways to put your blog content in front of a highly targeted audience. In fact, it’s how I originally grew SerpLogic when it first started as a blog.
You don’t have to have a huge budget to benefit either. A $10 boost on each blog post can help attract readers, and if the content is high quality you are going to benefit from engagement and shares.
As your blog grows in popularity, increase your budget to boost each post. When you scale to the level that you are able to spend $100 boosting each post, you will see explosive traffic growth. Start small and learn what your audience loves. Once you identify that focus on creating that type of content. Give them what they crave and watch how you are rewarded.
Conclusion
Content syndication is an additional way to help market your blog, and a strategy that you can do with fairly little effort, or even cost, as many of the resources I mentioned above can be leveraged without spending any money.
The quality of your content will ultimately determine whether or not you find success via syndication. You can’t publish thin crappy content and expect to see results. The audience you introduce your content to needs to feel that you provide value and offer something that can’t be found elsewhere.
Remember, there are new blogs launched every day in every niche. The competition is very high, so think of different and unique angles, from content format to topics. You need to make an impression if you want to capture engagement and grow a popular blog.
Do you currently syndicate your blog via any of the resources mentioned above? Did I miss any that you feel are solid additions to this list? Let me know in the comments below.
