What Is Web Syndication?

What Is Web Syndication?

Let me explain web syndication directly: it's a marketing strategy where one website grants rights or a license to another to broadcast or distribute its content. You see this most often in content licensing deals between internet companies, where one provides material for the other to publish and promote on their site.

Key Takeaways

Web syndication means licensing rights to share content from one site to another as a marketing approach. It typically happens between smaller content creators and larger sites with established audiences. The content provider gains more exposure and traffic, while the distributor draws in users with additional content. SEO benefits come from links and codes in the syndicated files, driving traffic back to the original site. Sometimes, content sites pay for syndication to appear in high-traffic spots like Facebook, Instagram, or top Google and Yahoo searches.

Understanding Web Syndication

Web syndication is usually a free setup that benefits both sides equally. It boosts the content provider's exposure and can bring in much more traffic at little to no cost. For the syndicator, it makes their site more appealing by offering deeper information.

This setup is common between niche sites with low traffic that produce specialized content and bigger sites with large audiences but limited ability to create in-depth material.

Fast Fact

Web syndication is essentially the online equivalent of content sharing practices from the early days of print, radio, and television. In old television, a show aired on one network first, then got licensed or syndicated to others for a fee after its run. The core of all syndication is reaching a bigger audience for the content.

Web Syndication and Link Building

You should know that web syndication is a vital tool for link building. Links in syndicated content direct traffic back to the original site, aiding SEO. This extra traffic can improve the site's search rankings overall.

The content provider gets more page views and exposure, while the host gains fresh material to attract consumers and boost their own traffic. It's also called content syndication.

Web Syndication and Paid Traffic

Sometimes, a site pays for syndication to place content in specific high-traffic areas. Fees rise with the distributor's size, like on Yahoo, Google, Facebook, or X (formerly Twitter).

Content syndication networks help bloggers spread their work, appearing as 'related posts' or 'similar articles' via providers like Outbrain, Nativo, Zemanta, and Taboola.

Paid content is usually marked as 'ad' or 'sponsored' on platforms. This costs far less than traditional radio or TV ads—a few dollars on Facebook or Instagram—but differs from pure syndication based on licensing.

What Do Sites Gain From Web Syndication?

The distributor pulls in more users with extra content, and the content site boosts its traffic and exposure.

Do Sites Have to Pay For Syndication?

Syndication is often free, but high-traffic sites may charge. Fees scale with site size since you're paying for traffic. It ensures prime placement and costs less than standard advertising.

Are There Any Limits to the Types of Content That Can Be Syndicated?

Limits depend on the distributor. They usually accept product videos, images, and descriptions, and they'll inform you upfront about what's allowed, possibly adjusting your content to fit their standards.

The Bottom Line

Web syndication is a content licensing deal between internet companies, where one supplies material for the other to publish and promote, sometimes for a fee. It benefits both parties and is cheaper than traditional advertising in radio, TV, or print.