To Syndicate or Not to Syndicate
Posted by Heidi Wurpel
Syndicated content is often an affordable way to increase the breadth of your digital presence and add value to your website for visitors. Syndication is essentially renting a direct link into a trusted website, full of vetted content. Syndication has occurred in television for years - with cable stations renting programs that previously ran on the major broadcast networks to pull in additional viewers.
The difference between television syndication and website syndication (except for companies that are a hybrid of the two such as Hulu and Netflix) is that, while television syndication increases the viewers coming to a cable station, website syndication does not. Syndicating online content rather than writing your own (and locating it on your website) does not increase traffic or your organic search engine optimization (SEO) results as much as original content would. Instead, the purpose of online syndicated content is to add value to your already loyal visitors by providing them with a curated and typically easily searched database or library through the framework of your site.
When to Syndicate:
Writing original content and renting trustworthy content are both good solutions to separate problems.
Original Content - If you are looking to increase traffic to your site, optimize your search engine placement, give a new voice to an old or complex subject, or share information that is not readily available elsewhere on the web, then writing your own content may be a better choice for you (assuming you have the time and writing skills to do so or the money to hire a consultant who will be able to write the content for you).
Syndicating Content - If you are looking to add trustworthy information to your site, tie your brand to a reputable source, give your visitors an easy way to find information, or mitigate your risk when sharing advice, syndication is your solution (granted you have the money to keep an ongoing syndicated relationship alive).
Crescendo Consulting Group works with clients to expand their marketing presence in traditional and non-traditional ways.