What is Web Syndication

Web syndication is marketing strategy for websites that equates to a right or license to broadcast or distribute content from one site to another. The most common example of web syndication describes a content licensing arrangement between two or more internet companies in which one company provides content to be published and promoted on another party's website. Web syndication may allow the company providing the content to earn additional page views and exposure to their content and their website. The benefits for the site hosting the provided material are fresh content to appeal to consumers and therefore additional traffic. Web syndication may also be referred to as "content syndication."

Breaking Down Web Syndication

In general, web syndication is a free arrangement that is equally and mutually beneficial to both parties. For the website that provides the content syndication increases their exposure and may provide considerably more traffic for very little to no cost. For the content syndicator, the practice can make their websites more attractive to users by dint of providing more and more in-depth information. This relationship is especially common between niche, lower-traffic, content-producing web sites and larger websites that have a large, built-in audience but may not have the capability to create specialized, in-depth content.

Web syndication is a key tool in link building. With search engine optimization (SEO), the links embedded in a piece of syndicated content will drive traffic back to the originating website. In such a case the additional traffic web syndication can provide can help the content providing website improve its showing in search results and its overall site ranking.

Web Syndication: Paid Traffic

Sometimes a website may wish to pay for syndication to get their material placed in a specific location on a high-traffic site. The bigger the distributor's site, the bigger the fee usually is. New feed providers and aggregators such as Apple, Yahoo and Google, as well as social media services like Facebook and Twitter. There are also content syndication networks that can help bloggers spread their content. These are often seen at the bottom of web pages as "related posts" or "similar articles from around the web" and include such providers as Outbrain, SimpleReach, Zemanta and Taboola.

Web Syndication History

Web syndication is the online version of content sharing that has been going on since the early days of print, radio and television. The one element that guides all syndication is the ability to access a larger audience for whatever content that is being syndicated.