10 Best Content Syndication Platforms in 2023
- October 14, 2022
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LinkedIn Publishing
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Slideshare
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Outbrain
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Taboola
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Quuu Promote
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Shorthand.com
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Dianomi
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Medium
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Substack
Content, once published online, rarely remains rooted to the same spot. It goes through an entire lifecycle of being published, shared, updated and — in many cases — being republished via content syndication platforms.
To a content creator, syndicating content can be daunting. On one hand, content syndication can help achieve greater visibility and generate additional backlinks that increase traffic to the site and convince Googlebot that a site is reputable. On the other hand, Google penalizes duplicated content and publishers could see their content slide down the search engines results page (SERP) rankings
Despite the risks, syndicated content is still a strategy worth pursuing, given the potential audience traffic and lead generation upside, as long as publishers minimize the risk.
For those just beginning to explore this space, check out our detailed guide on content syndication SEO to understand more about the process, its benefits and also its pitfalls.
Content syndication is rapidly becoming a serious growth tool for publishers, given that it can both boost content engagement as well as SEO performance through backlink generation.
Content syndication networks provide a way for existing content, especially evergreen content, to be reused in another space, saving time, money and effort. As this content is distributed to new places, it provides a chance to gain more traffic as audiences follow the content trail from the third-party site to the original publishers.
Another major benefit of content syndication is that small publishers can piggyback on the authority and reach of larger publishers who choose to republish their content. For example, if the content from a small publisher arrives on CNN’s site — which some platforms below can achieve for a price — the content will inherit CNN’s authority.
However, sometimes the reverse can also come true. If the content ends up on a site less reputable than the original, then the content may come to be viewed as less trustworthy.
Content syndication is a growing industry, expected to rise from $4.5 billion to $5.3 billion between 2020 and 2027. As the digital publishing industry becomes more interconnected, publishers will be able to reach and engage more audiences from multiple platforms, including social media platforms and other publishers.
It makes sense then, that the syndication industry is able to sell everything from improved reach to automating distribution across multiple media channels. Content syndication platforms will be a necessary tool in competing for digital space.
With that in mind, here’s our list of the 10 best content syndication platforms in 2022.
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Source: Flipboard
Flipboard is a free-to-use content syndication platform with more than 100 million active users, while major publishers such as The New York Times, The Verge and National Geographic host their content on the platform.
Flipboard actively promotes user content through, and any clicks on posted articles will redirect to the publisher’s site generating a sizable amount of referral traffic.
Flipboard openly communicates its website’s demographics: one-third are Millennials, one-third are Gen-X and the remaining third are Baby Boomers. Their audience is evenly split between male and female and is generally described as being influential and affluent. The wealth of information Flipboard has at its disposal will help publishers to accurately target audiences.
One unique feature of Flipboard is the ability to craft “magazines” from the publisher’s content. This option allows publishers to categorize their content and distribute it in an engaging way, as audiences can flip through articles like a magazine. The magazines can be shared through social media, in email newsletters and be embedded in the footer of a publisher’s article.
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Source: LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the world’s most popular social media platform for professionals, with more than 850 million users worldwide. This is why it’s claimed one of our top spots as a content syndication solution.
LinkedIn aims to foster business relationships by offering users the means to publish articles that can be backlined to the original publisher, providing effective content syndication.
Using its networking and following features, publishers can significantly expand the reach of their articles on the platform. However, with no systems dedicated to truly helping growth, there is a limit to the reach of LinkedIn content compared to content on paid content syndication platforms.
Because the network is a business social media platform, the most effective content published on the platform is B2B content. While there is no price tag to using the platform, there’s no means of directly generating revenue either.
3
Source: Slideshare
Slideshare, a presentation sharing and hosting platform, is another platform with content syndication solutions. With 80 million professionals visiting the site, Slideshare is a site with a lot of potential for B2B content.
The platform is based on the idea of the slideshow, and most of the documents uploaded to the site take that form. However, Slideshare does allow for article documents to be uploaded and shared as well.
Most of Slideshare’s content is distributed through targeted searches. In fact, 80% of all users land on a publisher’s page because of a targeted search. Therefore, learning to master content syndication SEO will lead to growth on the platform.
The platform also offers a range of tools and tips for visual design, analytics and other useful information in its Creator’s Hub. As designing a good-looking slide is a key component in performance on the platform, these resources may prove to be an informative guide.
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Source: Outbrain
Outbrain is a web recommendation platform with a strong content syndication solution. In 2020, Outbrain syndicated articles from more than 100,000 websites, delivering more than 10 billion daily recommendations for over 20,000 advertisers. The articles they host appear on outlets such as CNN as advertisements.
Outbrain’s pricing is structured on a cost-per-click (CPC) format, meaning publishers will pay whenever a user clicks on the article. This format allows for variable pricing structures, wherein publishers can set a budget for the campaign and when that budget is reached, their content stops being distributed. This means Outbrain offers flexible marketing approaches to suit publishers of all sizes.
Outbrain offers a great deal of customization in the distribution of published content. It has a non-interruptive ad format, which is becoming more valuable than its interruptive counterpart. It also allows publishers to tailor their content to specific audience segments, paving the way for the development of targeted marketing campaigns for pre-published content.
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Source: Taboola
Taboola is a content syndication platform that has more than 500 million daily active users and over 9,000 publishers. Some of Taboola’s prominent publishing partners include news portals such as USA Today, NBC and CBS News.
Taboola operates by placing a feed of suggested content at the end of host articles. Here’s a mock up of how the feed will appear on partner websites
Users can scroll through personalized articles on these feeds much the same way that they might on social media platforms. This style of content distribution can help publishers reach new audiences for their content in a relatively unobtrusive manner.
Taboola charges syndicators/advertisers on a pay-per-click (PPC) basis, while also offering a cost-per-mille (CPM) pricing solution.
A bonus to Taboola is that it offers publishers the ability to personalize user experience, allowing them to optimize their target audience. The platform also provides publishers with actionable editorial insights on content performance, which can help with the ideation process as well as with the creation of new strategies to engage audiences.
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Source: Quuu Promote
Quuu Promote is another content syndication network specializing in sharing content across social media. Depending on the publisher’s business goals, Quuu pushes content on Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media platforms seeking to drive engagement, likes and shares.
Unlike other content syndication platforms that leverage the authority of large publishers, Quuu acquires visibility for its content by banking on real people sharing and interacting with content on social media. The focus on real people enhances the probability of content reaching its targeted audience, as the individuals already operate inside of those communities.
Quuu Promote generates 120,000 daily shares of publishers’ content, with a lifetime total of more than 50 million. Its website also has analytical tools that can estimate the number of shares and views a publisher’s content could generate via categories.
Quuu provides three pricing options: $75 per month, $150 per month and $750 per month. Price increases with the number of available monthly posts, ranging from 10 posts to 100 posts.
