Duplicate content is bad. Or is it? My sense is that it’s now fairly common knowledge among those who write business blogs that publishing duplicate content is a no-no in the eyes of Google.
However, content syndication is completely safe – if you do it right. And not only is it safe, but I’d actually encourage you to use it as a strategy, because:
- It can earn you more organic reach.
- Reuse of content make you more efficient.
This week’s episode is devoted to safe SEO practices when it comes to re-publishing your content. I cover how much you need to edit your posts, using 301 redirects, and the rel=canonical tag.
Show Notes
Here are links to the articles I mentioned in the episode:
Example of Content Syndication
Here’s an example of my own content syndication. I published a blog post and podcast episode on the same topic:
- Starbucks Rewards: An Evolution in Data-Driven Marketing (Blog version)
- Know Your Customer: Starbucks and Data-Driven Marketing (Podcast version)
While they are based on the same content, you’ll notice that they are each presented a little differently to respond the differences in context.
Example of 301 Redirect
Here’s an example of using a 301 redirect. Sometimes when I publish something here on my business blog, I want to include it on my personal blog too. So I just use a redirect:
- When you click: http://michaelboezi.com/2016/09/using-social-media-for-business/
- It redirects to: https://controlmousemedia.com/using-social-media-for-business/
Using “rel=canonical” Properly
- Use this code: <link rel=”canonical” href=”http://the-link-of-the-original-piece”>
- Put it in the head section of the page, anywhere between <head> and </head>
If you want to learn more, the folks at Yoast have a great how-to called rel=canonical: the ultimate guide.
Past and Future Episodes
Here’s the link to my episode called Respect Your Audience. If you provide enough value to your readers, listeners, or viewers – they will come back. Trust them enough to do so.
Next week, I’ll be talking about How to Syndicate Content Safely on Medium. And I plan to get deeper into strategies for repurposing content in future episodes – one of my favorite content strategy topics! Please subscribe to be notified, leave a comment below, or hit me up on Twitter.