Want to repurpose those guests posts you wrote for another blog, but are scared you'll suffer the wrath of Google for posting duplicate content? Learn how to repost that blog content the right way so that nobody gets penalized and you both get maximum impact from your hard-written content.
As a blogger and business owner, your time (and your content!) is precious. None of us have unlimited resources, so we should be making the most of each piece of content we produce…including pieces we write that are originally published on other sites.
Think beyond simple repurposing, or promoting the post on your social media and calling it good: consider reposting content you wrote for another site on your own blog, also known as “syndicating”.
Syndication (in this instance, sharing content that was originally published elsewhere on your blog) is a great way to make sure your guest post gets seen by more of your audience…and that you’re making full use of the time you spent creating that content in the first place!
Can you share content between sites without being penalized by Google?
A lot of business owners are scared to share content that originally appeared on another site on their own blog. Maybe you are, too: you’ve heard rumblings about “duplicate content” and fear provoking the wrath of Big Brother (aka: Google).
I used to feel just like you.
After I saw a post about content syndication in a business Facebook group, I decided to do some more investigation. And, much to my surprise, it seems Google doesn’t take as much of a hard line stance on this as I previously thought.
According to their guidelines, there is a way to syndicate content without suffering any negative search-related consequences.
Best practices for syndicating content on your blog
There are two things you should do if you want to start syndicating your guest content from other sites on your own blog:
- Include a link back to the original post. According to an article on Search Engine Watch, Google is pretty good at figuring out that the content you’re sharing came from the site you’re linking to.
- Use canonicalization. Adding a rel=”canonical” tag to the <head> of your post that points to the original article lets Google know that the original article is the preferred version to index (and avoids the duplicate content penalty for you and the other site owner).
Optional things I do to make my syndicated post stand out a little
As long as you cover the two important to-do’s above, you should be safe from the wrath of Google. 😉 However, I like to go above and beyond those basic recommendations to make my syndicated post a little more special.
Here are some things that I do when I syndicate guest content I’ve written on my own blog:
- Only include a post teaser instead of the entire post content
- Include a personal summary before the post excerpt. If you’d like to see an example of this, check out this syndicated post on my main blog: How Long Until Daddy Gets Home? A day-in-the-life of a work-at-home mom.
- Make it clear that users can go to X site to continue reading and include a button that links to the original post.
- Include an opt-in at the bottom of the post, below the prompt to continue reading at the original site. You never know who might be reading this syndicated post…if it’s someone that’s not already on your list, why pass up the chance to turn them into a subscriber? 🙂
Want to make syndicating your guest content on your own blog super-easy?
You’re in luck: Easier Business Blogging includes a syndication module. 😉 Presales begin soon and are limited, so make sure to hop on the waitlist to be one of the first to get a shot at snagging a presales version.
Get on the EBB waitlist
Be one of the first to find out when Easier Business Blogging opens for presales (and be one of the first to get the syndication module)!
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