Republishing: Friend or Foe

By Madison Knopik:

For those of you who are unfamiliar with republishing, let’s break it down. Republishing is when you take content already published and republished it onto another site. By doing this the right way, you can help your blog pieces gain traction and hit a broader audience; perhaps you may get a few subscribers.

Dive into this comprehensive guide on republishing.

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Why You Should Say Yes

A big reason to republish is to increase traffic to your blog. After all, you’ve taken the time to craft content you think is worth the read. Republishing blog content onto other sites, like Linkedin or Medium, help you extend the reach of your words.

Many bloggers steer clear of any republishing strategy because getting a Google penalty terrifies them. But actually, republishing content with the full knowledge of its original author is not an activity Google is concerned about punishing.

Google has a whole page dedicated to how they view duplicated content. It explains, “If you syndicate your content on other sites, Google will always show the version we think is the most appropriate for users in each given search, which may or may not be the version you prefer. However, it is helpful that each site on which your content is syndicated includes a link back to your original article.”

The syndicated content page might become a higher result compared to your original piece. However, many businesses would be happy getting content high up in a Google search.

How To Get Started

Before you start republishing, you need to determine what platforms you want to use. Anyone can use LinkedIn and Medium regardless of their industry and find similar content. I recommend starting with these steps:

Create An Account

For LinkedIn – to sign in or create an account, you can navigate to the top right-hand corner and create a new account using your email address.

 

For Medium – to sign in or create an account, you can use an account you already have (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, or Google), or you can create a new account using your email address.

Customize Your Profile

For LinkedIn – LinkedIn will take you through a step-by-step process when signing up to customize your profile. I recommend taking their suggestions and adding your necessary background information and a bio.

If you need to go in and edit, click on your avatar in the upper left-hand corner. This will take you to your profile where you can edit any section by click on the pencil icon.

For Medium – If you sign up with an existing account, some of your profile will be filled out for you. But you’ll still need to go in and edit it to make sure it reflects how you want to present yourself on Medium.

To get to the editing screen, click on your avatar in the upper right-hand corner, and click on “Profile.” Once you’re there, click on the “Edit” button to change your photo and your bio.

Many bloggers steer clear of any #republishing strategy because getting a Google penalty terrifies them. But have no fear because if done properly, there will be no punishment. Learn more in @RedBranch’s blog: Click To Tweet

Publish Your Content

For LinkedIn – to write a story, click on “Write an Article on LinkedIn” near the top middle of your dashboard.

From another screen, copy and paste the article contents into Linkedin. To add images, videos, slide, snippets, or more, click on the floating + icon to the left of your copy. To include a featured image, click the + icon in the top light blue box.

When you’re finished copying, pasting, adding photos, and editing links, click on “Publish” in the upper right-hand corner. A new screen will appear, add some copy to accompany your post and click “Publish” again.

 

For Medium – to write a story or publish one, click on your avatar in the upper right-hand corner, and click on “New Story.”

From another screen, copy and paste the article contents into Medium. To add an image, video, embedded content, or a divider, click on the floating + icon to the left of your copy.

When you’re finished copying, pasting, adding photos, and editing links, click on the “Ready to publish?” drop-down to select tags to categorize your content and then, publish it to make it go live.

The tags you choose should coincide with the blog topic and your target audience. Keep in mind that the number next to each tag represents the number of people following that tag.

Dos and Don’ts

Now that you know how to republish and why it’s essential, there are some other things you need to keep in mind. Here’s a shortlist of dos and don’ts.

Do:

• Attribute the article to the original author either at the top or bottom of the content. Example: Jane Doe originally published this article.
• Tweak headlines to appeal more to the platform’s audience.
• Include a CTA to convert readers to blog subscribers.

Don’t:

• Republish every article on your blog.
• Republish the whole article. You can use this as an opportunity to drive traffic back to your site to see the rest of the blog.

Republishing can be a great way to increase your content reach. Follow these steps to get started and keep the dos and don’ts in mind when publishing your latest content. Looking for more marketing tips and tricks, subscribe to our blog!