How to Build Your Own Syndication Network - From Little Biz Resources
This is shared from our sister site, LittleBizResources. You can see the full post here:
https://littlebizresources.com/build-your-own-syndication-network/
If you’re looking to get more power from your posts – you’re probably thinking about a syndication network. For those of you who are new to syndication networks, you will get a brief explanation of the basics. Then, you can learn how to build your own syndication network.
For those who saw my webinar and want to check out the Syndlab sales page, you can see that by clicking here.
What is a Syndication Network?
When you’re talking about online marketing methods, a syndication network helps you update your online presence quickly. It also creates backlinks from your other social properties (which is great for helping search engines figure out what your page is all about).
Let’s say you publish a post on your website. How do people find out about it? Perhaps you share an update about the post to your Facebook page and create a Pin in Pinterest. You might also bookmark it to Diigo and Tweet on Twitter.
All of these actions are manual. When you use a syndication network, you set up automation so the information is shared to your audience without you doing a ton of work.
The old saying, “if you build it, they will come” is not true when it comes to your online presence. You have to do some marketing! A syndication network should be one of your marketing strategies. If for no other reason, so people can find out about your content!
How Can You Build Your Own Syndication Network?
Before I jump into the advanced methods of syndication networks, let me preface this by saying that you have some easy options. For example, if you use a self-hosted WordPress site, you can add in many different plugins that will automate to the big networks.
A free option is to use a resource like Buffer. Of course, the free option limits the number of accounts you can connect to Buffer as well as some of your options.
I use a combination of a paid resource called Syndlab and a free resource called IFTTT. The reason I use both of these is that each of them covers networks that are not covered in the other (though, many cross over). Additionally, I manage more than one company and have additional resources attached to Syndlab.
If you want a complete experience, I recommend you use both resources as well. Still, you can get started with either one of them. To help you decide which one to get, here is a chart of potential networks and the chart indicates which software you can use. Don’t forget to check out the pros/cons of each platform before making your decision.
If you’re excited to get started on syndication networks, check out the Syndlab sales page here.
Syndlab vs. IFTTT
I’ll highlight each of these platforms with the pros and cons after this chart. You can see there are plenty of options to build up your syndication network!
Pros and Cons of Syndlab
There are 2 main disadvantages to Syndlab. The first is that it doesn’t currently incorporate all of the main social media platforms (such as Pinterest). The second is that there is a limitation on the number of posts. If you purchase the front-end without the upsell, it’s only 1,000 posts per month. For some of you, that’s more than enough.
For you power users, you’ll want to upgrade to the recurring (quarterly if it is available) agency option. I upgraded to 25,000 posts per month. This should support my efforts on my several businesses. I also have a separate account with the 1,000 posts limit specifically for one of my businesses as part of that company’s assets!
Those disadvantages are actually quite minimal for the product. The advantages far outweigh the 2 disadvantages I found. One of the best advantages is the ability to share videos onto blog sites like WordPress. IFTTT either cannot or does not support this on most of their blog platforms.
One of the marginal benefits is the several private bookmarking sites available on Syndlab. Bookmarking sites are considered trusted by most search engines. To double check, I ran the domains through a software program I use to find the DA (domain authority) of the sites. Here’s what I found.
DomainDomain Authorityayroll.ca21
healthydome.com24worldoffootball.org25
ener-cell.com26gacrecordings.com24
easttimorelections.org26cravingconfidence.com24
youvebeenframedphoto24bchanv.org21
motcbu.com23wwwrichchristmastrees16
Since these are all relatively newer sites, the domain authority is pretty good (especially since most sites are well below this). Unfortunately, the sites are all hosted on the same class C IP. They are actually all on the same IP (not just class C). There are pros and cons to this, but basically, you would only need access to one of the bookmarking sites to build an adequate backlink.
Still – it’s a great opportunity and it wouldn’t take much for Sendlab to convert this to 11 different IP addresses. Also, the domain authority is likely to improve as more users post to these and create links back to those posts!
The Real Benefit Of Syndlab
The real benefit of Syndlab comes from the ability to create unlimited profiles for each account. For example, if you have 37 Facebook pages (I confess to nothing), you could manage them ALL through Syndlab. Even at the entry level. Just keep in mind you have a limited amount of posts you can make (so, the more profiles you attach, the more likely you need to upgrade to that 25K posts ability).
I can see a true value in the ability to connect multiple self-hosted websites (make sure you host them on different class C IPs so you get the maximum benefit). In fact, there is another software that connects to Syndlab that can help with content and building self-hosted sites.
There’s another great benefit- the multiple connections to Syndlab. I’m starting with Syndlab because it coincides with the weekly webinars – but there is some really cool software I’m going to talk about over the next several weeks. For example, if you have any inclination towards video marketing (which you should), then the ability to automatically syndicate your video content with Syndlab is a massive benefit.
Then, if you want to have others also syndicate your posts to their syndication networks, you can connect Syndlab to another resource that opens up your posts to a massive community. Basically, you can scale with Syndlab easily.
Ready to check out Syndlab? See the sales page here.
What About IFTTT?
IFTTT is a great resource, don’t get me wrong! I still use it, even though I have Syndlab. The obvious reason for this is because I can automate syndication to additional networks FOR FREE.
The problem with IFTTT is that it’s a little confusing. Ok, it’s a lot confusing for most people. It’s a quirky community of people who love automation. There are lots of automation opportunities – like turning your lights on at specific times when you’re on vacation. Many of the resources are more personal and less for digital marketing.
That’s not to say digital marketers haven’t figured out a way to utilize the automation! You can still use your RSS feed (or anyone’s RSS feed) to post to Facebook and a dozen other online properties.
Theoretically, you can even connect your WordPress.com and Blogger sites to IFTTT. The problem is that IFTTT, as a free resource, is glitchy. You can set up a connection and not realize that the connection is broken. This happened to me when Facebook made me change my password (because Facebook likes to torture us randomly). Thankfully, I remembered that connection existed and I went in and fixed it after another software notified me of the connection failure.
Most likely, there is some sort of automation you can even set up in IFTTT to notify you if a connection fails, but that’s even more work. Syndlab, in comparison, has a report feature to let you know if there are issues.
Syndlab Bonuses from Kim
For those of you that end up purchasing Syndlab through my link, you’ll get access to these bonuses (please note, the training bonuses will not be available until the end of Feb. 2019 though I will try to get them published sooner).
Syndlab Bonus Training on Lead Generation Campaign – yep, you’ll get to learn A LOT more about syndication networks and strategies to help you build your links!
IFTTT Training on Lead Generation Campain – even though you’re only purchasing Syndlab, you’ll also get some training on IFTTT. That way, you can build out as big of a syndication network as you want.
Clickback Rewards Software – Cloud hosted contest software! Utlize social sharing and other social media actions to create viral contests/sweepstakes. This bonus alone sells for $59.95!!
Are you ready to get Syndlab? Get it here.