In an effort to grow my audience, I’ve recently began republish some of my blog posts on sites like Medium and LinkedIn. More reach and more content, means more opportunities to be found. Also,native content tends to performs better. Native content also allows for virality, this is especially true on Medium.
Here are few things I’ve learned along the way.
Wait at Least a Week
Before reposting content wait a least a week, if not two. This gives search engines plenty of time to index the content and determine which was the first article. Also, if gives you time to determine if the content is worth republishing.
Use the Canonical Tag
When available you can use the canonical tag to let search engines know which page is the original. If posting on sites like Medium, this isn’t always an option. If your article is getting published on others blogs or news sites it likely is possible. If you are worried about SEO, you can also publish to Medium first. Then when posting it on your website set the canonical tag to the Medium article.
Change the title
Changing the title allows you distinguish and optimize the various posts. It can also help you rank for different keywords. If I were to republish the article, I could change the title to ‘Do You Know the Right Way to Republish Content’ or ‘Nine Ways to Republish Content’.
Only Republish the Best Content
Only your best performing content should get republished. If a piece of content flops, learn from it and move on. That doesn’t mean you can’t rewrite or improve the content. But, don’t copy and paste copy that didn’t perform.
Update the Content
Algorithms, best practices, and markets change. Before pushing an old article take time to update it. No one wants to read articles with out of date or inaccurate information. Depending on the topic Google will often reward fresh content.
Repurpose
With a little work, you can repurpose your blog post into an infographic, video, ebook, slide deck or various types of content. This is a great way to get extra mileage out of you content without copy and pasting it to other platforms.
Take the opposing view
This blog talks about the right way to republish content. If I were to post this on LinkedIn or Medium I could take the opposing view, and talk about the wrong way to republish content.
Don’t Worry
There is a myth that having duplicate content will hurt your SEO rank. This isn’t true. Having duplicate content doesn’t hurt your website’s rank, unless you entire site is duplicate content. Simply, Google will pick the page that it thinks is the original and will display that. That might now always be the page you preferred. But there is no punishment for having duplicate content. Google might reward it.
Rewrite
If you are still worried about SEO, you always rewrite the article. You can say the same thing with the came consultation but in a different way.
Don’t Worry About SEO, Focus on Value and Get Creative
Truth is, there isn’t much to worry about from an SEO perspective when republishing content. There are few steps you can take to make sure you get the desired outcomes, but nothing to worry about. Instead focus on creatively repurposing content. Also, focus on creating great content that brings your audience value.
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