Reader Questions On Content Syndication, Duplicate Content and Back-Links

As a follower of my blog, you've likely read about the SONAR Content Distribution Model and how it uses quality, original content through strategic, synchronized and targeted distribution on organic online channels.

Readers of my ezine as well as my book, Content Is Cash, often email me questions about 'SONAR marketing' and I thought it would be helpful to publish these real-life questions, as it may be something that was on your mind.

So here goes...

Q:  Do I have repurpose the original content every time I add it to a new SONAR site or do it only by individual SONAR categories?   

A: Yes. Your original 'catalyst content' should be the source content that goes to your in-house audience first (i.e. blog, email), then you should take that source and repurpose and reuse it -- adapting it accordingly -- to each SONAR site you disseminate it to as well as for each target audience within those select SONAR site. SONAR's key is using quality, original, content that is useful, valuable, and actionable.  For each site/audience, you can repurpose it in many ways:

--add new sentences, remove sentences
--add/change headlines, subheadings and intro copy
--change closing paragraph/call to action
--modify bullets, mix them up, or add/delete to existing ones

A press release of your repurposed version is a completely different format as the original source. It's written in third person and using quotes. It also should have a headline that is newsworthy and gets readers attention quickly. This version is different from a version that is, let's say, used in article marketing (article) or in social networking sites (content blurbs) -- yet all of these uses originated from the same source.

Q: If I have two Social media bookmarking sites, like Digg and Reddit, do I have to repurpose the article for each site or use the same content for the SONAR Social Media Bookmarking sites?

A: Yes, but it doesn't have to be heavy edits. You may change headline and add/remove sentences or paragraphs based on each audience and headline being used. It needs to be relevant and make sense to your target reader. That's what makes SONAR unique -- it's targeted and relevant -- it also leverages high quality content and is uploaded to synergistic website's where that audience would find it relevant.

Q: Wouldn't Google pick up that the back-link found in each repurposed articles as the same link as the original content and declare them the same?

Read my blogposts (below) on what is duplicate content and what isn't. If you target the content for each audience and repurpose it -- as long as it's quality content, relevant to each site and audience, and are on different domains -- it's not duplicate content or spam.  Your press release is targeted for one audience type; and your article marketing or social marketing blurb is targeted to another audience.  Google's updates like Farmer, Panda and Penguin are targeting sites that use irrelevant links, poor quality content and that are spammy. 

SONAR's uses are relevant to each audience/site it's on. It's not the same article over and over again, it's repurposed and modified. It's also not on the same domain -- it's all over the web in targeted locations that you're hand selecting.      

I like to mix up back-links as well. So some repurposed versions may link back to your source content. For example, your online press release may link back to the press release on your website or blog in the 'Press' or 'Media' section of your website; I also put in two other links in my press releases (in the About Us section, including social media account and free ezine sign up page -- for lead gen purposes). Your article (full or excerpt) may link back to the original article in your 'Newsletter archives' section. Your social media blurbs may link to 'Newsletter article', home page', or 'ezine sign up page', and so on.   Your links should be strategically chosen based on your call to action

Extra reading:

http://www.musclemarketing.blogspot.com/2012_03_18_archive.html 

http://www.musclemarketing.blogspot.com/2012_05_06_archive.html