Syndication - Is this a fair demand?

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I was looking to syndicate my article on highly popular websites and i stumbled upon this specific website.

Website editor is asking for exclusive content for 30 days. That means i cannot publish or syndicate my article for the 1st 30 days. (starts from the date the article is published on their website).

Website is highly popular and gets tons of traffic. (alexa rank is in top 1000. I know that alexa rank is not exactly accurate but still we can get an idea about the traffic).

So is this a fair demand?
#main internet marketing discussion forum #demand #fair #syndication
  • I guess the best place to publish your article first is your site itself. After it getting indexed, you can submit it to article DRs like ezine! Also the answer depends on your intention, whether it's for backlinks or traffic.
    just my 2 cents
  • Banned
    It also means that they, not you, get credited with the initial indexation rights to the work. That would be my own reason for probably not doing it. That and the fact that I've never once done this since starting my business and am not particularly in a hurry to break what I hope may become "the habits of a lifetime".

    Even though it's only February, this may be the understatement of the year. It measures only users of the Alexa toolbar - in other words, only internet professionals and marketers. It can tell you nothing about any other sort of traffic at all.

    No; we just can't - not at all. All we can get an idea about is the traffic flow from users of the Alexa toolbar. :rolleyes:

    For me, this wouldn't actually be the relevant question. I don't really mind whether it's "fair" or "unfair", and am not even quite sure what those terms would mean, in this context, and how one would decide. One could argue that it's their site and they get to make up the rules and they can have any terms of service they like, and in that sense everything they do is "fair", by definition. Some people would actually argue it that way, too: I've seen similar conversations here, in other threads on the same subject. So, if you take that perspective, then yes: it's "fair". But that doesn't necessarily make it "reasonable".
    • [2] replies
    • Thanks for the insightful answer.

      Although, i would like to disagree with you on 1 point.

      We CAN get an estimate of popularity and traffic through alexa rank in all non-IM niche websites.

      I have compared alexa rank, semrush rank, compete rank etc..etc..of 100s of websites and they are always the same (or the traffic estimates are same).

      Thus, alexa rank is somewhat accurate for non-IM niche websites.
      • [1] reply
    • What do you mean by this? The OP will still get credit for writing the article. Whoever gets credited with "initial indexation" doesn't really matter.



      When you are talking about low numbers (ie. Alexa rank under 10,000) it is very accurate. Also if you are comparing apples to apples it is very accurate. You cannot compare WarriorForum vs ESPN.com using Alexa (because one caters to webmasters and one doesn't) but you can compare ESPN.com vs ABC.com, because they both have appx. the same percentage of webmasters who use them.



      I'd say go for it. You get a popular site to syndicate your content, which will lead to visitors, natural backlinks, and you can syndicate it further afterwards.
      • [2] replies
  • Banned
    I would want only unique content from anyone who guest blogged on my blogs. I don't use syndicated content on my blogs, so since he does, I think it's more than fair.
  • Banned
    [DELETED]
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • Rather than relying on Alexa, I would recommend you to use the tools below to have a better idea of the site's popularity and demographics.

    Home | Compete

    Home | Quantcast

    and also use Google Ad Planner
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • Do you have the source about compete, quantcast and semrush taking their data from alexa (the site)?


      Yes,
      i use both compete and quantcast. Not sure about google ad planner.

      Anyways, i don't want to make this thread for comparing different services.

      I have decided to mail the editor of the website and use the "salesmanship" method that paul described.
  • There are sites which do not allow republishing content and demand original content and when you republish those articles elsewhere they quietly remove your content. It is entirely up to you if you want to remain associated with these sites or want you spread your links on multiple sites. The issue is not if this practice is fair or not, because they will never change their policy for you. That is why they have not been labeled as content farms.
  • Its only a fair/reasonable demand if one of these factors are satisfied -

    1. your content is going to reach a targeted audience you don't have access to
    2. its a high traffic site and they will give you a backlink to your site
  • This isn't about Alexa ranking or their silly toolbar. This is a business model where you're able to get maximum leverage from your work. The experts here have literally laid out a solid and proven plan but still some people either don't get it or they like to argue for some reason. So it goes...
    • [ 2 ] Thanks
    • [2] replies
    • ^^^ This, precisely so. It appears cardine has very little understanding of even the basics in article syndication, and chooses instead to pursue this invalid premise for argument only. The amount of traffic or ranking of a site as measured under any source or parameter has little value in determining its relevance or conversion factors. It is a rather common fallacy which often shows in disappointing results.

      Quality traffic with highly favorable conversion ratios comes from targeting outlets for relevance, not the amount of traffic or position in ranking. Besides websites, there are also numerous other very effective sources for article syndication such as niche ezines, on-topic blogs and even offline publications such as magazines, trade journals, professional newsletters, newspapers, etc.
      • [ 3 ] Thanks
    • Sorry that I am not conforming to what other 'experts' here have to say. The only reason I entered this thread was to point out that a very bold statement that was made is not true when you look at how Alexa collects their data, what sample sizes are and how they effect the accuracy of data.

      I apologize if I derailed the original discussion (that was not my intention), but I do not like to see the spread of misinformation.
      • [1] reply
  • OK, I'm going to skip over the percentages, what ifs, and hypotheticals and get back to the original question

    Hardik, you're going to have to weigh the pros and cons. I know some here will disagree, but if you're talking about being published on a website that's going to bring you exposure that you never could have gotten otherwise, it might be well worth your time to play by their rules.

    Let me give you an example - I publish articles on Site Pro News. In return for publishing my articles on their website first and agreeing not to syndicate it anywhere else for 10 days, I get featured on their home page, tweeted to their followers, and have my article submitted to their newsletter subscribers. They have a non-exclusive article submission option, but it doesn't come with any of those perks.

    I just had an exclusive article published there on Friday, and my traffic tripled as a result. So, to me, spending some time writing something for a site other than my own was well worth it. And, in a few days, I'll be able to publish the article anywhere I want. Plus, in the meantime, I've had dozens and dozens of websites that have syndicated the article on their own.
    • [ 3 ] Thanks
    • [1] reply
    • To be fair, no, I don't. I was simply postulating one explanation for why several different services would have identical data.

      I also said that services like the Alexa rankings could be accurate only if the sample used was a valid statistical representation of the population at large. Basically the same thing cardine said, without the numbers.

      And even if cardine was right, all his example would say is that you could use the rankings to measure the traffic each received relative to the other, not the actual traffic each received.

      As has been pointed out, though, this is a side track to the actual topic of discussion, so I'll let this dog go back to sleep...
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    Syndication - Is this a fair demand?

    I was looking to syndicate my article on highly popular websites and i stumbled upon this specific website. Website editor is asking for exclusive content for 30 days. That means i cannot publish or syndicate my article for the 1st 30 days. (starts from the date the article is published on their website).