The term autoblog can be defined in a number of ways, depending on whom you’re asking. Generally an acceptable definition of what is an autoblog is that it’s a blog which automatically publishes content which is typically not created by the owner. Instead, the autoblog republishes content from free sources. Ezine Articles would be an example of a website which offers free content which is able to be republished by anyone who likes it.
What is An Autoblog
This is actually a great way to create backlinks to your website as I discussed in my post on why article marketing on article directories is still worth your time.
Getting back to the term autoblog, let’s talk about how marketers use them to make money.
One of the ways in which online marketers promote the “make money online” niche to newbie and first time marketers is via the autoblog format.
In this scenario, the “expert” marketer advises the newbie marketer to buy their automated software which they’re peddling. This software will pull content from free sites; content which is created entirely by other webmasters. The site which that content is housed in offers free content for webmasters in the form of syndication. Again, it works by a webmaster wanting to grow their reputation, notoriety, and readership on their site, so that webmaster writes an article in their niche then submits it to a site like Ezine Articles.
The article is free to republish/syndicate for whomever wants to use it on their sites so long as the resource box remains intact.
The automated software pulls that article off of Ezine Articles and republishes it automatically on the newbie’s website. The software may also do some other automated tasks like building some links to that content, or conversely the newbie is in charge of generating traffic and links to that site/page in full themselves. Either way, the content is automatically posted and the newbie has a website full of content.
They can (or the software can) monetize the site (see how to monetize a website with whatever products they are peddling in that niche interspersed throughout those articles, so very quickly and largely 100% automated that newbie marketer has a full on affiliate site with minimal effort or knowledge required.
Autoblogs are a topic of heavy debate in the online marketing world with some people being for and some being against them.
I made an argument for the “pro” autoblog side. Conversely there are a lot of people who are against autoblogs, typically people who don’t use them and create a lot of unique content themselves. These people don’t like to see their content get republished on autoblogs with little credit (and sometimes illegally no credit) given to them.
If someone reads their republished content on an autoblog which they don’t own, it’s the owner of the autoblog who receives credit and any sales or income generated from it where all the original and actual creator of that content gets is at best a weak link coming back to their site.
These are the two sides/arguments for and against autoblogs.
Of course if you want to expand on the term autoblog, a lot of things and sites fall under that umbrella. Take the Huffington Post. This is essentially a glorified autoblog because all they do is republish the most interesting stories and aggregate them all on their site to draw a massive audience. Little work is required yet this is one of the most heavily trafficked sites on the internet; so it just goes to show you how powerful autoblogs can be under the right circumstances.