Quick answer: dev.to is a developer community with a large technical audience and an easy publishing editor. Cross-posting an original blog post to dev.to reaches the developers who don't read the company blog, without damaging the SEO, when the canonical link is set correctly.

The canonical rule

The canonical URL tells the search engines which page is the original. The cross-posted dev.to version points to the original on the company blog, so the search engines index the original.

  • Original: https://www.neatico.com/blog/the-slug/
  • Cross-post: the same content on dev.to, with the canonical set to the original.

The steps

  1. Publish on the company blog first. The original is the canonical source.
  2. Wait for the index. A short delay (hours to a day) lets the original establish itself.
  3. Create the dev.to post. Use the editor or the markdown.
  4. Set the canonical. In the dev.to post settings, set the canonical URL to the original.
  5. Add the front matter. dev.to supports the title, the tags, and the cover.
  6. Publish. The post is attributed to the original.

The dev.to front matter

The dev.to markdown supports the YAML front matter:

---
title: The post title
published: true
tags: programming, productivity, startup
canonical_url: https://www.neatico.com/blog/the-slug/
cover_image: the image URL
---

The canonical_url is the key field.

What to cross-post

The dev.to launch guide covers the launch-specific posts.

The content adjustment

The content can be lightly adapted to the dev.to audience:

  • The same body and the same code.
  • The same images, hosted or re-uploaded.
  • The same canonical link.
  • The same product mention, kept light.

The consistency

The content is the same on the three surfaces: the website, dev.to, and Hashnode. The Hashnode guide handles the second.

The engagement

The dev.to value is the audience:

  • The post is read by the community.
  • The comments are answered.
  • The tags reach the relevant readers.
  • The profile links to the product.

What to avoid

  • The cross-post without the canonical.
  • The cross-post published before the original.
  • The duplicate on the same platform.
  • The hard product pitch in the technical post.
  • The broken internal links that point to the company blog.

Frequently asked questions

Does cross-posting cause a duplicate penalty? The canonical prevents it; the original is indexed. Can I post the same content to multiple platforms? Yes, with the canonical set to the original. Which is the canonical? The company blog, the owned property. Does the dev.to post rank? The platform can rank, but the canonical points to the original. What about the images? Re-upload or link the stable URLs; the cover is the OG image.

Publish the original, set the canonical, and let the dev.to version reach the wider developer audience.

Related guide: the social media scheduling guide.