I just got done reading through another thread on the warrior forum about duplicate content. Whether you think it’s a myth or not there is a lot to consider about dup content on yoru website. You might be asking, “Should I submit my articles to an article directory like Ezine Articles or to my website first?”
Well first of all you need to see that your content has value, and as tempting as it is to put all of your articles on Ezine Articles and get an immediate traffic boost, it can be just as useful on your website for the long haul.
So what happens if you post an article on your blog or website and then add the exact same article to an article directory? Can they both get indexed and rank in the SERPs? In short, yes.
I won’t say the duplicate content is a myth, but it is a very misunderstood concept. Even if you have a website that consists completely of duplicate content or PLR articles, you can rank and get organic traffic. The key is backlinks.
As a little experiment you can find an article that is indexed online and put that same article on your site. Build as many quality backlinks as you can to it and in a few weeks you will see your article above the one in the directory. Of course, this will depend on the competitiion of the keywords. This can really be a waste of time for the average person though. It’s been done time and time again. You can take any duplicate content and rank for it on your own website.
So why don’t we all just use someone else’s content online? Well, even though you can rank for dup articles it will take a lot of work to outrank the current content online. And the quality of your content should always take first priority as well.
Focus on creating articles that you would want to read yourself. Always keep the reader in mind rather than the search engines. This way you will not just get people to stay longer on your site and improve your bounce rate, but you can also build a following of people who are addicted to the great content you produce.
So don’t be afraid to use dup content every once in a while. It will not hurt your website and you just might outrank the original content that was indexed. I would not build a site exclusively with it, but myth about it just might be true after all.
What do you think about duplicate content? Have you used it and experienced any bad side effects from the search engines?
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There are many things that people are overly concerned about in terms of SEO and your right that duplicate content is one of them. People are afraid that if they accidently step out of line then big bad google will come over and trash their site as if Google was hitler or something.
I have come to find out that it is actually quite far from the truth. If you have a website that you are putting good work on and have justifiable reasons then Google will see it and understand. You might get slapped by Google for just outright stealing all of your content, but there is nothing wrong with syndicating your material or vice versa.
I do remember reading though that only 1 article will be indexed at a time? So whichever seemed like the original would be included and the other left out?
Hmm. To self publish as well or not to self publish as well. That’s the question. I’ve been wondering about this myself recently. There seem to be two intermixed factors with directory posted articles:
1) Whether to place the article on your own website or rely on it getting indexed on another site (either the article directory or someone who decides to republish it) in the hope that that site will have higher PR and you get the link juice back via the link.
2) If you do post it on your own website, whether to include a link in the syndicated copies author box, not just to your site but to your master copy of the article itself, giving a canonical indication of where the original is (presumably making it more likely that your original will get ranked).
I am currently experimenting with both methods (not placing it on my site at all and placing it with a canonical link to the master copy) across two independent sites to see if I can decide which is better but would welcome any thoughts on the matter.
Duplicate Content can be the biggest hindrance that your website can encounter when trying to rank for your desired keywords. This is because a search engine’s first priority is finding new and unique content, and duplicate content flies in the face of all of that. But there is really no definite rules on this. As always I just do write quality content for both my site and article directory site like Ezine. It works just fine but sometimes I really face a hard time generating a really quality content that would make people read it.
Rafael
Hot Penny Stocks
Really seems a much-debated subject. I’ve been avoiding duplicate content so far and i guess it’s the safer choice. So long as I don’t run out of ideas for creating content, it shouldn’t be a problem to keep everything original.