If I could give you a list of things to avoid, to keep your website from being penalized by search engines, the first item would be…duplicate content.
Search engines love top quality content that is relevant and unique. Think about it. How many times have you searched for something only to find the same (unhelpful) information posted in several different places? It’s frustrating isn’t it? Sure it is and the search engines know it.
Before we continue, I want to make sure that you understand that I’m not talking about plagiarized articles here, of course that would lead to duplicate content too. What I’m mainly talking about are those sneaky ways that duplicate content creeps into our blog or website. Let’s take a look at a few of them.
PLR Articles – PLR stands for “Private Label Rights.” Put simply, you buy the right to use an article (or articles) on your website. You can even list your name in the byline. PLR articles are great for stoking the fires of creativity. The problem is that a lot of people misuse PLR articles by simply buying them, attaching their name and throwing them up on the Internet. If you do that, you’ll have the same content as many other people. Smart PLR users buy the articles and use them as inspiration and research. They rewrite the articles and add to them – giving their voice to the work. That way, the article is uniquely their own.
Archive Pages – This is arguably the largest contributor to duplicate content on your site. If you run a blog, you probably have “category” and “archive” pages. Each of these pages have brief snippets of the relevant articles. Since many articles appear on multiple pages, you have duplicate content throughout your site. If you are using WordPress (highly recommended) for your site, you can use many of the SEO plug-ins to control this for you by simply selecting “no follow” on the pages you want to keep the search engines away from. If you are using other platforms, you can use meta tags to accomplish the same thing. If you would like a tutorial on meta tags, leave me a comment below and we’ll put one together.
Guest Bloggers - I am totally in favor of allowing guest bloggers to post relevant articles. After all, it’s a great way for you to have fresh, new content on your website while you get to enjoy the latest episode of NCIS. There is a catch, however, not all guest bloggers abide by the rule that their article must be unique. They will post the same articles in multiple places and that hurts your websites reputation with the search engines. For that reason, you must check out articles before you allow them to “go live.”
Articles From Article Directories – I love article directories and I write for a few of them. They’re a great way to promote your website. As a website publisher, there is another side to look at. Sure, you can get great content, but you can’t edit it and other site owners may be using the same article. So, my advice here is to use articles from directories very sparingly.
These are just a few ways that you can end up with duplicate content on your website. In this day of increased competition for reader attention, it is important to swing things in your favor as much as possible. Eliminating duplicate content is one very easy, but highly effective way to do just that.
P.S.: Another way to end up with duplicate content is to have another website owner steal your content and post it on their site. To avoid that, I highly recommend using a service like CopyScape or (the one I use here) CopyGator.
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