Duplicate Content - Explaining Google's Rules
The fact that Google imposes strict punishments for the presence of
duplicate content on web sites is now well-known by most marketers.
However, what is not exactly well-known among SEO circles is what
actually constitutes duplicate content and how domain owners can be
certain that their web sites are in compliance. A web site owners worst
nightmare is finding out the hard way that their search ranking has
been lowered and that theyve been removed from Googles index
altogether.
The only way to be safe is to make sure that you grasp the idea of
duplicate content and that youre not in violation of Googles policies.
First, you should know that Googles grounds for punishing those with
duplicate content are actually quite reasonable. The fact is, Google
wants to avoid search results pages overwhelmed by websites with the
same or similar content, and with good reason; duplicate information
makes it difficult for searches to find what theyre looking for.
Google created a new patented fingerprinting technology to prevent the
appearance of duplicate content on different websites. By recording an
initial fingerprint of a site, Google can periodically compare the
fingerprints of various sites in a database and lower the value of
sites with content copies.
There are several examples of web sites and web site content that can
be considered duplicate and, surprisingly, youll find that most are
unrelated to spam. Here are just a few:
Viral Content: The most common case penalized by Googles duplicate
content policy is using PLR articles or other free articles in exchange
for a link.
Mirrored Sites: Its quite common to mirror a site in order to balance
the amount traffic on the server and enable sites to divide hits
received between two identical sites. This practice is effective in
balancing server load and eliminating downtime in loading, but the site
copies are considered duplicate content.
Lets say you own the .com, .net, and .org versions of your URL or
versions with common misspellings of your URL. Rather than only
redirecting traffic to a single URL, it may be wise to include some of
your content, a newsletter, or free downloads on these pages.
Domain Sub-Niches: If you have a sub-niched site, you should use
subsets of keyworded content. For example, if you write articles on
personal finance for single moms, you may want to leverage your
articles by creating sites targeted to special topics, such as
single-moms-savings-tips.com and single-moms-debt-help-tips.com.
Dynamically Generated Content and/or Templates: The use of RSS feeds
from blogs and news/article syndicates amount to a greater amount of
duplicate content on web sites. Dynamically generated templates in
Content Management Systems (CMS) or shopping carts may also register as
duplicate content. NOTE: This example applies only to feeds that
display as static HTML. If youre using a javascript feed to attract
visitors, it cant help your SEO, but it also cant trigger a duplicate
content flag, since Googles bots cant read it anyway.
Doorway Pages, Cloaked Pages, Bombs, and Automated Directory Pages:
Regardless of how promising this new technology may sound, Google is
quickly catching up and examining every new script and tool. Thus,
these pages should not be used for any reason other than market
testing, seeking out quick-leads, or as means of driving temporary
traffic through throw-away URLS. Its critical that value-added content
and customization be incorporated on web sites with such tools.
Site Navigation Elements and Other Content: Its important to understand
the broad definition of content by which Google evaluates web sites.
The arrangement of items on your page, your internal link wording and
structure, outgoing links and anchor text, lead capture forms,
graphics, product descriptions, prices, merchant-provided sales copy
and articles, and other on-page variables all fall under the category
of content. Each element can be singled out for violation of duplicate
content rules.
Theft: Theft also applies to more than simply written material on your
site. If your page designs, links, or even entire website show up
elsewhere, Google may lower you in the rankings or remove you from its
index totally.
Now that you have a good grasp on the idea of what consists of
duplicate content it's time to make sure you are not in violation of
Googles policies. The Google administration always seems to catch on to
things that are being done to try to fool them. It's always a better
idea to stay with white-hat procedures when you're working with
something as important as your reputation.
Written by the staff at Affiliate Classroom Magazine. The Affiliate
Classroom was developed by Anik Singal, an expert on boosting affiliate
sales using the latest techniques, including blogging and Web 2.0
bookmarking. Sign up for the Newsletter and find out how Anik earned
10,466 in just 60 days using proven marketing principles. www.affiliateclassroom.com/magazine.php
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