Duplicate Content – Misunderstood Not Mythical

Duplicate Content is not a myth.  It has a very specific meaning, but it is misunderstood to apply to other conditions to which it simply does not apply.  Here is Google’s definition (the only one we care about):

Duplicate content generally refers to substantive blocks of content within or across domains that either completely match other content or are appreciably similar. Mostly, this is not deceptive in origin.

Duplicate Content often occurs naturally on websites and is usually not deceptive in nature.  Ex. The page www.website.com/category/green/canoe having the exact same content as www.website.com/category/canoe/green.  These are different URLs and yet they have the same content.  This is also known as canonicalization.  (what is canonicalization?).  It’s for this reason that when Google finds Duplicate Content on websites they do not immediately and in general do not give a penalty.  Why would they with the above example?  To help out Google, you can use the rel="canonical" link element to refer Google to your preferred page when you have multiple URLs leading to the same content such as in the above example.

You may be wondering now, when does Google take action and give a penalty for Duplicate Content?  If after further review they decide the Duplicate Content on your site is deceptive in nature, they will penalize your site.  This isn’t rocket science – don’t make a bunch of pages on your site with the same article or content posted over and over again.  I’ve been over this a few times on the site now – when does Google slap sites with penalties?  Drum-roll please….for SPAM!  Posting the same content repeatedly on your site sounds like…..SPAM!  Don’t do it.

“But wait, I am a very astute person and noticed that Google’s definition addresses the same content ‘within or across domainS”.  Why, thank you for noticing astute reader.  The same content (duplicate content) is often found on multiple sites.  Google has claimed that approximately 28% of all the content on the web is duplicate.  Before moving further, let’s first reaffirm that nowhere in their definition does Google mention that duplicate content is inherently tied to penalization.   That being said, the way Google handles such a predicament is pretty simple.  They choose one (or sometimes more sources) with that content that seems the most “appropriate.”  Yes, the term “appropriate” is quite vague, but it is the best we can get from them.  They do this so that you don’t have an entire results page filled with the same content from 10 different pages.  That’s it. 

If you are going to use someone else’s content you need to address it as such – link back to their site and say where it is from, maybe even ask them first – they will probably be fine with it since it means a relevant “dofollow” backlink for them.  Otherwise, don’t be surprised if you get a DMCA infringement notice for stealing someone else’s content – you can be de-indexed entirely for this. So now that we are clear about what duplicate content is actually all about, what is all this crazy myth stuff about? 

The myth is about receiving a penalty for having the same content as someone else or for syndicating articles.  In all honesty, after clearly explaining what duplicate content really is, we can dispel this myth very quickly.

Part 1) If I submit an article to multiple article directories, is that duplicate content?

No, articles are not duplicated, they are syndicated.  Articles play by their own rules.  The point of submitting an article to a directory is to have other people republish it!  Ever notice how an AP news report gets published by tons of news sites and none of these sites are penalized?  It’s because it is syndicated content.

Part 2) What if I post the same content to multiple hubpages/squidoo lenses/blogs?

No problem, they just won’t all show up in the SERPs because Google will pick the one that is most “appropriate.”  And to repeat an earlier point, if you post someone else’s content, that’s just plagiarism

Part 3) I can just use copyscape to see if my content will be duplicate content.

Here’s a question for you:  Do you think that Google runs everything through copyscape to decide if it’s duplicate content?  Sounds silly now doesn’t it.  Google has its own way of deciding whether something will be considered duplicate content or not.  If you are writing everything yourself there should be no question that your content is unique.  If you are spinning articles, copyscape can be helpful, but the final word comes from the Big “G.”

To summarize, you will only be penalized for duplicate content if it is within your site and you use it in a deceptive manner ie spam.  If your website has duplicate content in the sense that another website has the same content, there is no penalty, but only the most “appropriate” will appear in the SERPs.  Articles are not duplicate content, they are syndicated content.