Are Employers too worried about Duplicate Content?

As writers we often get seriously criticised by employers for producing “duplicate content”, even when done by pure accident – great minds think alike and all that. However, are employers a little too wired about this often sore point?

We’re constantly being told by marketers that “all powerful” Google will penalise websites that contain duplicate copy and because we believe they know best, we do our level best to pump out original copy each and every day.

Will Duplicate Content Really Affect a Site’s Rankings?

Most people whether marketers, employers or copywriters have not bothered to actually read Google’s guidelines when it comes to duplicate content. The reason being over the years word of mouth has run riot and therefore rumours of penalties and the like must be true. But is it all just a lot of hooey?

Again, reading through Google’s guidelines, it seems that non-original content on a website will not seriously affect a site’s rankings. Unless, that is, there’s such an excessive amount of marketing in the form of press releases sent out across the web in a very short space of time.

This would have to involve masses of dupicate home page content being repeated hundreds of times over the course of just a few hours or so. The result? The Google Giant wakes up on the wrong side of the bed and imposes lots of displeasure on the domain concerned!

According to people who really are “in the know”, a mere 500 or 1000 words of duplicate content published on an established site is not going to get any red flags waving in Google’s virtual headquarters.

Reposting Articles is Okay

In fact, there’s been a trend over recent times where articles are reposted after they were first published on another website and although the strategy will not make the content rank in any way, it sure won’t negatively affect a domain’s ranking. Many of the most popular blogs on the net do just this and it never adversely affects their rankings which is proof enough.

Scrapers are a Nuisance or Are They?

Some of the more serious and popular blogs get scraped umpteen times a day, but the owners pay absolutely no attention to the fact this happens. The reason being they know that duplicate content is not something to be worried about.

The truth is that scrapers are not something that anyone really needs to be overly worried about. The question you need to ask yourself is whether a small unknown blog on the other side of the planet that boasts very few visitors is seriously going to get the Googlebots hot under the collar just because they scraped some content from another website? Of course not, after all there are bigger fish to fry out there in the virtual world!

The Positive of Having Copy Scraped

There is a positive to having content scraped especially if all the copy is taken and duplicated which includes any links etc. After all, scraped links may just get a few nice referrals! It’s always very interesting to keep an eye on internal links.

The only time it might become a worry is if a site with your scraped content starts to outrank your own website. Now that would be very annoying and it means that Google did get it wrong!

However, all is not lost because these instances, which are pretty rare, are the sort of thing that Google wants to know about. And the best way to let them know is to use their Scraper Report Tool.

One thing that many gurus advise is to digitally sign content with Google Authorship which makes life a lot easier when and if a dispute should arise. It does not matter how many times your content gets used across the net by scrapers because the copy will always only ever have one author – namely you!

Know the Difference between Scraped Content and Plagiarism

It’s also important to bear in mind there is a massive difference between copyright infringement and scraped content. If you find anyone claims the content as their own, this is pure plagiarism. This is when you need to take action against the person or persons responsible!

People who sign their name to your copy are doing so illegally which is why it’s so very important to place a copyright symbol in the footer or to register your content with a company like Sample Safe. When this sort of thing happens, it’s not Google you need to be worried about, but how much it’s going to cost you in legal fees to have things put right!

Conclusion

There’s a lot of hooha about duplicate content and if the truth be known the net is full of scraped copy. Googlebots pick up on this when they visit most websites out there which they do at some point every single day. Do they make a fuss and start penalising the domains? No, they move on to the next website. After all, the geniuses working for Google have been at it for a considerable amount of time and way before “duplicate content” became such a mythical issue!

Author: Honey Wood

Why Twitter is a Superb Game-changer

As far as social media platforms go, it really doesn’t get much better than Twitter and even if you’re not a huge fan, it’s such a game-changer that it would be serious mistake to simply ignore it. The beauty of Twitter is in it’s simplicity and the fact it’s so far reaching.

Twitter obliges users to rethink how they use social media, keeping things short and sweet with no heavy, long winded copy to rifle through. It’s idealogy is a game winner in a fast moving world where time is precious and staying ahead of the competition is in itself a competition.

Having to be succinct and making every word count takes a bit of practice, but the effort is well worth it because the rewards can be tremendous when it comes to marketing strategies and advertising campaigns. Unlike other platforms of which there are many, Twitter has remained true to it’s format which is simple, easy and pleasing.

Facebook is a different animal altogether with Linkedin offering a more formal platform to work on. Both offer advantages and disadvantages whereas Twitter is what it is which is simplicity itself and more importantly “fun”. It’s a breath of fresh air in an often rigid business environment.

Anyone can promote their work, products, services and whatever else they choose via Twitter and can do so in a flash. The key is in building up a massive network, but it has to be one where people value your tweets. This is where social media experts come into their own and are worth their weight in gold.

One of the best companies around at the present time happens to be Social Buzzing, a hardworking network of people fronted by a refreshingly hands-on CEO. These guys have built up a solid reputation for getting results in a timely fashion and the positive snowball effect is astonishing being extremely well structured which keeps search engines happy.

Getting the information out there is easy, knowing what people want and need takes a little more effort, but when it all comes together the work and time put in, can reap generous rewards all in part thanks to Twitter’s wonderfully simple social media platform paired to the expertise these guys have to offer.

 

Author: Honey Wood

 

Protect your work with Sample Safe

When Does Being Too Busy Negatively Impact Your Business?

The answer is a resounding “always”. There can never be an excuse when it comes to not replying or acknowledging receipt of an email or any other message and this is especially true in what has become a fast moving digital world.

Business people (and others) proudly proclaim they’re always “connected” no matter where they happen to be. They spend hours building up their digital networks because it’s “essential” to stay in touch, to be transparent and to gain peoples’ trust. After all, this is exactly what the virtual world is all about. We are told by “people in the know” that to be taken seriously and therefore succeed, we need to network like never before.

Can You Trust Someone Who is Too Busy?

With more companies opening their virtual doors every moment of the day and night, “trust” has become an issue and not replying or acknowledging receipt of a digital message has to be one of the biggest business “no-nos” ever. By not replying in a timely fashion you are  perceived differently and the “trust” you may have built up over time, well, that’s just vanished out of the window along with your credibility.

It doesn’t matter where you happen to be in the world and it really doesn’t matter what time zone you are in – replying to people who contacts you is a business essential. It does not matter whether it’s an associate, someone making an inquiry or other, good business sense dictates that no matter who messages you, replying in a timely fashion is a must. Waiting a few days, a week or not replying at all, is totally unacceptable and for which, all too often there is a high price to pay.

Sorry Been Really Busy Doesn’t Cut it!

You have to ask yourself how would you be perceived if you told someone “Sorry, just been so busy” and the answer is that person would think they were not worth your time, which is not only pretty rude but it’s incredibly bad for business in any environment.

In a world where staying “connected” is not only crucial but the life blood of a business – it takes no effort, nor does it take up valuable time to acknowledge receipt of a message. The fact remains that for whatever reason a message is ignored, the one constant is that your actions or lack of them, will negatively impact not only your business but your credibility too.

Author: Honey Wood