How Copied Content Can Help Your Page Rather Than Hurt It
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Different Copied Content Methods Have Different Results
Ok, so here is the deal, there is a lot of content copying happening out there and I have had several articles copied and found on other content websites. Just yesterday I found 2 of my articles posted in whole on other websites and man was I not happy. So I did a little research about copied content online and the duplicate content penalties. As my blood was boiling, I managed to find some information about copied content policies that actually may make people who copy and paste my work beneficial to me. There are a couple different ways to copy content and put on a website. The right way and the wrong way.
Copied Content: The Wrong Way
Copy and pasting content is just flat wrong, it creates multiple instances of the same text in search engines and while there isn't a "duplicate content penalty" according to Google, it does hurt results because if the person who copied it has a page with higher rank they will get the spot on the search page over you since Google tries to prevent having multiple results point to the same information. i.e. your PR is 0 but someone copies your work and pastes on a page that has PR 3, they will get the listing on the page while you are left in the cold. So in effect there is a duplicate content penalty although it is not in the form many people think.
The Right Way for Copied Content
Syndication is the only "right" and accepted way to use copied content. Many article directories offer syndication code that allows website owners to use content as long as they follow certain rules. These rules are meant to protect the writer from copyright issues as well as protect from having search engines rank a copied page higher than the original content page. The basic rules for copied content through syndication are as follows.
The article must be used in the exact context it is posted and include any embedded links the author placed in the article. This helps the writer because it adds back links to your page when it is posted elsewhere.
The person using the copied content must use the syndication code provided by the article directory. This syndication codes has tags in it that let search engines know this is not the original content and that it is syndicated from the original source.
The post where the copied content appears must give credit to the author and reveal the source of the information. This helps the writer gain credibility and recognition.
What This Means For My Copied Content
I mentioned I found two articles that had been posted in whole on other websites. I did not see any credit given to me and so I was a bit angry. I did however notice that the articles still contained my links that I had placed in the articles. I thought for a second and realized that the odds are someone copying and pasting content with a harmful intent is unlikely to leave my links in tact. I contacted the site owner through the contact us button and inquired about the copied content on their page. The response I got was a pleasant one, They updated the author information, added the resource information, and left my links in place. Why did they not have this information already? Because I did not create a resource box with my information in it. This meant the syndication code did not have the correct resource information to display my name and the location the article came from. Now it does, I have 3 quality backlinks from a PR 4 website and all is right with the world.
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Thanks for reading and I am glad to share the benefit of this knowledge.
I totally agree with you. Sometimes, copied content can help your site.
Once an actress used an entire article from my SF Wellness column (which was not supposed to be copied); but, she included my resource box and a link. I decided not to make a big deal about it because she used it for her cancer site and she was trying to make a difference in other people's lives.
Another time, a university used an entire article (from the same column) with my resource box and link. An edu backlink can give a major boost to a website. I could have complained, but it would not have been too smart.
I get really irritated when web publishers copy my entire article without giving me credit/link for my work. Thankfully, this is rare. Usually, it can easily be fixed by writing to the publisher to either remove your article or give credit/link for your work.
Google has a great system that helps determine which content is original. So, that can help you avoid duplicate content penalty while penalizing the duplicated content.
Thanks for this great hub!
:) Allie
you are quite welcome, I am glad it has worked out for you in those instances. I would love to get a couple edu links.
this has happened to me as well , with a recent fashion article. they did credit me, so I chose not to get angry about it!
I think that if someone finds something I write valuable enough to share with others, as long as I am given full credit, that's great. The information will reach people who otherwise might not see the information and if it brings more people to my other work, that's even better.
Sounds like you handled the situation professionally and the other party had no devious intent.
BTW, how did you find that your work had been copied?
I appreciate the comments, I am glad to help anyway I can. I found my content was copied by using copyscape and internet searches. Maybe I will write a hub about that next.
Good to know that copied content doesn't always hurt. I have had some copied stuff too
Thanks for posting this terrific Hub. What interesting information! I did check out copyscape and entered a few of my hub URLs, but I got a strange message that the maximum number of searches for this URL has been reached. Looking deeper, I learned that others have searched copyscape for the same URL and that's why the maximum searches had been reached.
I really look forward to your next hub on using copyscape and internet searches :) I dont' quite know what a resource box is either :(
Thanks for the comment, Theresource box is something that ezines and other article sites use where you can put links to other resources or your web site along with your bio information.
Thanks for the comment, Theresource box is something that ezines and other article sites use where you can put links to other resources or your web site along with your bio information.
"Because I did not create a resource box with my information in it. This meant the syndication code did not have the correct resource information to display my name and the location the article came from. Now it does, I have 3 quality backlinks from a PR 4 website and all is right with the world."
Questions:
1. Was the copied material from HubPages or another site?
2. Is the resource box similar to our profiles?
3. What should be in your resource box?
That is true. If you copy content from article directories and include the author's resource box information, you shouldn't be penalized for it. At the same time, like you mentioned, it is a free promotion for the author since his resource information is popping up on different sites and providing one way back-links to the author’s original source. Not only that your are getting free one way links to your site, you are getting free traffic from those sites.
In response to Duchess' questions
My content was copied from an article directory. The article directories have a resource box that you use when submitting articles. In that box you want to put your name or pen name, a link to your main website and any links to relevant content you own.
The resource box is not the same as the profile here though it will likely have the same information, hubpages currently does not have a syndication option. The syndication option offered on article directories is a box that has your content in html with code that tells search engines that this content is syndicated and that tells the search engine not to penalize or de-index the page where the original is located.
Thanks for the info
Thanks for stopping by, I hope the info helps.
Great Hub! Nice way of presenting the facts that you discovered. Thanks for the share
Thanks H.C. I am glad you found it informative and I hope it helps anyone who has ran into issues with copied content. My copyscape hub should be done tonight or tomorrow.
I have heard that search engines are unlikely to rank a webpage well if they detect duplicate content elsewhere on the web. Do you know if this is the case? I was recently contacted by someone who wanted to post one of my articles (with links and credited to me) on her website but I asked her to simply mention the article and link to it instead, as I thought that re-posting it would hurt search engine traffic. Was this the right move or not? Any ideas?
Karen, that is a good question, it is also only a half truth. The fact is, there are millions of pages on the net and many have the same or similar content. There is a right way and wrong way as explained above. Search engines will not penalize you or unrank you if the content is found elsewhere and is tagged appropriately. If someone syndicates your article and states that on the page and posts it in html with the proper tags it will not be harmful. If the content is copied without permission and is not tagged appropriately the search engine will pick whichever it feels is most relevant and list it in the index while removing the other one from the index or lowering it in the index. Read my hub about Copyscape for information on how to fight unauthorized copying of your content.
Very helpful hub. It helps me to see that direct quotes and the mention of source in text is not the best way to give credit to an author in most cases online. Thanks for the info!
Cassi, you are exactly right. If they post the article in text and just put text that says who the author is it will not tell the search engine to not index that page. The problem here is that if their page has a higher rank than yours it could cause your page to be de-indexed. The proper way is to have the article syndicated with a proper resource box and html tag telling search engines not to index it over the original source.
Good hubs. so we need high rank blog?
Rank of the blog isn't as important as the traffic and relevance. If a site is never ranked high but gets tons of targeted traffic then it can be a great place to have your information found.
Thank you for voicing the annoyance and unethical activity of copying. I stopped writing articles on one of my Blogspot Blogs because an Industry person was letting me do their job for them, and not crediting me. Thank you for the information.
interesting article.
(At the risk of repeating myself) ..Another great article - very well researched, and presented in a simplified way. This has cleared up some confusion and misconceptions that I have had regarding duplicate content. Thanks again!
Information sources about copied content and duplicate content
- My Content was Copied: What Do I Do About Duplicate Content
Anything that you write on the internet is capable of being copied. I mean, yea you can code your website so that users cannot highlight and copy the content, but that doesn't rule out the "PrintScreen"... - Copied Content.com - We find others plagiarizing your web sites copyrighted content and help you wit
We can assist you in finding copyright infringement violators of your web sites copyrighted content. We can assist you in having the content removed from infringing web sites. We can give you the information you need to peruse further legal remedies - http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Webmasters/thread?tid=05c18fd8853276a3&hl=en
Google forum about copied content - Copyscape Plagiarism Checker - Duplicate Content Detection Software
Copyscape is a free plagiarism checker. The software lets you detect duplicate content and check if your articles are original. - Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Deftly dealing with duplicate content
- Duplicate Content Issues
Moderated by Danny Sullivan Search Engine Watch and organizer of the conference. Moved into large roomfilling up nicely. Introduces topic and first speaker. Anne Kennedy Beyond Ink. Double Trouble - How to avoid duplicate content Penalties. Wh
Organic Thoughts 2 years ago
I agree with you... creating quality content is hard work and seeing it stolen is truly frustrating.
But your article has pointed out a really interesting way to turn the situation favourable...