Understanding the Real Impact of Duplicate Content in Search Engine Marketing



It took time, but in April 2012, Google finally put ifs foot down to rid its search engine results pages
(SERPs) of links directing to bad sites by releasing two game-changing, and even historical search
algorithm updates – Penguin and Panda. Howls from web administrators and business owners who got
hit by this purging were heard in all corners of cyberspace. Today, many businesses tap into the
professional services of an SEO company or an internet marketing agency to make their websites more
compliant to the requirements of these search algorithm updates.



Panda and Penguin basically went after two of the most notorious things that beleaguer the Internet –
unnatural (spammy) links and poor quality content. As for content, one of the worst content out there is
duplicate content. Every SEO company is well aware that plagiarism is one of the most rampant crimes
on the Internet, and now, Google is coming hard on these content thieves by demoting these sites
drastically on its search results pages.



Copied Content from Good Sources is Bad Content

Carbon copied content, even from good sites, will be treated as poor content. One of the downsides, if
you’re going to view it from a negative perspective, is that even the original content will be treated bad
content if it gets copied and may receive ranking penalization from Google. Hence, website administrators
are now more mindful of online content copycats and regularly checking duplicates of their content using
tools such as Copyscape. If you or your partner internet marketing agency is not currently doing this, you
better start. Especially if you noticed that there was a significant decline in your SERP rankings and web
traffic from Google, maybe your site, or at least its content, has an evil twin sister out there.



The Loophole of Outsourcing Content to Third Party Providers

Most businesses or web owners don’t have in-house writers and the next best option is to outsource their
content requirements. There’s really nothing wrong with this practice, but it is extremely easy for duplicate
content to get into your site without being detected.



In this case, the old adage “It takes two to tango applies.” It’s the content writer’s fault that he or she
copied the content, but it is your fault that you did not do your due diligence to check for duplicate content.
The best route to go is to hire a reputable SEO company to do the content for you. But even with that
option, every website administrator should take it upon himself to review every piece of content before it
gets published live to on a web property.
Oftentimes, businesses would hear the phrase “Content is King” from almost every internet marketing
agency and this is true. Every search engine marketing campaign will crumble without high quality content
and one of the tenets that define this is uniqueness. Before Google rolled out Penguin and Panda,
content burglars snatched content without incurring penalties. Today, duplicate content will definitely
cause a website to lose its rankings, thereby losing traffic and ultimately lose opportunities to generate
revenues and profits.

Author is working as an Internet Marketing professional in an SEO company NY, New York. He likes to
write informative articles on various topics related to Internet Marketing. Through this article, he wants to
share his knowledge with people who are about to hire an Internet marketing agency for their businesses.

Understanding the Real Impact of Duplicate Content in Search Engine Marketing

  • 1.
    Understanding the RealImpact of Duplicate Content in Search Engine Marketing It took time, but in April 2012, Google finally put ifs foot down to rid its search engine results pages (SERPs) of links directing to bad sites by releasing two game-changing, and even historical search algorithm updates – Penguin and Panda. Howls from web administrators and business owners who got hit by this purging were heard in all corners of cyberspace. Today, many businesses tap into the professional services of an SEO company or an internet marketing agency to make their websites more compliant to the requirements of these search algorithm updates. Panda and Penguin basically went after two of the most notorious things that beleaguer the Internet – unnatural (spammy) links and poor quality content. As for content, one of the worst content out there is duplicate content. Every SEO company is well aware that plagiarism is one of the most rampant crimes on the Internet, and now, Google is coming hard on these content thieves by demoting these sites drastically on its search results pages. Copied Content from Good Sources is Bad Content Carbon copied content, even from good sites, will be treated as poor content. One of the downsides, if you’re going to view it from a negative perspective, is that even the original content will be treated bad content if it gets copied and may receive ranking penalization from Google. Hence, website administrators are now more mindful of online content copycats and regularly checking duplicates of their content using tools such as Copyscape. If you or your partner internet marketing agency is not currently doing this, you better start. Especially if you noticed that there was a significant decline in your SERP rankings and web traffic from Google, maybe your site, or at least its content, has an evil twin sister out there. The Loophole of Outsourcing Content to Third Party Providers Most businesses or web owners don’t have in-house writers and the next best option is to outsource their content requirements. There’s really nothing wrong with this practice, but it is extremely easy for duplicate content to get into your site without being detected. In this case, the old adage “It takes two to tango applies.” It’s the content writer’s fault that he or she copied the content, but it is your fault that you did not do your due diligence to check for duplicate content. The best route to go is to hire a reputable SEO company to do the content for you. But even with that option, every website administrator should take it upon himself to review every piece of content before it gets published live to on a web property.
  • 2.
    Oftentimes, businesses wouldhear the phrase “Content is King” from almost every internet marketing agency and this is true. Every search engine marketing campaign will crumble without high quality content and one of the tenets that define this is uniqueness. Before Google rolled out Penguin and Panda, content burglars snatched content without incurring penalties. Today, duplicate content will definitely cause a website to lose its rankings, thereby losing traffic and ultimately lose opportunities to generate revenues and profits. Author is working as an Internet Marketing professional in an SEO company NY, New York. He likes to write informative articles on various topics related to Internet Marketing. Through this article, he wants to share his knowledge with people who are about to hire an Internet marketing agency for their businesses.