Duplicate Content Is A Confusing Issue
Q: “I need content for my website; can I just copy content from industry journals and benefit from that quality content?”
A: No, aside from the copyright concerns of using content that is not yours, your rankings (if they exist) would suffer because it is highly likely the major search engines would detect the duplicate content. As a result, the page that you create may get flagged as duplicated and it would be ignored at the very least. The page could even devalue your site’s overall credibility. Credibility is a critical component of Google’s algorithm so sites with less credibility tend to have a harder time staying (’sticking’ if you will) in a particular ranking.
There is a lot of confusion about duplicate content. Blogs generally don’t have much to worry about unless you are copying and pasting complete articles. If you are taking snippets of articles or content from other blogs and websites, that is generally not considered duplicate content. If you are copying and pasting articles from other websites for content on your website then that is a cause for concern. In that case, duplicate content may be your least worry; you might have to worry more about a copyright infringement lawsuit.
Articles, if taken from an article directory, should not be considered duplicate content. However, you’ll have to be mindful that many other webmasters and site owners will be using the same articles. A handful of uses won’t send up any red flags at the search engines. But after awhile the search engines will quit counting those articles as content so they won’t help you. Be sure, if at all possible, that you find out how many times an article from a directory has been used before you try to take it yourself. Otherwise, you may not get any search engine benefit from the article.
Q: “How much of my page should be unique? Is there a standard ratio or percentage you can share?”
A: There is no industry standard formula but, if I had to state a percentage, I would say a minimum of 70% of the page should be completely unique to thwart any concerns of duplication. You may be able to get away with less than 70% unique content, but I would suggest this is playing with fire. Either way, this statistic is moot since every page you create needs to be created with the intention to provide a powerful resource; after all search engines are only a small part of the plan – you do need visitors to like what they see and buy your product or service!
I would say go for at least 80%. You want there to be no doubt that your content is unique and original. There is no fooling the search engines. Don’t even try.
No one knows everything there is to know about duplicate content. Even very successful Internet marketers find themselves being penalized for duplicate content. Sometimes it seems arbitrary, but the search engines have ways of choosing which sites stay ranked higher and which sites are penalized. They tend to like sites that have more backlinks and have been alive longer, although sometimes the sites with more backlinks are younger than others with the same or similar content. That’s where the search engines see the gray area and just makes a pick. You’ll do yourself a favor if you don’t even flirt with duplicate content. Stick to original and unique content and you’ll never have to worry.
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