Does the Duplicate Content Penalty Really Exist?   by Jeff Statham

in Marketing    (submitted 2012-01-31)

Time after time I will hear marketers mistakenly use the phrase duplicate content while cowering in the corner at the very sound of it and the "penalization" that apparently goes along with it.

I get plenty of duplicate content penalty connected queries when website owners ask about publishing writing both on their site AND external sites. Obviously you are looking for as much traffic and link juice as possible, not to mention you want to share your best articles at as many spots on the net as possible, but you don't want to get punished for it, either.

To set the record straight, there really is no such thing as a punishable duplicate content penalty on different websites, it only occurs when the content exists on the same site. For instance, if you publish the same article on your web site in 2 unique pages, that is a blatant example of duplicate content that can hurt you and cause you to incur a penalty.

There are also illustrations of unintended duplicate content on one web site like normal versions of a web page plus a stripped down version designated for cellular phones or having printer prepared versions of a page. In the end Google doesn't mind if the exactly matching content exists in 2 places on the same web site so long as it is not intentional. The only issue that arises here is that Google can only index one web page but does not know that to choose, and occasionally it results in being the one the site owner doesn't desire.

With regards to unique sites, duplicate content penalization is once more fundamentally a delusion with regards to Google itself. Unless you're reposting the exact same content on lots and lots of other sites, there generally isn't anything to worry about in terms of reposting content from your internet site to another place online. Spokespeople from Google have plainly distinguished that they don't bother with most of these cases, and it's only when it is very malicious and intentional.

Some sites such as higher profile article directories have issues with your reposting content from your web site to theirs simply because they don't want to republish information that is already published elsewhere. If you are feeling anxious about it, then try rewriting a bit of your original article before you present it elsewhere to make it different again. Make sure you do this with the larger article directories specifically who are more likely to check and search for that article before they will accept it, but again there is no such thing as a site duplicate content penalty for doing this.

For more information, take a look at this post on the duplicate content penalty and tips on how to avoid it.

About the Author

I get a lot of duplicate content penalty related questions when webmasters ask in relation to publishing writing both on their site AND external sites. You obviously desire as much internet traffic and link juice as you can get, not to mention you want to circulate your best articles or reviews at as many spots over the internet as possible, but you don't want to get penalized for it, either.