Google’s duplicate content penalties may seem like a strict punishment for websites that are attacked. Most sellers are aware of these actions and run their sites accordingly. However, what is not widely known among SEO circles is what actually constitutes “duplicate content” and how domain owners can be sure their websites are compliant. A website owner’s worst nightmare is finding out the hard way that their search rankings have dropped and they’ve been removed from Google’s index entirely.
You can make sure you’re on the right side of Google’s rules by understanding the idea of ”duplicate content” and making sure you’re not violating Google’s policies.
First, you should know that Google’s motives for punishing those with duplicate content are quite reasonable. The fact is that Google wants to prevent search results pages from being overwhelmed by websites with the same or similar content, and for good reason; duplicate information makes it difficult for searches to find what they are looking for.
Google created a new patented “fingerprinting” technology to prevent duplicate content from appearing on different websites. By registering an initial “fingerprint” of a site, Google can periodically compare the “fingerprints” of multiple sites in a database and reduce the value of sites with copies of content.
There are several examples of websites and website content that can be considered duplicates, and surprisingly, you will find that most of them are not related to spam. Here are a few:
Content of public lending right: The most common case penalized by Google’s duplicate content policy is the use of PLR articles or other free articles in exchange for a link.
Mirrored Sites: It is quite common to “mirror” a site to balance the amount of traffic on the server and allow sites to split the visits received between two identical sites. This practice is effective for balancing server load and eliminating downtime during load, but copies of the site are considered duplicate content.
Let’s say you have the .com, .net, and .org versions of your URL, or commonly misspelled versions of your URL. Instead of just redirecting traffic to a single URL, it may be wise to include some of your content, a newsletter, or free downloads on these pages.
Domain subniches: If you have a sub-niche site, you should use subsets of content with keywords. For example, if you write personal finance articles for single moms, you can take advantage of your articles by creating sites that target special topics, like “single-moms-savings-tips.com” and “single-moms-debt-help-tips. com”.
Dynamically generated content and/or templates: Using RSS feeds from blogs and news/article syndicates equals more duplicate content on websites. Dynamically generated templates in content management systems (CMS) or shopping carts may also register as duplicate content. NOTE: This example applies only to fonts that are displayed as static HTML. If you’re using a JavaScript feed to drive visitors, it can’t help your SEO, but it also can’t trigger a duplicate content flag, since Google bots can’t read it anyway.
Entry Pages, Covert Pages, “Bombs” and Automated Directory Pages: Regardless of how promising this new technology may seem, Google is quickly catching up and vetting every new script and tool. Therefore, these pages should not be used for any purpose other than market testing, finding quick leads, or as a means of generating temporary traffic via “disposable URLs.” It is critical that value-added content and personalization are incorporated into websites with such tools.
Site navigation elements and other “content”: It’s important to understand the broad definition of content by which Google evaluates websites. The arrangement of elements on your page, your internal link wording and structure, outbound links and anchor text, lead capture forms, graphics, product descriptions, pricing, articles, and Sales copies provided by the merchant, and other variables on the page all fall under the category of “content.” Each item can be flagged for violation of duplicate content rules.
Stole: Theft also applies to more than just written material on your site. If your page layouts, links, or even the entire website appear elsewhere, Google may drop you in the rankings or remove you from their index entirely.
Now that you have a good understanding of the idea of what duplicate content is, it’s time to make sure you’re not violating Google’s policies. Google management always seems to be aware of the things that are being done to try to “fool” them. It’s always a better idea to stick with white hat procedures when dealing with something as important as your reputation.