You keep hearing that you are supposed to fill your site with unique content to rule the search engines. But getting all of that content written takes so much work. Wouldn’t it be easier just to borrow some articles from another site to get some words up on your page? Well, yes, it would be simpler, but it could also be detrimental to your site’s success.
How Bad Is It to Steal Content?
Really bad. If you thought you were punished harshly for trying to copy some answers in your high school math class, you haven’t seen anything yet. If Google finds out that the articles and blogs on your site are not original, you will be severely penalized. Sometimes Google will stop showing your site altogether, putting you back at square one, or worse. The moral of the story, duplicate content, and search engine optimization (SEO) don’t mix.
While black-hat SEO tactics may have produced results in the early days of the digital marketing boom, Google and other search engines have cracked down on exploitative and dishonest marketing practices significantly in recent years. The Google search algorithm is particularly adept at sorting out high-quality content designed for human readers and keyword-stuffed content intended solely to capture clicks. It is no longer possible to see any success with a low-effort content marketing campaign.
Can I Repeat My Own Content?
What you write is technically yours, so you still don’t want to repeat it. Maybe this type of duplicate content won’t get you an official penalty, but it will still affect your ratings. Why? When Google indexes webpages to match keywords, they are always looking for the most credible sources. If several of your pages show up with the same words, Google won’t tell which one is more legit, so at the expense of making a mistake, they will just discard all of them and choose a different site entirely.
Repetitive content will undoubtedly strike a real blow to your organic SEO results. Once your brand has experienced such a downturn, it can be tough to recover. So, it’s best to be as proactive as possible when developing content geared for organic SEO.
What is organic SEO? It is the measure of users clicking to your website organically; that is, they find your website naturally by using a search engine and browsing the top results for their search query. Organic SEO is an essential component of any functional sales funnel, and in the digital age, it is the primary method of attracting new business to your brand online.
So, How Different Does It Really Need To Be?
By now, you know that duplicate content and SEO are a bad combination, but you may want to know just how unique you need to make the words on your site. The answer is unique. It’s not enough to borrow articles from other sites and just fudge the words around, so they pass Copyscape. While this may get you in the results initially, once searchers realize you aren’t offering anything new, they will stop clicking.
What Should I Do?
To combat the negative effects of duplicate content and SEO, you need to get creative. You should come up with inventive angles for already covered issues, or better yet, think of groundbreaking topics all on your own. Be the first to point something out or give advice on a particular subject, and you are golden. Always write your content to offer your readers value that they can’t find anywhere else on the internet. No, it’s not the easy path, but it is the one that will get you results.
If your site has any product descriptions, distinctively rewrite them instead of just copy and pasting the manufacturers’ write-ups. This is done way too often and could be hurting your rankings.
What to Do With Duplicate Content
Once you have determined that some of your older content is worthy of repurposing, your next question is likely to be how to manage duplicate content. This is a somewhat delicate process. As previously mentioned, merely regurgitating the same information in a new format doesn’t provide your readers with anything new. Once they catch onto this trend, they’ll quickly abandon your brand for another that offers more substance.
Instead of simply looking for ways to recycle content, try looking at the subject matter your team has covered through a new lens to develop unique content for SEO. Remember, your SEO strategy is flexible and very likely to require alterations from time to time. Your content development strategy is similar, and your audience’s needs and desires have likely changed since you published the content you want to repurpose.
Take Advantage of Digital Content Marketing Services
It can be incredibly challenging to balance your everyday responsibilities with running a business and developing a solid marketing campaign. Digital content marketing services are incredibly valuable to business owners who cannot spare the time necessary for consistent SEO development.
By working with the right content development team, you can make sure your brand is never short on high-quality content for your audience. Experienced writing and editing teams that specialize in creating content geared for SEO results can help you think of new types of content for your website and social media channels.
Additionally, high-quality digital content marketing services are fantastic resources if you want to upcycle your old content into something fresh, relevant, and valuable to your audience.
Create New, Unique Content with Zero Gravity Marketing
Working with the right content marketing team can make a tremendous impact on your SEO results. If you have been struggling to reach new customers online and can’t think of good ways to repurpose older content, Zero Gravity Marketing (ZGM) can help. Our team is experienced at creating unique content tailored for organic SEO results, taking a significant marketing responsibility off of your plate, so you can focus on running your business.
Even though it takes more work, creating new content is worth the effort. Contact ZGM today to learn more!
