Blogging and duplicate content: what is it and what are the consequences?
Everyone who blogs or publishes textual content in any manner on the web will sooner or later have to deal with duplicate content. What is duplicate content and what are the consequences for your traceability on the internet?
Duplicate content roughly means that the same content was published online in multiple places. There is no hard and fast rule, but according to Google's guidelines it must concern pages of which a 'substantial part contains the same content.' It can relate to entire blogs, but also for example product descriptions, specifications or disclaimers.
This is not a rare phenomenon. 30 Percent of all written content is already somewhere else on the web. This does not imply that you as a blogger or content marketer should not take this into account. Duplicate content mainly occurs if you copy for example an already published blog and post it on LinkedIn or another blog website.
Confusion
It mainly confuses search engines. They index namely only one of the pages with duplicate content. Google is the one who decides which version is the 'original' version and is entitled to a higher ranking in the search index. The others are ignored, or receive a spot on a page hidden so far away that no visitor will ever find it. Not you but the search engine determines which version they will present to your target group.
Loss of control
It makes you lose control. In this way you will lose grip on your content strategy which of course you want to avoid for many reasons. For example when the original blog is posted on a strong website with a lot of authority and is therefore found easily by search engines. It is possible that after you moved it to LinkedIn or another site, the original will no longer show up in search engines. What you receive in return depends on the goodwill of the search engine, but a LinkedIn profile will hardly ever receive the same high ranking in the search results as a prestigious website. You will lose visits to your blog while it was probably the author's intention to reach a wider audience.
Misunderstanding: Damaging to SEO
It is a persistent misunderstanding that websites with a lot of duplicate content automatically receive lower ratings of Google. This is not the case. Google is currently not punishing websites that for example repost a lot of articles. This is not to say that this is an ideal situation: there is the chance that the reposted article is not included at all, because Google chooses the same article on the other website.
How do you prevent duplicate content?
As a blogger or content marketer you can prevent duplicate content in a number of ways:
1. Rewrite the content
The best and most obvious way is to rewrite your blog (or have it rewritten) completely. Rewriting every sentence just a bit differently and using synonyms for frequently used words will prevent search engines from viewing the republished blog as duplicate content.
This has two main advantages. You will not only reach a larger audience with your reposted blog, but there is also the addititional chance that search engines will offer the article with relevant key words. By using synonyms for relevant words in the rewritten article, your blog is covering a larger search volume. Now there is the possibility that the original and the rewritten version are found, each on the basis of their own search words.
2. Publish the content in another language
Another smart method is to translate your blog (manually!) into another language. If your original blog is in Dutch, then post an English version on LinkedIn Pulse. Search engines will generally not consider translated articles as duplicate content. The translation will reach another new target group as an added bonus. At the top of your blog you could also refer to the other version, so visitors can read the blog in the language of their choosing.
3. Refer to the version that will be indexed in the HTML
This is the least optimal method, but still better than just republishing. You have to indicate in the code of your blog which of the two (or more) publications of the blog has to be indexed by search engines. This enables you to somewhat regain control over your content strategy. You use a canonical tag for this, a line of code that refers to the version search engines have to index.
Not only is this a technical job, but it is not always possible. On LinkedIn it is for example not possible. Ask your site developer or HTML-specialist about your options. Please note: the canonical reference is an advice for search engines. In the end they will choose the version that will be included in the search results.
Those who want maximum benefits from reposting content, should avoid duplicate content. It takes some effort but it almost always pays off.