Does copied content rank higher than your original on Google?

Do you know how Google checks your content quality?

Online publishers of original content get confused, irritated and angry when they do not rank high on search engines. What’s worse is they see red when copied content ranks higher. Is Google guilty by these paid searches or is the algorithm at fault and needs to be rectified? How does it affect business for people who are diligently getting keywords to make their blogs, articles, services and case studies more visible? Is there a method to this madness?

Content writers have to bear the burnt as they are often at the receiving end or the services are terminated. But often they are not to blame. Readers type different keywords in the address bar and that may not be the best way for your copy to rank higher. Google will bring up results that the searcher types. If the keywords are mere headlines or random text then the ranking is not clear.

More often copied content comes first for competitive keywords when readers cum consumers search for keywords. Google simply tries to match the keyword search or text with the one that is on the page of a website. The page cannot be ranked twice and copied content appears more visible.

One example is ‘top story’ that gets on the first page during the search. Google will display relevant websites to the query. The same page cannot appear twice because of a deduplication technology. This is why original content does not appear on the ranking. If you type the headline only… the page may not rank. Writers often search by the headline. But this is not the only way to search. Alternative searches bring better results rather than just being headline-oriented.

Please share your experiences when you type your stories on search engines. Maybe you could help clients to understand what ‘quality content means.’

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