Duplicate Content and Ways around It

What Is Duplicate Content

Duplicate content is a forbidden practice in Google World, and probably every other search engine realm. If you’re unaware of what that phrase means, it refers to content, or even a close resemblance to content, that is used on a second site after being posted on a first. The benevolent intent is to prevent outright plagiarism. But the side effects are nearly worse than the original theft:

• Inability to post material on one’s own sight after guest posting on another
• Not being able to post articles anywhere else even if you’ve removed from the your home site
• Being bludgeoned by lower Google ranking if another site removes your guest articles and you re-post to your own

These are some of the unintended results of the duplicate content policy.

The Old Days

It’s no news to any even semi-aware writer that the Internet has changed the way we both read and write. The keyboard has replaced the typewriter, the Kindle is replacing the book, and streaming video must be cutting into theater movie profits, just as television did in the early 1950’s. I’m not going to make a case for the evil or the good of this (but know that I lean toward the former); it’s simply the current, inevitable result of the technology we cherish and nearly worship.

Formerly, a short, by my standards, time ago, up to the late 1990’s, the method of submission of one’s writing involved sending a neatly-typed, 250 word per page manuscript in a large manilla envelope with a similar, self-addressed, folded envelope. In all instances of my submissions and rejections, I never failed to receive some form of correspondence in return. That is no longer true when my articles are submitted by email. The process is too simple. Simplicity has the effect of inflating participation  Anyone can do it. Maybe a good thing, maybe not, depending on the intent. Many simply want to be published. Fine. And that leads to the crux of the content issue.

Websites are easy to create. With some experience, a site can be put on line and articles posted to it in ten minutes. And your site becomes a showplace for all that writing talent.. Now, enter the duplicate content gremlin. This happened to me in naïve days only months ago. My website with a rank in the eight figure range contained my best stuff. I wanted it to be read by a wider audience than my girlfriend and a couple on line buddies, so I decided to submit the pieces to a website with clout, and gain a solid back link in the process. Surprise! I was told sternly that my work could not be used on this hefty site because it had been indexed. An offer to remove it from my own website would make no difference due to the reasons given above. It had been branded as USED; thus,  it was tainted merchandise.

The Workaround: Option One

What to do? Is there no way to have articles on line without their being stamped “Do not transfer under penalty of Google”? The good news: There is not one way but two ways to accomplish this. The rejection of materials by that savvy webmaster had me scrambling for answers. The question was, how can I market my material short of uploading it time after time for possible guest posting? Using what I saw as my nemesis, Google, brought me to a new breed of website I didn’t know existed, a kind of  marketplace for articles. What a cyber-godsend!

Two of these hybrid miracles stood out. One is run by Cathy Stucker, BloggerLinkUp. In it I was able to simply register and throw my name in the hat as a guest poster and as one requesting guest posts. The other, and the one I use on a daily basis is Ann Smarty’s MyBlogGuest, a curious name for a system that works like a charm. I prefer this site because it contains a section called “MyArticles” in which anything new I’ve written can be “posted” without being indexed. The first third of an article, a sizeable excerpt,  goes on the market block for any of thousands to examine. The result has been wonderful; many of my pieces have been picked up by sites,  and I’ve garnered some guest posts for my own site.

The Workaround: Option Two

The second option, for WordPress users, allows a handy choice in the Dashboard under Privacy: “I would like to block search engines, but allow normal visitors.” I created a WordPress site with this idea in mind. It serves as a showcase where I can send prospective publishers to review a variety of my original writings and without an intrusion of the duplicate content issue. While there, the user can see my biographical information, photos, and the About Me page.

These two options allow writers to promote their work freely without restrictions from the Google machinery. For greater visibility, sites such as Ann Smarty’s are the most appropriate; for personal satisfaction I somehow prefer the WordPress route. And, being wise, finally, to the crafty ways of indexing, I use both techniques.

Out of Control

Science fiction author William Gibson, the creator of the word “cyberspace,” commented that in technology we are moving as fast as we possibly can with utterly no idea of where we’re headed. The Google Internet dictatorship is a perfect example. In our quest for easy access to information, we’ve sacrificed, in a real sense, much of our freedom of expression. As we press for more security, our options shrink. What can be done? By us, nothing. We only drive along the internet highways, we don’t build them. It’s not even a matter of protests, like this one, which can make a difference. The whole situation, including the duplicate content dilemma, is in the hands Google.