This is a slightly technical post but it’s close to my heart as it answers a question I often hear. Longtime readers of this blog will know that, since 2016, I have been posting all of my content simultaneously on both my main website, nicholasrossis.me, and my WordPress blog, nicholasrossis.wordpress.com (for the reasons which led me to this decision, see here).
This has led me to trouble in the past with some of my guest posters, who dislike the idea that their posts are duplicated on both places at once. The reason is that old SEO boogeyman, duplicate content.
The topic is full of anecdotes, myths, urban legends, and folklore passed down from marketer to marketer over the years. And like any story or tale, it gets taller and more exaggerated as it’s told.
“Google will lower your rank if you post content already published elsewhere,” some say.
“No,” others correct them. “It won’t just lower your rank. It will actually penalize you.”
“No,” a dark voice whispers. “It will blacklist you and you’ll never get another visitor again.”
“No,” someone howls. “It will also take your firstborn and sacrifice it to the SEO gods. And kick your cat on its way out.”
So, I was thrilled when Elegant Themes published a detailed review looking for any kernels of truth in these urban legends and misconceptions.
Will Google Blacklist Your Site for Duplicate Content?
There are variations of this floating around everywhere. That having even one instance of duplicate content will put you on Google’s bad side, whether that means a blacklisting from Google, or a penalty resulting in a lower ranking in various query results.
But is every case of duplicate content the same?
Short answer, no:
- Scrapers take content against the authors’ wishes.
- But you may be re-posting guest articles, fleshing out a secondary site (the way I do), or even syndicating content.
- Or, perhaps, you have a template you use for interviews with the same questions repeated week after week after week.
Are all these examples duplicate content? 100% absolutely yes.
Is Google going to blacklist/penalize you for it? Maybe, but only on the first occasion.
You see, it takes a lot for Google to blacklist a site. If you’re not hosting malware, phishing scams, or just straight-up spam, the likelihood of your being blacklisted is nil. And as for penalizing your site, Google has said numerous times, they do not penalize for duplicate content. Or, as they put it:
Duplicate content is not really treated as spam.
So, if there are two websites with the same content, Google’s search algorithms will determine which website is the most relevant and provides the most value to users, and then display that result.
Google knows scraped content. Those websites are easy to find for them and their algorithms. In fact, you’ve probably run across scraped content before and saw how horrible the website was: full of ads, badly formatted, poorly designed, and just a heinous experience altogether. And worst of all? Nothing else on the site helped you with what you were searching for except this one, tiny excerpt you found.
That’s why Google takes search intent into account so much. Even if you have duplicate content, if it’s valuable content (and the rest of the site is valuable to users), you will be displayed in search results over websites with the exact same article.
Google Penalizes Thin Content, Not Duplicate
The reason that your site would be prioritized in search rankings over the duplicates is that scraper websites are full of what is known as thin content. That means that articles on these sites are short, the site itself is an unfocused mishmash of topics across many niches and industries, and it probably has an incredibly high bounce rate (i.e. most people leave after just a few seconds on that site). In other words, they’re nearly useless articles on nearly useless sites.
So, what kinds of content does Google prioritize?
- Those which answer the question of the searcher
- Articles which go into detail about it and provide as much value as possible.
- Posts with both internal links to other articles you’ve written on the topic, as well as external references.
All these show Google that you’ve done your research and care about providing your readers value, and they also make it so that when you do get scraped, you get a handful of links back to your site that might one day work as referral traffic.
Canonical Links and Other Ways to Do Duplicate Content Right
So, what should I do when duplicating my content on both my website and blog? There are a couple of options for handling this situation (keep in mind that these only address full duplication. For snippets, excerpts, summaries, and incidental duplication, you will be fine, as long as the content itself is sound–i.e. not scraped.)
Canonical Links
Using a canonical link tag is probably the best bet you have for keeping your duplicate content in check. While a lot goes on under the hood with a rel=’canonical’ tag, what it boils down to is you’re telling Google that whatever link you provide after it is the real deal and the one they should index.
For instance, if you have an article published at example.com/your-article, but you want to re-post that content on your own site, you’d include a tag on the reposted one that looks like this:
<a href=”http://example.com/your-article” rel=”canonical” >
Google usually respects this request, although it also reserves the right to determine which is the better source to rank based on their internal metrics and algorithms.
On WordPress, adding the canonical tag can be tricky, so you can use a plugin to easily do it. The aptly named Canonical SEO Content Syndication plugin works well for this, assuming you can install plugins on your site. If not, you’ll have to go into the Text editor instead of the Visual one and manually insert the rel=”canonical” tag into your link:
Content Redirection
If you have two domain names sharing the same content, or you have recently moved domains, you could also have the old one automatically redirect to the new one. This is called a 301 redirect and it tells Google and other engines where the new content lives. Google eventually sorts out that it’s been redirected and begins indexing the target site instead.
So… Should You Worry About Duplicate Content?
Short answer: no. As long as you create content mindfully and look at why your audience is looking at your site and what answers they need, you won’t have to worry about duplicating content. Unless you’re a content scraper. But you’re not. So you’re safe. And if you’re worried, just add a canonical link at the end (or beginning) of each duplicated post and you’re fine.
For some more information (and links) on the subject, check out the original post on the Elegant Themes website.
dariusmarley said:
Good post, Nicholas. You certainly made me nostalgic for the days when I was learning Requests module deployment, and also for that moment when I realized that rogue dupes and redirects are simply things we can’t control. One of my clients said it best, I think: “When in doubt, just keep writing more, and always write better.”
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Well said, Darius!
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The Story Reading Ape said:
Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog.
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Priscilla Bettis said:
Good info to know, thanks. I learned a new term, too: “content scraper.”
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
When I first saw such a site, I wondered what was wrong with it. They’re not designed for people; only Google!
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K Morris Poet said:
Thank you for this helpful article. I have recorded many of the poems which appear on my website on Youtube and (as of today) around 70 on Sound Cloud. Am I right in thinking that because its me (the poet) reading my work (rather than simply reproducing the poem in written form on another site) that I won’t be penalised? Also, where I to record (on Sound Cloud) content which already appears on Youtube, would I be likely to be penalised for doing so? I guess that the answer to that question may be rather like answering “how long is a piece of string?” Kind regards – Kevin
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
No, it’s easier than that. Your spoken word and your written one are two different things. Google definitely won’t penalize you for that.
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K Morris Poet said:
Many thanks for the clarification.
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beetleypete said:
A lot of this is over my head, on a technical basis. But I get the idea. I don’t seem to have had any issues with reblogs, guest posts, or referencing articles. So I will blunder along as normal, and hope for the best. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
That’s a good plan, Pete 🙂
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David Davis said:
Useful info. I hope Google gives you some points.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Lol–thanks 😀
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Sue Vincent said:
Reblogged this on Sue Vincent's Daily Echo.
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Staci Troilo said:
Ah, where was this article years ago when I tried to move from the free WP blog to a self-hosted one? I was never able to deal with bringing readers over and wanted to post the same content in both places… It’s a long and miserable story. Anyone who is now in the position I was in then will really benefit from this article.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you, Staci! I sure hope so 🙂
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Marcia said:
Reblogged this on The Write Stuff and commented:
A very interesting post from Nicholas Rossis today on an issue I never really understood. Apparently I’m not the only one confused by the subject of duplicate content, and I’m very glad for the clarification. Check it out! And remember to pass it along so others can learn more, as well, thanks! And thank you, Nicholas for once again teaching me something new. 🙂
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Sumita Tah said:
Thanks Nicholas for the immensely informative blog.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Yay! Thank you, Sumita 😀
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Marilyn Armstrong said:
I have more than 9,000 posts. I do rewrite earlier posts and bring them up to date. And I see no reason NOT to do it. After 9,000 posts, I think I’m entitled to reuse my content. The networks do it and Google does it all the time with their own content.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Well said, and now you know it’s officially a great idea to do so 🙂
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Marina Costa said:
Reblogged this on Marina Costa and commented:
Because many of us don’t know it yet
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Pingback: Author Inspiration and This Week’s Writing Links – Staci Troilo
kimwrtr said:
Reblogged this on Kim's Musings.
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geehankooner said:
👍🏼👍🏼
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you, Geehan!
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