When I got my first SEO copywriting assignment from InSync Media, I expected them to ask me to proofread my copy on Grammarly. However, I was surprised that they also asked me to check my text using an online plagiarism checker.
Then I realized how much sense that makes. After all, I make a point on my blog to properly attribute my content and link to my original sources.
Turns out, you don’t only need to worry about Plagiarism at school, college, or university. Plagiarism is a main concern in the content marketing world as well. When a brand steps into the market, it can face serious backlash if it simply copies another websites’ content and fails to link back or properly credit them.
The Benefits of Crediting Your Sources
Besides being the right thing to do, crediting your sources actually offers several benefits to you.
To secure your website’s position and achieve a higher rank, writers should know how to properly use their sources. If you copy whole sentences, you can fast run into plagiarism issues. Always attribute any information copied verbatim and provide links where appropriate. Not only does this help you avoid plagiarism, but it also increases your trustworthiness as well.
Also, remember: plagiarism involves more than written content. Where appropriate, credit any videos, pictures, graphics, and music that you use in your articles.
The presence of plagiarized content on your website can be considered a copyright violation. Producing plagiarized content for one of your clients can expose you to damages claims and ruin your reputation and writing business.
A relevant anecdote from my personal experience: my ISP was recently redesigning his website. He downloaded a WordPress theme that included clipart photos and uploaded it to his development server. A few weeks later, a German lawyer approached him on behalf of a photographer and asked for proof of purchase for those photos—even though the website was still in the design phase!
Plagiarism and SEO
Crediting your sources also makes perfect sense from an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) point of view, as a post with several links to high-ranking websites ranks higher on Google.
Conversely, search engines can penalize you and block you temporarily or permanently if you regularly publish copied content without crediting your sources.
The easiest way to avoid any of this is to be careful when you write your content. But what if someone sends you a guest post? It may be a good idea to use a plagiarism checker to ensure that your guest hasn’t plagiarized the content.
The Editing Process
As part of your editing, check your grammar, review your spelling, check for clarity, and review your text for plagiarism. Only then can you send it to your client or publish it on your website. You can use any of several free online grammar tools to help with your editing.
Paraphrasing someone’s content is fine but it’s best to do it by hand as most online tools will produce text that sounds unnatural. Even so, automatic tools may speed up the process, as long as you edit carefully afterward and add the necessary keywords.
Other things to keep in mind include:
- Use proper Citations: whenever you take information from different sources, use citations. Citing the author’s work increases the credibility of your content as well.
- Implement Precise Quotations: To avoid plagiarism, avoid copying material word-to-word. If you find it essential to use a quote verbatim, place it within quotation marks and format it as a blockquote. This has the added benefit of improving readability as blockquotes break up long text.
- Add References: Instead of adding a link within your copy, you can also add a list of references at the end. Remember to credit all digital creators and sources that helped you, including images, videos, etc.
- Review: Once you complete all the steps mentioned above, use a plagiarism checker to check for plagiarism.
Plagiarism Checkers
The easiest way to check for plagiarism is to use one of the many free online plagiarism tools available to you. In this example, I’ll use plagiarismchecker.co.
All you have to do is upload your document or copy your content and paste it into the relevant field, then click the Check Plagiarism button.
The free version runs a series of relatively limited queries that are still enough for most users. The premium version expands the word limit and search queries, depending on the plan users opt for. The ability to deep search will make sure you get in-depth results as the plagiarism scanner’s algorithm dives deep into the internet and searches against a vast collection.
Premium users can also get extra features such as comparing two text files or two URLs.
Besides checking for plagiarism, Plagiarism Checker serves as a grammar and spelling checker. It highlights mistakes, unusual words, keyword density, and offers suggestions for rewriting sentences.
For Any Writing
As a freelance SEO copywriter, I write and edit some 50,000 words each month. On top of that, I have my own blog and books to think of. Surprisingly enough, I’ve found that each of these improves my writing in its own way. For example, fiction needs research as much as writing copy for clients does. And every piece of writing needs to be proofread and edited.
So, no matter what your niche or kind of writing, it’s a good idea to know the dos and don’ts of plagiarism!
bobokuma said:
Great post,
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you 🙂
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beetleypete said:
Great tips, Nicholas, and useful links and information too.
Thanks!
Best wishes, Pete.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you so much, Pete 🙂
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Staci Troilo said:
I second that!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you, Staci 🙂
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Sumita Tah said:
Great post, reblogged this on Englishtutorialedu.com
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you so much, Sumita! Much appreciated 🙂
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Sumita Tah said:
Most welcome 😊
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Sumita Tah said:
Reblogged this on English Literature and Grammar.
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C.E.Robinson said:
Nicholas, I’m so glad you posted this information. It’s something I need to do with my historical fiction book. I took & paraphrased history from internet sources and BOOKS. Some resources had only one or two sentences that were paraphrased, but they count. I’ll include a list at the end of the book as you suggested. I’m on the final editing stage and plan to publish this year sometime. I’m leaning toward sel-publishing. The first amendment rights is under attack in the U.S. In my book there’s reference to the horrors of people going against Socialism & Communism rule in WWII & East Berlin. I could use some guidance from you. I can email you more info at pearseus.com if you are available to consult. Just let me know. 📚🎶 Christine
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Of course, happy to help! Just tell me what you need 🙂
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C.E.Robinson said:
Thanks, Nicholas. I’ll email you more information. 📚🎶 Christine
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robbiesinspiration said:
Thanks for this useful information, Nicholas. It is good to know about the implications of plagiarism and how to avoid it.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
So glad you found it useful, Robbie! Thank you 🙂
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Chris The Story Reading Ape said:
Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog.
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OIKOS™-Editorial said:
Thank you very much, Nicholas! Another great posting, with very useful information. Will check out some academic resources too. 😉 With plagiarism you can get the best care in Germany. Lol As long as you can keep it a secret, until you get to this point. Best wishes, Michael
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Translations are not considered plagiarism. So, I imagine it must be quite easy to get away with it in Germany, as all you need to do is translate an English text on the subject matter. At least, that’s the case with Greek.
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OIKOS™-Editorial said:
It is entirely possible. But here it was found with some of our “superiors” that the German text was taken over without quoting these passages. 😉 If you are not Greek, it is difficult to learn Greek. My own experiences. :-))
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Liz Gauffreau said:
Hi, Nicholas. I’ve been trying to make real-world connections in the writing courses I’ve developed for the college where I work. I’d love to include a link to your post in the module on plagiarism. Would that be okay?
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V.M.Sang said:
Thank you for this useful post. Checking for plagiarism is important.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I’m glad you enjoyed it, Viv! Thank you 🙂
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Don Massenzio said:
Reblogged this on Author Don Massenzio and commented:
Check out this excellent post from Nicholas Rossis’ blog titled: Plagiarism and Content Marketing
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Klausbernd said:
I don’t see the problem. Usually, my agent and editors check the text for plagiarism and my research team quotes all their resources to me before. Every printing house workes like this I suppose.
Klausbernd 🙂
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Arguably, that’s even worse, since you will surely be discovered if you plagiarize. I’m sure it won’t do wonders for your reputation as a writer 🙂
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Stefan Ayers said:
50,000 words a month! And when do you sleep?
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Lol – what is this sleep thing you’re talking about?
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Jemima Pett said:
Never knew about plagiarism checkers. Maybe I’ll check some of my original work and see if someone has plagiarised it!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Now, that’s an interesting thought!
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raynayday said:
makes sense to me.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Glad to hear it! Thanks 🙂
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poorvi kumar said:
this was super informative! thanks for sharing 🙂
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed it 🙂
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Stephen Geez said:
Reblogged at GeezWriter.com. Thanks, Nicholas!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you so much, Stephen!
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onomatopoeia74 said:
Hi Nicholas! Thanks so much for such an informative and well-structured article. Plagiarism is a real bugbear of mine! Quick question – do you have any experience of other forms of content marketing ie podcasts, video? Will the same rules apply to those, in your opinion? Thanks again!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I do mention these in https://nicholasrossis.me/2021/04/07/audio-marketing-from-radio-to-clubhouse/ and https://nicholasrossis.me/2020/10/23/5-steps-for-a-successful-content-marketing-strategy/
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sushant18991 said:
I like it too!
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bobokuma said:
Thanks, great piece
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thanks, so glad you liked it 🙂
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julienicolek said:
I always struggled with the idea of plagiarism during my internship. We had an employee write for our company blog, and I was asked to find the source used after it had already been published. I quickly found the source with a quick copy and paste into Google, only to see that his entire blog post was verbatim of the original source. My experience, so far, shows how morals fade when GPA’s are no longer at stake.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thanks for sharing your experience, Julien!
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shriya said:
Great article! Thanks for posting!
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed it 🙂
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laviswills said:
It make sense to me to use the old content and tweak it for newer versions.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
Yep, it’s the simplest way for creating content 🙂
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Chad Underwood said:
Plagiarism is something I never considered in my blog writing. Will be checking it moving forward. Thanks for sharing.
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Nicholas C. Rossis said:
I’m so glad you found it helpful, Chad! Thank you 🙂
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