Remember that old saying that our parents and teachers told us in grade school – Cheaters Never Prosper – well, the same holds true for Search Engine Optimization. What I mean is that when you are creating a website, don’t cheat your business and take the time to build it with YOU in it.
Know, Like & Trust
Remember that folks do business with whom they Know, Like and Trust. They can’t begin to get there unless they get to know you and they can get to know you through your branding.
So, two sides of that, if you cheat people, they won’t do business with you and your business could fail. Secondly, when writing your content, YOU write your content and from your voice. Sure, you may check out other similar industry pages to “see” how they are doing things and mirror some of their ways. After all, if they are doing well, why reinvent the wheel, get some ideas from them, but don’t copy them – make the real you come out in your content.
Will the Real You Stand Up
A top social media influencer of mine, whether she knows it or not, Kim Garst recently released her book – Will the Real You Please Stand Up. I just started getting into it so can’t tell you about it right yet, but check it out for yourself, it will surely provide value. Anyways, people want to get to know you and have a connection plus, you want them to also, so they can Know, Like and Trust you. Win-Win, right?
Duplicate Content Dinged by Google
My main point is that when you copy other folks content, it doesn’t benefit you. Sure, you maybe have great keyword rich content on your website, but think of it another way – from Google’s standpoint. So, Google, or any search engine has indexed your website, cached it and is made ready to provide to the appropriate search query. When someone types in that keyword phrase and Google searches its cache and up pop 50 sites with duplicate or largely similar content – which is going to show up do you think? Google isn’t stupid and is capable of telling which is the original source of that content and returns the original one on the search results, discarding the rest. Getting the point here?
Where is it Safe to Copy?
Don’t panic if you have some content, from another website and maybe you have even cited their page for reference. This isn’t going to get your “dinged” by the Google gods because, as noted above, Google will just return the original page in the search results. My point here, it’s okay to copy content, usually with reference but always a good idea to use your own content instead. (Don’t forget, when you are linking to a website other than your own, have the link open in a new tab.)
Bow Down Google gods
Why wouldn’t you want to provide valuable content to your consumers AND have the search engine gods bow down to you? Okay, maybe not bow down, but I’d love to be recognized by the search engines for better chances of more consumers getting to me from the search engines.
Duplicating your Own Content
Consider one more scenario, where you may be duplicating your own content via articles or whatnot. While typically only one of these would show up in search, I still think that creating variations of your content would be better served for two reasons:
- When you have two of the same version of a blog, for example, hosted on two different websites, Google will notice the two versions and may split the value of authority which isn’t good for you.
- Having two different versions can potentially provide now two opportunities to be found in search results, which is better for you
Bottom line…
Create original and value providing content on your website. Should you review other industry giants, utilize their past efforts to help you grow by mirroring what they do, but not copying. And heck, feel free to give them credit where credit is due.
Make your brand speak like you, it makes you look human, unless you aren’t LOL and people like dealing with people, building relationships. Again, remember, folks do business with those they Know, Like and Trust.
Let me know what you think, if you have any questions or if you need some help with search engine optimization or other forms of marketing your business – like paid ads or social media.
~Kristen
This is helpful information. I had heard that if I post the same article, first on my blog, and then later on LinkedIn, for example, if there is a week between postings, it won’t hurt. Do you know if that’s true or if I really should reword? Is it better to post an excerpt and then link back to my own site? Thanks.
I don’t know about hurting, since you are the same person… however, I think it could benefit you more by rewording it or posting a new paragraph about it and then linking back to your website… after all, you WANT the traffic on your website!
Okay. Good point. Thanks.
Thanks Beth, hope it helped!
Hi Kristen,
Love your reminder to link to a website other than your own, have the link open in a new tab. You reminded me of doing that a while back, and I always think of you when I set them up that way in WP :).
I have a question for you– if I repurpose content from one of my old blog posts with no comments, is that a waste? Let me know your thoughts.
Awww, I appreciate you for that… just trying to help and glad it did. I wouldn’t say it’s a waste… and as long as the content is evergreen, which I am sure it is… nothing wrong with re-purposing it and changing it up… maybe even link back to the original one.
Thanks for sharing this! It is very informative.
So here’s a question…I’m in the process of building a new website but was thinking of adding some of my blogs from the old website to the new one. Does that mean Google will “split the value of authority”? I probably will shut the old website down after 2015 but don’t want to lose all of the work and value I created over 3 years.
I think that the fact that the other one will be coming down, that you should be okay in the long run… however, if you think they are really good blogs, why not elaborate on them, extend them and then when you move them all over and close the other one down, you will have double? Just a thought. Let me know if you have other questions.
Thanks Kristen…it’s definitely a work in progress. I’ve already made a few mistakes that have cost me some money during this transition so I am going to dedicate the next month to really figuring out what the best thing is to do and not rush it.
Beth, mistakes are part of being human so surely you are doing well enough. However, sorry to hear that you lost some money, hopefully nothing major, in transition. Take your time and work your biz the best you can. Let me know if you need any help.
Great, informative piece, Kristen. I do use published blogs for my long-form posts on LinkedIn, but I always end up making some changes to the latter, as it’s a different (more international) audience. It seems to me, frankly, that similar posts done by the same author should not be penalized by Google. But hey — what do I know? I’m just a peon, not a Google God! 😉
Thanks Jackie. That’s a great idea to reformat/refinish the blogs… because, as you indicated, it is a different audience… or at least, to direct them back to your website. I agree that the same author shouldn’t be penalized, and I think you should be good… but hey, if you have the opportunity to rework a blog to give you more content on your website, then you should. Thanks peon for the comment… from another NON-Google godess. 😉