Vancouver Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Professional

I’ve been asked the same question at least a hundred times. “If I submit my articles to other sites, does Google count this as duplicate content?” I’ve gone by my own hunches about this issue for about a year with great success for both me and my clients. But, I decided to go straight to the source for a definitive (well, pretty definitive) answer. I emailed Google Webspam Head, Matt Cutts, for some insight.

Before I continue, let me say that this article deals with duplicate content as it pertains to writing and submitting and/or syndicating articles. These principles may not pertain to web copy that is duplicated from page to page and remains exclusively on your site.

I asked Matt if he would explain a few things since it seemed many people were now questioning their online marketing efforts due to the duplicate content filters. My questions included:

1) How can submitted articles count against me as duplicate content if they are posted on other websites? Duplicate content filters are generally on the lookout for copy that has been repeated within the confines of a site. Since articles were distributed to sites other than my own, I wondered about this point.

Matt’s answer: “Taking all your articles and submitting them for syndication all over the place can make it more difficult to determine how much your site [has original] content vs. just used, syndicated content.”

That makes perfect sense. After all, Google is looking for quality, original content to fill its search engine results pages (SERP).

2) Does that mean – from a search engine perspective – you advise people not to submit articles? I couldn’t believe that the answer would be “yes.” Whether offline or on, writing and submitting quality articles has always been a phenomenal way of establishing yourself as an expert, promoting your business and more.

Matt’s answer: “My advice would be 1) to avoid over-syndicating the articles that you write, and 2) if you do syndicate content, then make sure that you include a link to the original content. That will help ensure that the original content has more PageRank, which will aid in picking the best documents in our index.”

So, how do you avoid “over-syndicating” the articles you distribute about the Internet? Although Matt didn’t go into detail, my personal take would be to:

> > Avoid using article-blaster-type software programs that send your piece to hundreds of article banks and email lists. Instead, use a service that handpicks a select few, quality websites and then manually submits your article.

> > Only submit to websites that allow HTML in the bio/about the author section. A big part of submitting online articles is link popularity. You get a much bigger bang for your buck if you have keyword-rich anchor text links rather than plain http:// links.

> > Place the article on your site andllow it to get indexed before you distribute. This way, you establish yourself in Google’s database as the original writer.

While some people stress out about where their articles rank in the search engines, I, personally, never have. If another site that has reproduced my article (and done so legally) ranks higher than I do for an article, so be it. In the end, a link to my site is provided in the “about the author” section, so readers can find me if they want more information. However, if you prefer that your articles outrank those who reprint your material, then the above tips may help you accomplish that goal.

Above all, don’t let the engines dictate how you run and promote your business. If submitting your articles brings you business, then do it. A diversity of marketing efforts has always been the best way to promote. Writing articles is no exception.

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