Back in the day, a couple years ago, I suppose you coulda called me a "purist". The thought of duplicate content (or gawd-forbid, messy code) could send me into shock.
But, OK. Fast forward to mid-2008. Everyone belongs to several social networks. It ain't easy to create unique content for each different social network.
What is the current webmaster/SEO expert thinking on publishing the same article on several different social networks?
Let's say you belong to Active Rain, MyAgentBook, Zolve, RealSeekr, Gather, Facebook and MySpace.
Anyone see any issue with posting the same article on each of those social networks? Maybe on different days?
What about posting it on each of those networks, plus one's own outside blog, plus as a Zillow article?
A few years ago I think I remember reading that each social platform, and each comment stream, would be sufficiently different that search engines would not consider it duplicate content. Or did I dream that?
Answers, anyone?
UPDATE Here's a link to Mary McKnight's article on RSS Pieces back in June, 2007 She's talking about duplicating content on Active Rain and a personal blog ... So, Mary, does this still hold true if you duplicate the content on Active Rain, PLUS MyAgentBook, Zolve, RealSeekr, Gather, Zillow, Facebook, MySpace (and whatever other networks I've joined and can't remember right now......)
Cheryl -
I have the same question - and am somewhat less active than you! I post daily on AR, and also have a BlogCenter for our Team - BlogChicagoHomes.com.
I post relevant articles on both each day, but re-write a moderate amount so they are not duplicates of one another. Sometimes, I take a varied angle on AR to cater to Real Estate Practitioners who will be reading here.
This practice has dramatically increased traffic on my website and my blog, and has moved me higher for Chicago Homes for Sale, and Homes for Sale Google searches for many Chicago neighborhoods.
Unsure if I need to further adjust - awaiting comments on your post!
DEAN & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO
I also tweak my content from area to area. There have been many dissimilar posta about whether it does affect your sites if you are copying and pasting from one to the other. Good question!
I hear some say its ok, others say its not, other say its ok a day apart - i wonder if anyone knows or if they are all just guessing.
Good points...why indeed?
Oh my goodness ... more than one blog?! Somewhere other than Active Rain??? That would be more than I could handle, so no problem here. Cheryl - your subscription is the first I read. Thanks!
There is no issue with using the same article across different platforms. The worst that could happen is that they don't all get indexed by the search engines. As an example, we often post the same content here on AR and on Localism, but it is not harmful, despite the fact that these are two distinct domain names. Another example is the fact that some articles get syndicated across hundreds of sites.
I have about 90 posts that I have copied from here onto my outside blog - there are not enough hours in the day to be concerned with generating separate articles for multiple platforms.
Copy and paste away!
It is my understanding for example with article syndication that the duplicate content is less detrimental than the link back to your webpage, however I know there are many people who frown on posting the same blog article on multiple blogs. If you are going to post the same information on multiple blogs, I would make sure it is not against the terms of service for that particular site.
CJ: Parked, listening and learning ........... thanks!
I am by no means an expert, but I have been posting duplicate content on my blog, AR, myspace, merchant circle and a bunch of others, I am on page one of Google and have been there for a couple of years now. I am living proof that duplicate content doesn't hurt. However, I have absolutely no technical expertise to back up the previous statement. :)
Maureen -- That is exactly what I was hoping to hear. I was thinking of recycling some posts on a few of the networks that I joined and then ignored, such as Gather and MyAgentBook. PS Did you see the video of me on Brian Brady's AR blog? :-)
It is my understanding that syndicating content is ok with Google... You don't see them penalizing news site for the stuff showing up everywhere.
Of course, I'm not an SEO expert...
I don't know how anyone finds time to submit to more than one. Activerain takes up all my time.
Cheryl - It has been working for me for quite some time. I just checked out Brian's blog - so nice to put a voice with your face! Someday I'll expose my NY accent to the light of day. :)
I post on AR and on a wordpress blog and feed into several different social platforms. I can show up on google, msn and yahoo on page one with anyone of them. The only time there is some kind of conflict is when I google my name then the link at the bottom of the page will read "blah blah blah...copied stuff..click for more" or to that effect. I totally agree with Jason's comment
Thanks for the question and we have have had it come up before and we thought it might be harmful but looks like it is OK Thanks for the comments.
Cheryl, This did come up at Bloodhound Unchained... I don't think you were there then... I think what Jason and Lane say above is the basic idea that Mary wanted us to get. I'm not sure if that was discussed on Sunday or Tuesday, so it may or may not be on the DVD. I haven't read the article you linked to yet, I'll go take a look.
Cheryl,
That is a good question and the answers before have been sort of split. Now I'm reading replies from some serious bloggers here that duplicate content doesn't hurt, so I'll go with that. For now, anyway.
Cheryl, I sometimes do the same post here and on my other blog. I usually change it up and change the title if I do. There is no problem on dublicate contact on 2-3 blogs. That is straight from my Google client last year who was head of Google in Poland and moved to Ann Arbor.
Interesting stuff. We had read someplace that duplicate content was a no no to search engines - but can't remember where or when. So will be interesting to come back and see what you all say.
Cheryl - you rock! I've been wondering the same thing. I have much of the same content on AR and on my outside blog. Most of the time, the google searches return the post on AR and not my outside blog.
I'm sure there is some sort of master plan for how a search engine operates but I don't have the inclination or time to figure it out. For now, I post here and I have two outside blogs. I duplicate content sometimes but change it up a little bit and I never copy and paste the same day.
Cheryl - recently (last 30 days) I know Mary warned us to not do duplicate content and to work on submitting original content - even if it meant reworking it. I'm no expert and surely she could give you an official answer but her free webinars for all are a great place to get the answers. Cheryl I'm not sure if it helped :) - that's the best I've got!!
So, I am wondering what is the answer to this question? Also, i'm impressed that anyone has more than one blog.
When Google discovers duplicate content they somehow decide which one to keep indexed and which one(s) to delete. I expect duplicated content on other blogs are not as deep as they are here on AR and will probably receive preferential consideration. If anything I would keep the versions on AR "condensed" with a link to the full version on your other blog site.
The key is syndication. It's important to never post something as an original on more than one site. When you take the same content and put it on Zimbio or even submit it to an article directory, make sure you attribute it to its original source.
Also, make sure it's been indexed at the original source prior to using it elsewhere, unless you don't care if your original source doesn't get credited for the post or article.
When I post content from one blog to another, I don't post the complete article but show (in quotes) a portion of the the article, with a link to the originating blog.
Une fois qu'on atteint ce nb 144000 (Apocalypse14: 1)le st secret de dieu arrivera à terme,cet ancien système du monde dirigé par Satan et ses hommes disparaîtra,le royaume au ciel de Jéhovah dirigera aussi notre terre,le paradis s'installera sur la terre,les justes posséderont la terre et sur elle ils résideront pour tjrs (Psaumes37: 29, Matthieu5: 5, Proverbes2: 21, Isaîe11: 9, Ecclésiaste1: 4, Isaîe45: 18 )...Le royaume céleste de Jéhovah dirigé par Jésus Christ est le seul espoir pour la terre entière,face à ce système diabolique planétaire défaillant en toute sorte.T bientôt,il dirigera notre terre. Il y aura 144000 rois(reines)choisis par dieu parmi les êtres humains règnent ac J.C. au ciel après ses morts, ils(elles) dirigeront la terre, Jésus C. est le roi de ces rois...Comme la fin de ce monde dirigé par Satan€$£ et ses militaires6 ainsi que ses peuples5 tombe bien à notre ère, donc,il faut oser à dire par tout le moyen à tous les humains que:ce qui ne font pas la volonté de dieu Jah et ce qui ne croit pas au sacrifice de Jésus C. pour nous délivrer mourront à HarMaguédon (Apocalypse16: 16)...Pkoi l'indépendance à Jah n'est pas bonne? Parce que lors de la rébellion d'Adam et Eve et Satan contre Jéhovah notre dieu créateur,ils ont choisi de ne pas dépendre de dieu,alors,dieu Jah les laisse se diriger entre eux sans intervenir pour prouver s'il est vraiment bon ou mauvais de ne pas dépendre de lui "ou" de ne pas suivre sa parole (ses conseils). Les conséquences de cette désobéissance (indépendance) est donc:la mort,la maladie,la haine,la tuerie6,l'égoîsme de certains dirigeants,l'hypocrisie de la religion...Les conséquences de cette épreuve d'indépendance «qui a eu lieu sur notre terre » est très importante à démontrer à l égard des anges du ciel et des êtres humains aussi voila pkoi dieu Jah n a pas tué Satan et Adam et Eve sur le champs...dieu est notre créateur donc c'est lui seul connaît ce qui nous fera du bien ou du mal surtt pas Satan,il occupe aussi la bonne place pour nous conseiller(diriger).Voici mes adresses mail pour contact anonyme: carnage6.net@hotmail.fr, carnage6.net@hotmail.com, jesuschrist-est-notre-sauveur@example.com, cyclique-infini6.monde@hotmail.com
CJ: Seems someone spammed you with a religious expose'! I've just learned that google has a translation feature, so I translated the above from French to English if you or anyone else is interested (for those of us who do not read/speak French fluently). I was not so much interested in what the comment says as I was in seeing how well the translation feature on google would work. If you don't want it, just delete this... neat feature that we can now instantly translate languages though, isn't it? go google :)
Once we reached this # 144000 (Apocalypse14: 1) st secret god happen eventually, the old system of the World led by Satan and his men will disappear, the kingdom of heaven Jehovah will also lead our land, a paradise s 'will install on earth, the righteous shall inherit the earth and they reside on it for tjrs (Psaumes37: 29, Matthieu5: 5, Proverbes2: 21, Isaîe11: 9, Ecclésiaste1: 4, Isaîe45: 18) ... the kingdom of heaven Jehovah headed by Jesus Christ is the only hope for the whole earth, the face of this planetary system diabolical defaulting on any sorte.T soon, he will lead our land. There will be kings 144000 (queens) chosen by God among human beings prevailing ac JC to heaven after his death, they (they) will lead the earth, Jesus C. is the king of kings ... As the end of this world run by Satan € $ £ and its militaires6 and its peuples5 falls well in the modern era, therefore, we must dare to say by any means at all humans : what are not the will of god Jah and what does not believe the sacrifice of Jesus C. for us to die issue HarMaguédon (Apocalypse16: 16) ... Pkoi independence Jah is not good? Because during the rebellion of Adam and Eve and Satan against Jehovah God our Creator, they chose not to depend on God, then God Jah allowed to move between them without intervening to prove whether it was really good or ill not depend on him "or" not to follow his words (his advice). The consequences of this disobedience (independence) is: death, disease, hatred, tuerie6, égoîsme of some leaders, the hypocrisy of religion ... The consequences of these tests independence "which has held on our land "is very important to show respect to the angels of heaven and human beings also voila pkoi god Jah na not kill Satan and Adam and Eve on the field ... God is our creator so it's him alone knows what we will do good or evil surtt not Satan, it is also a good place to advise us (lead). Here's my e-mail addresses to contact anonymous: @ carnage6.net hotmail.fr, carnage6.net @ hotmail. com, jesuschrist-est-notre-sauveur@example.com, cyclic-infini6.monde @ hotmail.com
Jan: Oh My! Thanks for the translation. I'll leave it up for the curious.....
CJ: I'm learning. This is a great post and I'm glad it was featured. Thanks for all your interesting content.
Being new to all this I have to admit that if you have many sites you post to as long as its your original information I can't see why you would't duplicated it.
This is great information, since I use the same sontent on 3 blogs and one website. So far I haven't seen anything that makes believe that I should change my approach.
Cheryl ~ Since this post resurfaced and I missed it the first time I feel that I should comment. I believe that Kay Frenzer is right on. If you are going to reproduce your own articles, make sure that you post it to your main blog (personal domain) first. If you can give it a day, or at lest long enough for Google to index it on your site first. Then post it on your other blogs. It may also be a good idea to post a summary on your other blogs (such as AR) with a link back to the original article. Also, make sure that you are not violated the other blogs TOS by republishing duplicate material.
Cheryl - I just saw Ryan's comment here. I wait until Google indexes my blog before posting an article on AR. I also credit the blog for it to let Google know I'm syndicating not duplicating.