Avoiding Duplicate Content

Okay, so you've heard all of the issues related to duplicate content. Perhaps you're wondering how this affects your website or article marketing efforts. I've received a lot of questions lately about Google's penalizing duplicate content and what it means for the savvy marketer. Because Google doesn't reveal their search ranking formula, the best bet is to proceed cautiously. Here's what I recommend for any marketer using content to promote their site or generate back links.

1. Always publish original content on your website. Don't be caught using duplicate content unless you must. You control the content on your website so don't take this issue lightly. Use fresh, original content that appeals to your readers. If replicating content, change it up a bit or use an excerpt with a link to the full article.

2. When article marketing, include the article on your site first. If you're using article marketing to promote your website, publish the article on your site first. I suggest not distributing the article for at least 3 - 5 days. This gives the Google bot time to crawl the content and know its there (published by you).

3. Distribute your content to top article distribution sites first! When distributing your articles, make sure to hit the largest article directories first (ezinearticles, goarticles, etc.). I would recommend changing the title, article description, intro paragraph, and last paragraph slightly from what you have posted on your site.

4. Complete your distribution to second and third tier article directories. At this point, the value gained is less than the primary article distribution sites. The true value of these sites is the possibility of a webmaster using the content on their own site complete with author box. Again, I would modify the article once prior to distributing to all of these sites, but don't spend a lot of time on it.

As always, you want to be cognizant of what Google is doing and how they are viewing content. To avoid being penalized, post content to your site first. After a short waiting time, modify the article slightly and post to the major article distribution sites. Then you're ready to distribute to second and third tier article distribution sites. Through this method you can still enjoy the benefits of original content and all of the back links that come with it.