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Does a Unique Article Matter? Or is it the Link?

by mjzivko
9 replies
Is it important to have unique articles, or is the obtaining of the link all that matters?

Lets assume in this hypothesis that all the places that the articles would be posted would be high quality pageranked pages and sites.

I understand that the articles uniqueness will help it stay in the live index. So if you are using your articles for actual traffic generators, then a unique or spun article is required. But If you true goal by posting articles is to get a link; does it matter if the link is on a unique article? (assuming the article is on a high PR site or page)

Now I do understand that if 50 identical articles are posted on 50 sites, all at the same time, 49 of those pages will go to the supplemental index. (maybe a little less) But Google will cache and index all of the pages if the sites are decently pageranked.

So the real question becomes; do links on pages that are in the supplemental index help your site?

I hope to hear some good responses.
#article #link #matter #unique
  • Profile picture of the author alexbbbh
    When doing seo, the goal is organic link building. At its base this is about putting up unique interesting content and getting links naturally as a result.

    Now the thing is - you can do seo in many different ways. You don't need to do it the right way. You can get rankings with total garbage. I've done it on countless occasions. But the question is: are you interested in quick cash or having a long term business?

    It's about custom tailoring your seo efforts to your situation - to what you're trying to achieve.

    So the real question becomes; do links on pages that are in the supplemental index help your site?
    If you're in it for the long term don't mess with junk. with spinned content and so on. Link building is not about quantity. It's about quality. I have friends in competitive niches that rank with under 50 backlinks and their competitors are dumstruck. They don't get what's going on.
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  • Profile picture of the author ~kev~
    If you post 50 identical articles on 50 article sites - only a couple of them will be indexed by the search engines. The others will be seen as duplicate content and will not be indexed.

    do links on pages that are in the supplemental index help your site?
    Do those links show up in your google webmaster tools?

    Personally, I think submitting so much duplicate content goes against the term "natural links". There is no way that duplicate content looks natural.

    If I did article submission (which I do not), I would submit to only 2 - 5 article directories at a time.
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    • Profile picture of the author theemperor
      Originally Posted by ~kev~ View Post

      If you post 50 identical articles on 50 article sites - only a couple of them will be indexed by the search engines. The others will be seen as duplicate content and will not be indexed.
      Do you know that for sure. I would think that 50,500 or 5M identical articles can all be indexed, but some won't rank very well as others.

      Google some song lyrics - 100's of indexed pages with the same content (or virtually the same) content.
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      • Profile picture of the author ~kev~
        Originally Posted by theemperor View Post

        Do you know that for sure. I would think that 50,500 or 5M identical articles can all be indexed, but some won't rank very well as others.
        Where do you think the "duplicate content penalty" myth came from? People would post duplicate content on their sites, it would not get indexed or listed in the results pages - so they think their site got a penalty.

        If its duplicate content - its either not going to get indexed, or its not going to be listed in the search results.
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      • Profile picture of the author Shaunman
        Do those links show up in your google webmaster tools?
        The longer I do internet marketing the less and less I rely on link checkers and keyword tools. They just do not give you an accurate estimate.

        If I did article submission (which I do not), I would submit to only 2 - 5 article directories at a time.
        Then you would miss out on a lot of backlinks.

        Yes, all links count. However I believe uniqueness is important. Duplicate content still counts as a backlink, but don't expect it to be as powerful as a backlink from a page with unique content.

        I'm sure google has devalued duplicate content links by now.
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        • Profile picture of the author ~kev~
          Originally Posted by Shaunman View Post

          The longer I do internet marketing the less and less I rely on link checkers and keyword tools. They just do not give you an accurate estimate.
          Between yahoo site explorer and google webmaster tools you should be able to get a good idea as to how many backlinks you have - and where those links are at.


          Originally Posted by Shaunman View Post

          Then you would miss out on a lot of backlinks.
          My main site has over 190,000 backlinks - per yahoo site explorer and google webmaster tools. Its also considered an authority in its field.
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          • Profile picture of the author Shaunman
            My main site has over 190,000 backlinks - per yahoo site explorer and google webmaster tools. Its also considered an authority in its field.
            Good stuff, I'm sure your site does very well and are a pretty big expert around here.

            Between yahoo site explorer and google webmaster tools you should be able to get a good idea as to how many backlinks you have - and where those links are at.
            It depends, the higher the quality of the more likely it will show. PR0 links with nothing linking back to them will probably not appear as often in those tools as higher PR pages.
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  • Profile picture of the author auburnfan23
    I would suggest at least rewriting them in some manner and maybe change titles a bit so they can all rank in the search engines, if they do not get indexed than the link pointing to your website will mean nothing.
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  • Profile picture of the author NicoleBeckett
    Originally Posted by mjzivko View Post

    Is it important to have unique articles, or is the obtaining of the link all that matters?
    It depends on what you're looking for..If you want a temporary bounce (that won't last once Google discovers you're a duplicate content machine), the links will help you.

    If you're interested in building a business, and you want to use article marketing for link building AND to establish yourself as an expert in your niche, your content needs to be unique. Remember, these articles won't just help you today, or this week, or this month. They'll be out there forever. A year from now, someone may find one of your articles, like it, click on your link, and become a valuable client.

    Your content is what searchers use to judge you. After all, no one out there knows anything about you. Your content can either make you look like a great, credible professional, or it can make you look like you're not legitimate, or just a "stereotypical internet marketer", who's out for a quick buck and nothing more.
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