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Duplicate content on subdomain - could it be seen as search spam?

by alexTaf
10 replies
Hello, a friend is building an academic site with hundreds of original articles written by academics he hired. The site as of yet has not gone public.
Now he wants to put a couple of dozen of the articles on WordPress site running on a subdomain of the main url - to get feedback from potential audience.

His web dev person claims this will hurt the main site when the main site goes public and search engines find there articles previously published on the subdomain.

I strongly doubt this. This is not being done to spam the search engines and they are smart enough to figure that out, i would think. ---- what is your opinion?
#content #duplicate #search #spam #subdomain
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  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    Over a month ago you asked a similar question about friend's site and how quickly to 'add content'. I understand a question from curiosity - but how involved are you in this project?



    Why would you 'highly doubt this' - do you have development or SEO experience? Something doesn't sound right here.

    If you are not knowledgeable/experienced yourself - why are you offering advice at all? You seem to be undercutting the advice of your friend's paid expert.

    For the 'duplicate' question - do an advanced search on this forum and you will find multiple recent threads about 'duplicate content'. Better yet - your friend could join and ask his own questions here.

    Sorry - don't mean to come across as rude but if your friend hired professionals to help build/launch his site...he should be listening to THEIR advice.
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    • Profile picture of the author alexTaf
      All the people involved are in another continent and none of whom speak English. None are SEO pros. I'm helping him double check what he has been told to make sure it's good advice, so i asked the question here, thinking people would just answer the question instead of question my motives. The question was whether duplicate content in a subdomain could appear as search spam. That's all.
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  • Profile picture of the author strategixdesign
    First publish at the site and wait till they are indexed / crawled by the search engine for the blogging like subdomains or PBNs it is better to publish fresh content too or atleast rephrase them or if you are using as it is then mention the source URL from where you have copied them so it will be less risky not completely risk free.
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    • Profile picture of the author alexTaf
      Thank you for your kind reply.
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  • Profile picture of the author Frank Donovan
    Originally Posted by alexTaf View Post

    I strongly doubt this. This is not being done to spam the search engines and they are smart enough to figure that out, i would think. ---- what is your opinion?
    In this and your other thread, you've expressed reservations about your friend's strategies. Are you just looking for confirmation here, or are you peeved that he didn't come to you first for advice?
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    Ever lie awake worrying that you might be the only person who doesn't know what FOMO means?

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    • Profile picture of the author alexTaf
      This is bizarre. This forum is about general questions about internet marketing, not psychology. Please. Besides running your life, you also have the time to throll people about their secret motives? The friend does not speak English and the site has been delayed for a long time and so he has asked me to help figure out if he's getting good advice.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    I strongly doubt this. This is not being done to spam the search engines and they are smart enough to figure that out, i would think. ---- what is your opinion?
    It is not an 'opinion' - I know the answer. The person your friend hired knows what he's talking about....and your 'I would think' is wrong. You are trying to use your own logic - and SEO, etc doesn't work that way.


    If a friend asked for my help/advice on a subject i know nothing about, I would decline and help him find someone better suited.



    There is no entitlement here...and the questions are from moderators of this forum. The WF is not a tech help site or a answers-on-demand site. That said, you can use the advanced search on this forum to look up previous discussions on many topics, including 'duplicate content' and 'subdomains'. Those are freely available to you.
    Signature
    Saving one dog will not change the world - but the world changes forever for that one dog
    ***
    My ducks are absolutely not in a row. I don't even know where some of them are...
    ...and I'm pretty sure one of them is a pigeon.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11717470].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author alexTaf
      Ok. Thank you. But aren't you also talking about something you know nothing about? You know nothing about the people he hired overseas and the years he has struggled to get them to complete the project and the numerous times he's come to me for help. (He originally asked me to develop the site for him but I was starting a new career.)
      I didn't assume I know better than you. I just thought a subdomain previewing some of the articles in advance would not be seen as search spam by search engines.
      The angry reaction you are showing to my post is just bizarre. Why would you question a poster's honesty ("something doesn't add up here") or slam them just for expressing an opinion. No, there is room for opinion. I see opinions expressed here all the time. But I'm not an expert so I posted. It's a beginner's forum. Take it easy.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kay King
    Of course no one here knows what your friend is going through - he is not a member here...we know nothing about him or his project or his hired consultants. Nor should we.

    The reason mods are asking questions:

    The Warrior Forum is owned by Freelancer.com - a top level freelance site. I have no doubt your intention is to help your friend - but you appear to be undercutting the work of the PAID person building the site. This forum will not participate in doing that.

    We may have been skirting that issue or been unclear about it. Your friend has access to the internet and could look up these answers - and train himself on what to expect and what time frame to tolerate from people he hires to do the job.

    Reading the forum is easier if you use 'classic view'. Click on your forum name in the black toolbar....in the gold 'box' if it says 'view classic' , click on that. Makes the forum answers easier to read and allows you to use 'quotes' to reply rather than multiple posts.


    At any rate, your question was answered above.
    Signature
    Saving one dog will not change the world - but the world changes forever for that one dog
    ***
    My ducks are absolutely not in a row. I don't even know where some of them are...
    ...and I'm pretty sure one of them is a pigeon.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[11717556].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author DWolfe
    You may want to check out this thread in the SEO section. Take a look at post #21 - https://www.warriorforum.com/search-...gle-slaps.html

    Also, read what Google says about duplicate content. - https://developers.google.com/search...233791743&rd=1
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