Question About Duplicate Articles...

by 7 replies
8
Hi Warriors,

I've noticed a rash of posts lately on article marketing and I have a question about it that I really haven't seen the answer to.

I have two different sites which are essentially the same but cater to different markets. I've set up two newsletters, two blogs,etc. My question is, can I write just ONE article and use it for both?

That was my intention, but now I wonder...

I did a search and found something directly from Google which said there is no duplicate content penalty. However, I know that if someone is searching for that content, Google wants to put the originating source at the top of the SERPS.

Which makes me think I need to write different articles for each of my e-zines each week. That's 8 a month! For me, that's a lot. Even though I'm a published author and consider myself a writer, I've never been able to write consistently.

I know there are people here who just churn out the articles, but I've never been able to do that. Quality is highly important to me and I don't want to write something just to have a piece of content.

I'm thinking I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and write the articles. But with everything else I have to do, it seems a bit overwhelming.

I know a solution would be to hire the articles out and then just edit them and add my own flair. But I'm highly concerned about quality. I don't want just re-hashed content like we so much of in IM. My niche IS IM, but for offline businesses. And I need more than just the standard how-to or 9 steps to articles. I need articles on leadership, time management, etc.

Thoughts?

Michelle
#search engine optimization #articles #duplicate #question
  • If it were my sites I would want unique content on each one. For submitting to article directories I would not care.

    The easiest way to take care of this would be to write one article, then re-write it for yourself for the second blog. It takes out the "thinking and preparing" aspect and just turns it into a change sentence wording. It is not as good as unique, but better than other options.
  • Banned
    The answer is yes.

    The worst outcome possible is that one of the sites won't gain anything in SEO-terms from doing this: neither site will lose anything.

    It's not quite as simple as that.

    As an example (highly relevant in the context within which you're asking), if you start off a new niche site, publish an article on it, get it indexed there, and then submit the same article to EZA, the EZA copy will outrank your own site's copy. Temporarily. The more often you do that with all your articles, the more temporary (i.e. briefer) that will be, each time, and eventually it won't happen at all. But it wouldn't be true to say that the "original" will always outrank the copy.

    I'm not quite clear what you mean by "e-zines", Michelle, but I don't think I share your conclusion at all.
    • [ 2 ] Thanks
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  • Hi Michelle,

    Always make sure that your new content is at least 30% unique from your previous content. Of course, the major concern is the time involved in writing multiple versions of the same article.

    The solution is to use article spinning software. You can probably find one for about $30 USD. Just make sure that whatever spinning software that you use gives you a "uniqueness" indicator, which tells you the percentage of variation between two different "spun" versions of your content.

    Such software should provide you with at least a hundred "unique" (in the eyes of the search engines) versions of your content.

    Hopefully this helps. Feel free to contact me directly if you have any further questions. I know quite a bit on this subject.

    Brian
  • Whether you take the time to spin the articles or not is up to you. Either way you'll be competing with yourself for rankings. I think the easiest solution is simply to change the titles and first paragraph, just in case you get the same readers for both sites.
    • [1] reply
    • Alexa,

      THANK YOU! That's very helpful!

      I know a lot about article marketing, but some of the nuances still confuse me. Your explanation confirmed my thinking.

      (By the way, if you're asking me what an e-zine is, it's just an e-mail newsletter.)

      Brian and Barry,

      My article IS unique content. I'm providing just ONE product, but I've segmented my target audience, which is why I created two different sites.

      As Alexa pointed out, at worst, I'm competing with myself, which I don't care about.

      If I was going to do anything to it, I'd take Barry's suggestion and just change the title and the first paragraph.

      I'm just launching my new companies this week and just completed the first article for my new e-zines. I'm VERY pleased with the article and want to post it on both sites. I was a copywriter in a former life and know a thing or two about headlines. I really like my headline and don't want to change it.

      Thanks for your help everyone!

      Michelle
      • [1] reply
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