Here we look at the pitfalls of using duplicated written content on your website and also how to detect plagiarism affecting your brand.
What is duplicated content?
Duplicated content is when two of the exact same pieces of content exist online but in two separate places. This is a negative aspect mostly witnessed in terms of written content – images are (mostly) free from penalty when it comes to duplication. So to put this into content, you may hire a freelance writer to write a blog post for your website. Little do you know, they may be using a previously written article that they wrote for a different client of theirs that is already online. Once this article is then posted to your website, it is known as duplicated content.
Why is duplicated content a bad thing?
Duplicated content is a bad thing for many reasons. One such example being that it can be discovered that you are using copied content by your website visitors. If they visit your website because they like to read articles on your industry (e.g. textile design), they may also read articles on other similar websites and come across the same article twice. From a more technical point of view, Google has been known to harshly penalise websites that feature duplicated content (as they are keen to ward off plagiarism) by completely blocking offending web pages/websites. Another negative aspect to this is that you may have paid a freelance writer for ‘their work’ and are instead left with written content that is nothing but troublesome all around.
How can I avoid duplicated content?
You can, however, be proactive in identifying duplicated or plagiarized content and indemnifying both your website and your business against it. If you outsource your writing to a copywriter, make sure that they are professional and reputable. Ask to see their writing portfolio and also some live samples of their work online. Websites such as Copyscape also exist which can be used to detect and flag duplicated content on your web pages. It is worth taking the time to safeguard your output to protect your reputation online.
The expert team at Ireland Website Design contains professional copywriters who can create custom and search engine optimized text content for your website. Get in touch with us today to safeguard and sustain your online presence and brand identity.
