SEO Consult Blog

It’s not uncommon to see duplicate content on the web, but it is becoming
less and less common as search engines use new and improved algorithms to help
them combat those practices they wish to deter. Duplicate content is one such
practice, although exceptions do exist. It’s important to get an understanding
of what is, and what is not considered to be duplicate content and then avoid
its use.

What Is Considered Duplicate Content?

Duplicate content is said, by Google, to be all or a majority of a page of
copied content. As and example, copying an entire entry out of wikipedia or
a similar online resource would definitely be considered duplicating content.
Even the use of PLR, white label, or directory articles will trigger the search
engine’s duplicate content filter.

What Isn’t Considered Duplicate Content?

Using quotes and offering blocks of text from other websites (appropriate
referenced, of course) would not be considered duplicate content as long as
it only forms a portion of a web page. The real issue truly only arises when
more of your content is duplicated than isn’t.

The Duplicate Content “Penalty”

With that said, the term “duplicate content penalty” is misleading. Strictly
speaking, a page won’t be penalised for using duplicate content but it certainly
won’t gain the same search engine rankings as it would if the page were unique.
With Google, for example, a duplicate page is likely to find its way into the
supplemental index.

Avoiding Duplicate Content

It is possible to use articles from directories and PLR resources and still
get a good ranking but it will mean extra effort in link building. As a general
rule, a duplicate page will be very difficult indeed to rank highly in search
engine results and the practice should be avoided where possible.

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