The Real Truth About Duplicate Content

It is simply amazing how people will get ideas in their head and no matter what you tell them, they can’t rid of those ideas…no matter how ridiculous they are. One of these, and probably one of the biggest myths in all of Internet marketing, is the one about duplicate content and so called “penalties.” 97% of the marketers online are convinced that if you put your content on more than one site, you’re screwed. So it’s time to set the record straight once and for all, because this is ridiculous.

For starters, let’s take a look at the article directory model. How do these people make their money? They make it by providing content to web site publishers who are looking for content on specific topics. Now, do you really think that web site A, who takes an article from say, Ezine Articles on acne is the ONLY web site to use that article? Of course not. Some articles get picked up by web site B all the way through Z and beyond…especially if it’s good. Do you NOT think that these articles ALSO get indexed? If they didn’t, then the article directories would go out of business from providing a service that was WORTHLESS.

I mean come on folks…use a little common sense. Ezine Articles probably makes millions each year in Adsense revenue. But if that isn’t enough to convince you, go to Google and look up my friend Steven Wagenheim. You will notice thousands of pages on him. You will also notice quite a few of his Ezine Articles on OTHER sites…also indexed. If there was such a thing as duplicate content OR a penalty, don’t you think that there would only be ONE copy of that article indexed? Again, another reason why this myth is so ridiculous.

But if all that isn’t good enough for you, try this on for size. Google itself, has come out and said, “There is no such thing as duplicate content or a penalty for it.”  Essentially, the only thing that will happen is this. If you have an article and put it on two separate pages on the same domain, it will ONLY be indexed on ONE of those pages. However, you will NOT receive any kind of a penalty because you had the article on two pages. Now, is it smart to put the same article on two separate pages on the same domain? Of course not. Why would you even do it anyway?

Point is, this whole thing about duplicate content has been blown WAY out of proportion, mostly by people who want to sell you some worthless article spinner that you DON’T need.

Okay, hopefully, this article will have put this issue to bed…once and for all.

One of the biggest reasons why article marketers fail is because the resource box at the end of their article doesn’t take the prospect to the landing page that they expect to see.

When there is that disconnect, the prospect gets confused and ultimately ends up navigating away from your page and to somewhere else. Okay, so how can we keep this from happening? Well, this article is going to cover resource box to landing page match. I have no doubt that you will find this VERY helpful.

Let’s first go over what makes a good resource box, because without that, it doesn’t matter how good your landing page is…you won’t get people to your site.

I have found that the perfect resource box consists of three parts. The first part is to remind the prospect of the pain and suffering that they’re going through. You want them to REALLY feel the pain. This is what will induce them to move onto the next part of the box.

After the pain, you present them with the URL to their solution. You can do this in the form of a straight URL or anchor text. Quite honestly, either way can work very well. The downside of anchor text is that EZA now limits you to just three words. That’s not a lot to work with if you’re using long tail keywords. With a URL, the only restriction is that it points to a site that YOU own.

Finally, you have the benefit. This is where you tell the prospect what they can expect to have happen if they go to the site and get whatever information is there.

So, as an example, let’s take the following resource box.

“Tired of suffering from chronic acne and being ashamed to go out in public? Visit my site at acne dot com and cure your acne in just 3 days NATURALLY.”

Okay, there is your resource box. Now, the only thing that is missing is the landing page matchup. This is where you lose people. So, imagine if they get to a squeeze or sale page with the following header.

“Cure Your Acne In Just 3 Days NATURALLY.”

Do you think, if this is the very first thing that they see above the fold, that there will be ANY chance that they’ll think they’re in the wrong place? This header, and it can be text or graphical, is a perfect match to the last part of the resource box. There can be NO mistake that they’re in the right place.

If you construct your resource box, keeping in mind the page you’re sending people to, your bounce rate should be close to zero.

Try it sometime. You might be surprised at the results.

What is Private Label Content?

PLC generally refers to articles, e-books and manuals that are free for subscribers to use as they wish. There are a few restrictions, however: you cannot claim copyright to PLC, or submit it to article sites, unless you change the content significantly. (Interpret ’significantly’ as ‘unrecognizable as the original article’.) The cost of membership varies, but typically ranges from around $24 to $67 a month. For this you might receive anywhere from 150 to 300 articles per month. Some sites also offer graphics (e-book covers and site header graphics) and even ready-made sales letters.

To use PLC to the best advantage, you need to be aware of a few things.

1. How Can You Use PLC Articles?

The most common use for PLC articles is to provide useful, interesting content for websites. There are other uses, however. Think about your immediate needs. If you require an incentive for people to sign up for your newsletter, you can offer an e-book or training manual made up from PLC articles. It’s easy to tweak these to be more relevant to your website and your clients. (As well as putting yourself in Google’s shoes, put yourself in your clients’ shoes. What do they most need to know?)

You could also create an e-course (anything from 6 to 52 articles – a short e-course, or one that offers an article for each week of the year). This gives you an excellent reason to stay in touch with your clients.

2. How Can You Alter PLC Articles?

Submitting articles to public article directories along with your resource box is a great way to generate traffic to your web-sites. However, many directories don’t allow you to submit duplicate content – ie, you have to submit your own unique article. Therefore, when submitting an article that you obtained from a private label content resource, it’s advisable to first alter the article before submission. Here are a few tips in that regard…

(a) Change the title of the article. If you are using keyword-optimized articles, make sure you keep the keyword in the title – but be creative about the words that surround it. So if your article is based on the keyword “Mongolian Guinea Pig”, your title might be “Where to Find the Mongolian Guinea Pig” or “Taking Care of Your Mongolian Guinea Pig” and so on.

(b) Change the opening paragraph. All you need to do (usually) is make sure that your keyword appears once. Take a look at the rest of the paragraph. How can you say the same thing in a different way? Look for synonyms – using your thesaurus – or alter the tone. Perhaps you can adopt a more casual approach (this might work better for your readership anyway). You might prefer write a different introduction altogether.

(c) Work through the article. Add a sentence here; subtract one there. Present the facts in a different order. Expand by adding some new points. Break a long article into two shorter articles. (If you do this, make sure each article seems complete in itself.)

(d) Rewrite the ending. When you do this, think about what you want the reader to do. Is this a good place to put your own affiliate link, or write a lead-in to your own product or services?

3. Blend Several Articles Into One

You can get a whole new look if you take two or more PLC articles on the same theme and blend them into one longer, fact-packed article. Sometimes you might find you HAVE to do this, if an article seems a bit ‘lightweight’. Not all PLC articles are created equal! Sometimes it’s obvious that the writer was low on inspiration.

4. Think Outside the Rectangle

Most PLC articles are presented in batches relevant to one niche. For example, you might find that over the course of a month you get 20 articles on golf, 20 on cell phones, 20 on credit cards and 20 on travel. Let’s say that you are busy building a golf site. It might seem at first glance that only 20 of the 80 articles are relevant to your needs.

Not so! Golf vacations, for example, are very popular. Could any of your travel articles be massaged to fit the theme of golf vacations? It’s very likely that they could. And what about communication while you travel – or while you play golf? Does the golfer need a new cell phone that will easily adapt to overseas communications? How will the golfer pay for a new set of clubs or a golf vacation? Might he need to explore credit card options?

You see how it’s done. Be creative in your use of Private Label Content, and you will definitely get your money’s worth.

5. One Final Tip – Hold Out For Quality

Now that Private Label Content is becoming popular, more and more PLC sites are opening up. You can afford to be choosy. Check out the quality of the articles on offer, and especially the niches being targeted. Niche areas like golf and credit are popular, and that’s exactly what you want. You want to go where there is an existing demand. You do NOT want obscure niches where there is little activity. You WANT to go where there is competition. Naturally, the profitable niches will always have competition. Where there is competition, there are buyers! So you want to look for demand, look for competition, and carve your niche!

Finally, consider being a member of more than one PLR site. Is it worth it to you to spend $150 a month on quality, no-strings-attached content? That would get you membership of 3-4 sites and upwards of 400 articles each month. Even if you can use only 50 of those articles, you’re getting them for $3 each – a bargain