Is your website suffering from an abundance of duplicate content? Perhaps you’ve been struggling with keeping website copy fresh and decided to take the easy route, lifting text from elsewhere and pasting it onto your webpages. You wouldn’t be alone.
Even in an era where digital agencies spring up right, left and centre, and where everyone is an expert in SEO and web marketing, the amount of duplicate content on websites is staggering. But it’s not just the (very harsh) penalties dished out by Google that arise from duplicate content discovery. In fact, with many recognised brands seeing a significant proportion of website traffic coming from direct referrals (and thus mitigating – but by no means negating – a fall in search engine positions), you should be concerned about the effect duplicate content has on your relationship with your customers.
Duplicate content and your users
As a writer, research pays an integral part in my day-to-day work. Finding sources of information that are reliable and informative, and which can be supported by secondary sources elsewhere, is essential to any piece of content created. So, imagine the frustration when, after finding one page that answers my question, the next ten results in the search engine say the exact same thing, word for word, error for error. In such an instance, it often pays to scrap what’s been found and start again, if only for peace of mind.
But it is not just as a writer that such frustrations arise. Consumers looking to purchase an item online want to know all they possibly can before they buy, so reviews which have been lifted from elsewhere add nothing to the shopping experience. I, for one, have been put off a purchase after being unable to find any ‘real’ reviews. The inability of resellers to develop unique content that educated and informed cost them a sale. I like to think that many other discerning shoppers decided the same.
Ensuring your site is free from duplicate content is essential, therefore, to developing a relationship with your customers that is built on trust and value. Customers will want to know that you have put the hard work in to offer something more than your competitors, dedicated time to crafting content that answers their questions, and will offer real value for money through going the extra mile.
How to avoid duplicate content
Avoiding the pitfalls of duplicate content is easy: simple put in the hard work. Ensuring that each page you create is truly unique and valuable in its own right guarantees that you will soon have a website that is valued among your clients. Regular content audits to maintain the absence of duplicate content are a must, especially if a large number of users have publishing rights on your website.
Creating page after page of website copy may seem daunting, by cutting corners and utilising duplicate content should be avoided at all costs. If you really don’t fancy preparing content yourself, you could always employ experienced writers that have the ability to write copy that is unique and compelling every time.
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