January 28, 2006

Private Label Rights & Duplicate Content - Myths & Fancy

Maybe I'm just more aware of it since I launched 'Make Content Unique' - but I'm seeing a lot of talk about Private Label Rights (PLR) articles and 'Duplicate Content' on many discussion forums.

And so much of the opinions being strewn about casually are guesses and anecdotal data - but being presented as reliable truth by 'experts'

It makes me smile - because a lot of extensive research on available literature has convinced me about one thing, which I put in the executive summary of my short report (you can find the 'Duplicate Content Report - with links - here:

One thing is obvious - no one, experts included, knows just how much customization is 'enough' to call an article unique from a SEO point of view. The general recommendation seems to be 15% to 30% of the article being 'different'

Now, here's what makes me smile:

* 'Expert' SEO specialists are sharing their personal opinions (backed by data, but only the limited data they have access to) as the 'absolute' truth - which is silly. Only Google knows what 'DATA' they use to evaluate 'duplicate content' - and they ain't telling! And of course, the VOLUME of data Google has access to totally dwarfs any these 'experts' can claim to be able to analyze.

* Most folks posting their views seem to NOT understand the power of the 'fingerprinting' technology Google has patented. And that's strange, because try doing a search on Google with a phrase with 10 or 5 or even 3 word 'strings' and you'll be amazed at how powerful the engine driving the results is, when you see how it picks up the search phrase from across it's huge database almost instantly.

That's why I'm amazed when folks talk about Google not being able to sniff out duplicate content if they simply jumble up text strings using automatic tools! It's like going up in a decrypting contest against a code cracking computer armed with only your pencil and a sheet of paper. You WILL lose - guaranteed!

* Other 'content experts' advice that you re-write private label articles completely - and use PLR content as the frame or basis for more extensive rewriting work. Well, if we all could write well, there wouldn't be a role for PLR content at all, isn't it?

And if 'duplicate content' only meant replication of any sequence of content across multiple websites, all it would take for you to knock down the top-ranked website on Google would be to:

- hire 10 students, at $10 an hour
- have them copy and paste all articles on the site to 100 different websites you set up
- submit the 100 sites to Google

Bam! The #1 ranked site should disappear because they have 'duplicate content'. Think it'll happen? I don't.

Which is why I stick to my conclusion that "no one, experts included, knows just how much customization is 'enough' to call an article unique from a SEO point of view."

* And then there's the problem of how to PROTECT the PLR content you so painstakingly customized and made 'dupe free'. I mean, what's to prevent anyone from just copying the content you create and use it on their sites - yes, yes, I know, there are copyright laws... but as a small business owner, do you seriously have time to screen out all copy-cats, and go after them legally?

Of course not. Then, with all the customization in the world, are you still at the mercy of thieves to avoid the 'Duplicate Content' filter and penalties?

I'm still smiling at these thoughts. SEO is a hard, tough battle-field. Devoting all your time and energy to it is still no guarantee that you'll always win or stay ahead of the pack. Nor should you let it bother you too much.

Use common-sense. Have relevant content on your site. Tweak it to be different from other sites. Focus on theming your content so it is relevant, related and good quality. Use tools like 'Make Content Unique' to help out with parts of the process that are time-consuming.

Avoid 'fully automated' solutions that churn out junk content because:

a. it won't beat the 'Duplicate Content' filters - Google's fingerprinting patent makes that abundantly clear, they CAN find you out, if they want to.

b. it won't be useful to a human visitor to your website who arrives from some of your other marketing efforts, so you won't get your traffic to 'convert' into sales.

If you concern yourself more with adding value to the Web, and building a resource that's useful to your website visitors, and then spend your precious time and energy coming up with creative ways to achieve these ends (rather than on cracking and beating search engine algorithms), you'll probably get further along on the road to online success.

Be wary of letting others do your thinking for you. In the field of Private Label Rights & Duplicate Content, there are far too many myths & fantasies.

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