After publishing a post about helpful content and search engine optimization (SEO), I had several conversations with site owners who publish blogs for SEO. The idea of copying content came up a few times with questions like these:
- Can we use syndicated content that appears on lots of other websites?
- Can we copy content from other sites, especially open source and public domain content?
Unique Content is Important, Possibly Critically Important
Here’s the quick answer: Unique content is important, possibly critically important. That means creating original content, not copying.
As I’ve said before, fundamental SEO is no secret. It’s right at our finger tips. Google and Bing tell us what they want.
What Google Says about Unique Content
In Google’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter Guide, section “Make your site interesting and useful”, it says that “compelling and useful” content has several attributes including this one:
Source: Google’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter Guide
- The content is unique: When you’re writing new content, don’t copy others’ content in part or in its entirety: create the content yourself based on what you know about the topic. Don’t just rehash what others already published.
That bullet point links to their information about “scraping” spam.
Scraping, According to Google
They see scraping as a kind of spam. Here’s their definition
- scraping
the practice of taking content from other sites, often through automated means, and hosting it with the purpose of manipulating search rankings.
Source: Google’s Spam policies for Google web search – See examples at the link.
What Bing Says about Unique Content
Source: Bing Webmaster Guidelines
- Make it unique. Do not reuse content from other sources. Content on your page must be unique in its final form. If you choose to host content from a third party, either use the canonical tag (rel=”canonical” to identify the original source or use the alternate tag (rel=”alternate”) .
When they say to use the “canonical tag” or “alternate tag”, they’re saying you should cite the original source so search engines can find that page, not just yours. This applies when you copy an entire page of content or rewrite it for your site.
Search Engines Seem Likely to Minimize Copied Content and Prioritize Unique, Original Content
Any SEO boost you get from copied content is probably temporary because search engines often update how they rank sites, usually trying to put the original at the top. Here’s what Google said about a 2024 core update.
This update is designed to continue our work to improve the quality of our search results by showing more content that people find genuinely useful and less content that feels like it was made just to perform well on Search… we aim to connect people with a range of high quality sites, including small or independent sites that are creating useful, original content, when relevant to users’ searches.
Source: Google Search Central Blog
They are trying to connect people with “sites that are creating useful, original content”. They’ve used similar wording with other updates.
Search engines are actively trying to avoid copied content. As they get better at identifying original content, they’ll show copied content less.
Develop this SEO Business Function: Creating Original Content
If you’re going to publish content for SEO, develop the process of creating your own content, helpful or otherwise. It doesn’t have to be fancy or flowery, but it can be if that fits your content. Or it can be dry, technical, and narrow in scope. It can be short or long. You can create it in house, or you can outsource it.
If you want to publish content for SEO, manage content creation like a business function.
New to content creation? Start with what comes easy.
Start with easy topics for you. Just make sure it’s useful to somebody for some reason (helpful, entertaining, informative, whatever) and is substantially yours.
Look for topics and answers you already know or you pick up in the course of your work. Write them down immediately, and add some details while the answer is fresh. You’re creating a first draft, so don’t worry about the details. Save it and go about your work. Do that a few times, and you’ll build a collection of draft posts.
Then refine a few drafts, and decide which one to publish next. Further refine that one, and when you’re ready, click the publish button. Do that a few times, and you’re on your way to a library of content for the world to find.
Written Content vs Video or Podcasts
If video is easier than writing, make videos or podcasts, but written content has some advantages: it’s easy for search engines to read, it takes less time to create, and it’s simpler to publish and update.
Develop a Sustainable Pace
I add that you need to sustain some effort, time, or investment throughout the year. So strive to create a workflow and pace that you can sustain for the long term.
Short and simple posts are a good start. As you create more, you can refine or expand your topics and style.
Good Product and Service Information is Good Content
Even if you don’t publish periodic blog posts or helpful content, the static information you publish about your business is content.
First, it shouldn’t be completely static. You should update your content periodically. Almost everybody can find something to improve on their site; make at least a few of those changes monthly. It helps SEO a little.
Second, make the content useful to those looking for your products and services. Look up search trends and review similar sites for ideas. Think about the information your audiences want to find. Then create that content for your products and services.
Add to or edit it monthly. Do that a few times, and you’ll be on your way to a website with good information and a good SEO foundation.
Creating is a Process
Plan your SEO as a long-term project. If you plan to publish periodic content for SEO, spend a few weeks or months looking for ideas and developing a process that fits your company.
You know your site, your industry, and your audience. You’ll come up with ideas. You will know what fits when you see it.
Here are some general content suggestions:
- tutorials
- opinions
- reviews
- insights
- tech bulletins
- recipes
- tips
- editorials
- analysis
- news
- wrap ups, collections, or meta studies
- lists
- sales announcements
- whatever is right for your site
Conclusion
Search engines say they want unique, helpful content. That’s the kind of SEO Google and Bing are likely to reward now and well into the future.
If you’re going to invest in content SEO, invest in original content some people in your audiences want to find. Short form or long form, create something unique.
