Authors, Writers, Publishers, and Book Readers

Duplicate Content Rules reminder! Short version: Don't do it. Please.

I'm going to be blunt, my fellow scribes: some of our members are hurting us. Sad but true. Every single time a member posts content here that they have posted elsewhere, it hurts us with Google. They call it duplicate content. Sites are penalized in the search engine rankings if they have duplicate content more now than they ever were.

What is duplicate content?

A simple definition of duplicate content is any website content-a blog post or forum topic, say- that's already been posted publicly anywhere else on the internet. Google defines it as follows ( source):

Duplicate content generally refers to substantive blocks of content within or across domains that either completely match other content or are appreciably similar.

If for example you have your own blog, make a post on it there then come to Authors.com and copy/paste the very same post here, you're creating both duplicate content and a problem for us.

We don't like having to delete posts members make. We certainly don't like having to ban members because they fail to contribute anything else to the community apart from duplicate content and/or links to their own site. We dislike excessive self-promotion.

Duplicate content needs to be treated as a form of spam, plain and simple. It can hurt our site's position in the search engines. We cannot allow it to continue unchecked.

Please. Be part of the solution, not the problem.

Now we know some people will be saying "Yikes, I did that!". And we know you didn't intend that action to have negative consequences for Authors.com. Deleting any of your duplicate content that's here would be a great help to us. You'll see the options button at the top of your post.

To avoid being part of the duplicate content problem now or in the future is easy, folks. Post original posts. That's the simplest way. You're all creative people, after all. :)

If you must post about something you have elsewhere, please don't post the content word-for-word in its entirety. You can still talk about it of course and link to it but do it in a way that gives value to our community, not detracts from it. Reference your post if it can answer a question asked in a relevant thread for example. Quoting a small snippet and linking to the rest is fine, especially if you create a different intro to it when you do. Copy/pasting an entire blog post is not.

We will be especially frowning upon those who do nothing but this as it boils down to pure self-promotion. That is not supporting your fellow authors and our community is all about supporting and helping each other to succeed. Need more help on how to do so or don't understand what I mean by that? Then please read this thread below.

Building A Support Network of Fellow Authors: who's the enemy?

Thanks for taking the time to read this thread. The better Authors.com does, the better we all do because it's your name and your book's title that's being swept up the rankings too remember! All members benefit from us being top of the heap. Please help us stay there. :)

1 member likes this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Stanley Morris on July 31, 2012 at 6:50am

Does this include book excerpts that you have posted elsewhere? Sometimes I forget just what I have posted and where.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kay Elizabeth on August 13, 2012 at 8:01pm

It's hard to judge whether Google would class that as duplicate content. The best thing you can do is what's suggested above. Introduce it in a slightly different way, add a little and link to the rest.

Quoting a small snippet and linking to the rest is fine, especially if you create a different intro to it when you do. Copy/pasting an entire blog post is not.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kay Elizabeth on September 16, 2012 at 5:38pm

Today I've been banning people for continuing to spam us with their duplicate content despite this post. Please take a moment to remove or edit any you have up, folks. Because if I find it first, I'll have no alternative but to ban you for all the reasons stated above. We worked too hard to gain our top search engine rankings to lose that ground. Thanks for understanding.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Gloria Faye Brown Bates/Granny G on September 23, 2012 at 11:42pm

Hi Everyone,

I want to be one of the first to offer a public apology on doing this. I, honestly, didn't realize I was doing something that could cast negative light on everyone else/this website. I am so, so sorry for being guilty.

I won't post my blog here... I really didn't know that I couldn't. I'm glad you sent me an email to let me know. I will begin deleting my posts, so, there won't be duplicate posts of my blog.

You are right, I didn't 'intend that action to have negative consequences for Authors.com. I would never do that anywhere... I only want good to be reflected from anything I do.

I offer my apology again to everyone here. I truly am so sorry. Granny Gee/Gloria

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kay Elizabeth on September 25, 2012 at 7:19pm

Thanks Gloria. Trust me, the majority do it unintentionally like yourself and we understand that. It's when they don't remove it once they become aware of it nor ask me to do so on their behalf, and continue to post more regardless of the damage it does, that it becomes a problem we need to address. Once it's corrected by people like yourself, then it's fine. I really appreciate your post. Thanks again.

I'd like to ask anyone that spots duplicate content anywhere within the site too to let me know via my inbox please. I've noticed an increase in members that want to post the same thing in numerous places, e.g their blog and the forum and/or a group. Aside from it being boring for members to read the same old thing again and again, that's duplicate content too. So tell me please of any concerns you have. Anything reported to me regarding this or anything on the site for that matter is obviously in confidence. Thanks so much for helping me!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Patrick Middleton on February 7, 2015 at 9:23am

Thank you for this most informative and necessary article about this subject. I am new to blogs, posts and forums and would like very much to become involved with discussions regarding literary fiction, philosophy and historical fiction. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks again, Patrick Middleton