Duplicate content - is it worth the hassle?

Duplicate content is not original content; it's often content that has already been published on the web - from article sites, for example.

Should you use it?

It may be more hassle than it's worth. Here's why.

Search engines don't like duplicate content

Then you wait until you achieve high rankings on Google.

The thing is, that probably won't happen. Google already knows about this content; if it's from an article site, it may be on a thousand other places on the web. So why would they rank you any higher for using it on your site? The answer is - they wouldn't. They don't. So why bother?

Google's webmaster guidelines state that original content is good. That's more than enough for me. There's a lot of talk about Google's "duplicate content filter" on webmaster forums. Whether it exists or not is shrouded in mystery. But I'm not hanging around to find out.

Is there a penalty for having duplicate content?
No. But find out what Google says in their Official Webmaster Blog about Demystifying the "duplicate content penalty".

One other danger is this: if you don't put original content on your site, you may get thrown into Google's (theoretically non-existent) supplemental results index. Not good.

I don't use duplicate content on any of my sites.

It damages your credibility

And they'll wonder if you're the expert they thought you were...

If you're serious about site building, you'll want the stuff on your site to be yours. Not anybody else's.

How can you use duplicate content?

If you see an article you really like, but you don't want to incur the wrath of the search engines, why not contact the author and see if they would rewrite it for you - in return for a link to their site?

Or rewrite the article totally in your own words, adding to it and improving it. That way you can use the info as a resource and turn it into your own content.