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When Is Duplicate Content Okay? When Is It Penalized?

Search engines are known to penalize duplicate content. But what exactly is duplicate content? Confusion is widespread.

What Is Duplicate Content and Why Is It Worth Mentioning?

The most straightforward definition I've come up with is: Duplicate content is text-based (spiderable) content on a web page that is currently found fully, or in part, in another location on the Internet.

Search engines are not fond of duplicate content because in the past it was a tactic used by spammers to attain rankings which clogged search engine results. Back then search engines could guiltlessly penalize the offending pages or the entire website. Today, new approaches to online promotion have made certain types of duplicate content unavoidable. As a result, search engines have had to redefine their policies. What follows is the general wisdom of search engine optimization experts as to which kinds of duplicate content are presumed safe and which aren't.

Kinds of Duplicate Content to Consider

1. Website Mirroring: If an entire website is an exact duplicate of another in the same language, it is likely to be seen as spam. This site should be deactivated and the domain should be permanently redirected to the original website. However, if a duplicate website is translated into different languages, that's considered acceptable.
2. Article Syndication: Republishing the articles of online authors without providing a link back to the original article is considered unwise because it could be construed by search engines as an attempt to pass off the content as your own. Authors should insist those who republish an article link to your original document. This also increases the chances that the original on the author's site won't be relegated to Google's supplemental index.
3. Multiple Available Versions of Content: Many content management systems (CMS) and blogs have multiple versions of content that are available for search engines to index. All but one copy of the content should be blocked from spidering using your site's Robots.txt file.
4. Repetition in an E-Commerce Product Pages. Sometimes you see overly repetitive content for various widget types in a shopping site. For example a tire shop may have a large listing of the same Michelin tires with the exact same multiple-sentence description next to each different-sized tire. This can be fixed by dropping the repetition in favor of a single general description of the tire followed by a listing of the available sizes. However, some duplicate wording for similar products is unavoidable and probably won't be penalized.
5. Quoting: Quoting portions of other articles or content isn't penalized. 

What Are the Ramifications of "Unsafe" Duplicate Content?

If your site is a complete duplicate of another site, it could mean an outright ban. Otherwise, duplicate content penalties are likely to be a lower search engine ranking because the content has proven to be unoriginal or, in the case of Google, your content would be dropped into their supplemental index.

Duplicate Content Is Not the End of the World

If you realize that your site has been penalized for the use of innocently used duplicate content, then simply act on the information above. Don't obsess over it. Nine times out of ten you can solve your situation by removing the duplicate content, sourcing it properly, or blocking it entirely from search engine spiders. The search engines want to find sites that add value to their results so you can expect they will be lenient to offending websites that quickly right their wrongs and prove their worth.

Ross Dunn is CEO of StepForth SEO Services, a search engine optimization firm in Victoria, BC, Canada, founded in 1997. In addition to Internet marketing, he enjoys photography and hiking.