Google’s Duplicate Content Penalty: The Not-So-Scary Truth

Remember playing “Telephone” as a kid?

You’d whisper something to the person next to you, then each person in the circle would pass along what they heard until finally, the last person announced some random statement that only had the smallest fragments of what was said initially.

There seems to be a similar “Telephone” whisper going around our printer circle regarding Google’s duplicate content penalties. The word “penalty “can be scary. But, in this case, it’s important to understand that it’s not scary, it’s misunderstood. Patrick Stox, an SEO Specialist for IBM and an organizer for the Raleigh SEO Meetup explains Google’s “penalty” like this:

People mistake duplicate content for a penalty because of how Google handles it. Really, the duplicates are just being filtered in the search results.

So, what can you do to help beat the filter? Here are the highlights you should be aware of.

Avoid Duplication (A.K.A. Customize)

When you subscribe to services like our websites or social media marketing, you need to be aware that you will receive the same starter content as every other subscriber. We’ve crafted an enormously powerful and efficient springboard for you to make an impact towards selling more printing.

But here’s the thing, content springboards can only take you so far. To be the most effective, you have to jump off of the content springboard to make a connection.

To make that jump (and keep Google happy), it’s important to customize the content provided to you and make it unique. Your readers will love it. Google will love it. And, it’s easy!

Here’s an example from one of our provided social media marketing blogs of a simple customization:

Our Provided Blog Content

Your Customers Are Your Future
A customer represents the future of your success and your livelihood, and it will be difficult to thrive if you aren’t willing to risk or invest to attract new business. What are your obstacles to expanding your reach or enlarging your advertising? Has the uncertainty of direct mail marketing kept your business from growing? Why not rely on our expertise? We offer sophisticated, simple ways to reach a mass audience for an amount that works within your budget. Need a creative concept or help to carry it to completion? We offer prompt, knowledgeable service for every custom design mailing. Give us a call today!

Same Blog Content With A Little-Added Customization

Your Customers Are Your (and Our) Future
Customers are the future of your success and the backbone of your livelihood. If you aren’t willing to risk or invest to attract new business, it will be difficult to thrive. What are the obstacles preventing you from expanding your reach or broadening your advertising? Don’t let the uncertainty of direct mail marketing keep your business from growing. Rely on our expertise!

[Acme Printing] offers simple ways to reach the masses for an amount that won’t break your budget. From concept to completion, [Acme Printing] brings you timely, knowledgeable service for whatever marketing you can imagine. Give us a call today at (888) 555-1234!

IMPORTANT: The starter content may not completely satisfy Google, but it will satisfy your customers. Even if you don’t customize your content, keep in mind that:

Google doesn’t buy printing from you. People buy printing from you!!

Spoiler Alert: Doing Nothing is Not A Good Option

Something is always better than nothing in the eyes of Google and in the eyes of your customers. After all, you’re not going to get anywhere without taking the first step.

Think about it this way. You have three options here:

1. You could do NOTHING = zero content.
2. You could do SOMETHING = duplicate content.
3. You could do MORE = unique content.

Which option will Google not even recognize? Easy! Google won’t acknowledge the absence of content. We know Google has strange powers, but recognizing content that’s not even there is not one of them.

Will Google recognize duplicate content? Yes. It won’t give duplicate content as much prominence in the search engine results, but it will certainly recognize duplicate content more than doing nothing at all. If your head is screaming “penalty,” remember this:

Doing something is not a penalty. You’re getting noticed. Doing nothing: that’s the real penalty.

Will Google recognize unique content? Yes! That’s the big win and exactly why we provide an option for you to order completely custom content, too!

The Bottom Line: You Don’t Need to Worry

In summary…

• Being recognized for duplicate content is better than NOT being noticed because of no content.
• You will not be “penalized” for duplicate content.
• Duplicate content is “neutral.”
• You will be rewarded for going the extra mile and customizing your content.
• We make it easy for you to customize your content.

Don’t Trust Your Content To Just Anyone

At Marketing Ideas For Printers, we maintain a laser-like focus on the printing industry, keeping you up to date on the things that matter to you. Want to get started but need someone you can trust? We’ve been by printers, for printers exclusively for over 30 years now.