How plagiarism free content can boost website ranking on search engines?
Online marketing is all about helpful information that is original and unique. The more unique your content appears to your target audience, the easier it will be to stand out against the competition. That's why plagiarism-free content is a necessity of SEO strategies today.
However, many things in online marketing can be easier to say than to do. Writing plagiarism-free SEO content is one of them.
- So, why is it necessary?
- How do you write plagiarism-free content?
- Moreover, how will it affect your online search engine results?
These are all viable questions that need thorough answering. This article explores this topic to help you understand a few key essentials to delivering plagiarism-free content.
What is plagiarism?
Plagiarism is the unethical act of copying another writer's work (including content, media and even ideas). While plagiarism can be in many forms, the type we’re addressing in this article is when a writer steals another writer's content, word-for-word.
Some other common types of plagiarism include:
- Patchwork
- Mosaic plagiarism
- Direct plagiarism
- Accidental plagiarism
- Self-plagiarism
Patchwork is the most common and unethical type of plagiarism. It includes a writer copying the content but changing it just enough to pass it off as original.
Mosaic plagiarism is more or less the same, except some plagiarism can still be found in this type.
Direct plagiarism is the blatant duplicity of another writer's content without changing anything or giving the author any credit.
Accidental plagiarism can happen if a writer unwillingly writes something that might be very similar to another writer's work.
Lastly, self-plagiarism is common in writers who produce content every day. They can accidentally write content similar to their own. That's why it also counts as the accidental type.
3 reasons plagiarism happens
Plagiarism can happen due to a variety of reasons. One of the most common causes is the fact that writers tend to be lazy at times.
In SEO, there's no space for such problems. That's why these are some of the most common reasons you need to avoid.
1. Lack of research
Lack of research or topic understanding is one of the most common reasons behind plagiarism.
That's why some writers will spend more time doing their research than they would spend on writing the content as it ensures original content.
2. Common or redundant topics
You need to pick your topics wisely. Picking a common topic might also lead to accidental or self-plagiarism from your own content.
3. Copying or bad paraphrasing
Copying another writer's content (in swathes) is bad. However, what's worse is copying and paraphrasing badly. It reduces the content's quality, and well… it's still plagiarism.
4 ways plagiarism-free content boosts website ranking
Understanding the ways content can boost website search results requires us to dive deeper into this topic. We need to understand the role of avoiding plagiarism and the importance of writing original content.
So, here are four major benefits and ways that plagiarism-free content can boost your website’s ranking.
1. Original content helps draw more traffic to your site
Original content is one of the key components to making a website or blog rank higher in the SERPs (search engine results pages).
And here’s why we need to make sure our content is plagiarism-free and therefore original:
- Search engine crawlers look for it;
- Searchers (visitors to your site) appreciate it; and
- Original content establishes credibility.
2. Being plagiarism-free builds a strong reputation
In order to establish online credibility, a brand or business needs to create original content consistently. In turn, this builds your online reputation, because:
- it will establish credibility (with Google and with your readers);
- it will garner better and bigger audiences;
- it will exhibit your experience and expertise;
- it will ensure your content is unmatched (including against your competitors).
Therefore, you need to write content that's original, unique and led by expertise.
3. Avoid search engine penalties
If your content has any degree of plagiarism, search engines may penalise it. Or worse, they might blacklist your website for using black hat SEO.
To avoid the potential for penalties, it's imperative that you ensure your content is plagiarism-free. When it is plagiarism-free, your overall ranking will improve and help you stand out in the SERPs.
4. Improved quality of content
One common factor in plagiarism-free content is that it will be in the unique style of your entire site which ordinarily translates to being high in informative value and user experience.
That's exactly the kind of content search engine crawlers look for and precisely what the online audience wants.
How to avoid plagiarism?
Avoiding plagiarism is something you must learn to ensure your site is healthy and performs well. Here are our top 3 tips for avoiding plagiarism.
Use a free plagiarism checker
Using a plagiarism checker for free on a regular basis is a good habit. There are a number of options available but a couple we use regularly include:
Here’s an example of how a report may look when you run some content through a plagiarism checker.
Rewrite plagiarised content
When you find plagiarised content, make sure that you rewrite or rephrase it. You can use a rephrase tool like “Rephrase.info” to help you.
Extra tip: Make sure, when changing plagiarised content, your site’s normal tone doesn't change.
Here’s an example of how a report may look when you run some content through Rephrase.
Cite or quote plagiarised content (provide attribution)
You can also prevent plagiarism by providing the original source of duplicate content. This is often referred to as ‘attribution’. You may quote the duplicate content or add the proper reference to that content.
Summing up
These are some of the crucial reasons for removing plagiarism from your content.
100% unique content (or cited/quoted content appropriately tagged) will deliver improved website ranking on search engines. Always focus on writing content that's original, useful, accurate and importantly, plagiarism-free.
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