Helping You Rock Out Your Site Like A Rockstar!

[ This is a guest post by Tom Dwyer. Tom Dwyer is former senior interactive marketing executive where he brought cutting edge online solutions to Fortune 500 companies and small business owners all over the country. Tom now spends his time consulting and strategizing with businesses and organizations on how to be heard in today’s crowded interactive world. Learn more from Tom at www.talkingwithtommyd.com. ]

The short answer is yes, if the purpose of the content is to manipulate the search results. It is never a good idea to try and fool the search engines because even if you manage to get one past them eventually it will catch up with you.

The Official Word on Duplicate Content
According to Google’s site they define duplicate content as – “…substantive blocks of content within or across domains that either completely match other content or are appreciably similar. … Duplicate content on a site is not grounds for action on that site unless it appears that the intent of the duplicate content is to be deceptive and manipulate search engine results.”

So why do search engines even care about duplicate content anyways?

Google and other search engines want to avoid including similar pages in their search results because it would compromise their user’s experience. If you think about this for a moment it is actually a good policy on the search engine’s part. Nothing is more frustrating than conducting a search; only to find several different sites that all have the exact same article. Precisely what the search engines are trying to avoid.

How to Avoid a Duplicate Content Penalty
Based on Google’s own words you can clearly see that they try to consider the intent of the content before deciding to impose a penalty. They have the ability to determine if the content they are attempting to index is trying to boost a sites search value by having multiple versions around the web. If they deem it as doing so they will penalize the site by either giving it a low ranking or worse de-indexing the site altogether.

It is very easy to avoid the potential penalty by simply writing your own content. If writing is not your thing then hire a professional writer to ghost write you content for you. You have to remember that your true ultimate goal here is to provide valuable information that your visitor is searching for. By consistently writing compelling and unique content for your audience the likelihood of incurring a duplicate content penalty is practically zero.

Publishing Your Own Content
So let’s say you write an incredible article and you want to submit it to article directories – will that count as duplicate content? The answer is yes but not like you think. You’re not going to incur a penalty with Google for having your article out there on several different article sites but the link value you receive from any links in the article will be diluted.

What you should do to insure that the search engines consider the article you wrote and is hosted on your site as the “official” version is to make certain that you post it on your site first. Once you content is on your site wait to confirm that the search engines have indexed the page before you submit it to any article directories or anywhere else. Any other site that hosts your article later will be considered “duplicate”.

One thing to note, this does not mean that your page will rank before any of the other sites that have your content. There are many factors that go into the ranking of web pages beyond whether it is duplicate or not such as back linking to the page.

Final Word
Duplicate content is real and can affect your online marketing efforts, but if you are seriously trying to market yourself or your business it is unavoidable. Take the simple measures described above and you will be in a better position to avoid being penalized by the search engines.

Finding blog post ideas is not difficult. Seeded Buzz wrote an article called Blog post ideas that prevent writer’s block, which covered the fact that they noticed 1600 people a month were searching with the keywords “blog post ideas.”

Although, for some sites, this is not a significant amount. For others, it might actually work out well for their site, especially if you are a site that helps bloggers improve. Finding ideas is very easy and can be found anywhere.

You have an opinion about some things, right? Well, if it is relevant to your blog and you believe your readers would be interested, this would be the opportunity to share that article while also sharing your own opinion. This is not just for articles, but also art, videos, forum conversations, and other media.

Like art, inspiration can be found anywhere and applied in some form.

Although a lot of people worry about originality, this is not the case if you have more to say on a issue that could be said better in a blog entry, rather than fill up another site’s comment stream. In fact, it is a way to carry on the conversation and even attract people to your site.

Where do you find blog post ideas?

Moving a site from one domain to a different and taking a whole new name is a tedious process. Of course, anyone could just move on a whim, but that might cause a bit of confusion if your site gets a nice chunk of visitors. Sometimes the reasons behind making this change are important:

1. The previous domain name no longer reflects what you are trying to convey to the public
2. You found a better domain to help brand you either personally, or as a business
3. You hate the domain name and got lucky enough to grab up a cool one
4. You hate the domain name, it is about to expire, and so you found a better one

For what its worth – It happens a lot! However, here are some things you might want to do before you move.

Announce your move ahead of time. You may have just grabbed that domain, and have already started moving the files, but you need to tell your visitors. Two weeks is good. One month is even better.

Move in stages. You should put a redirect on your current site two weeks before you make a final move. Park old domain and redirect it to the new one afterwards if you still own the registration. Whether you keep that domain, sell it, or eventually let it go, for those who missed the memo, this might allow your site to retain as many as your usual visitors.

Inform your link exchanges and affiliates immediately. If you change even your site’s blog address, your link exchanges need to know. These are suppose to be people you have contact with.

Inform all of your visitors and social network followers several times. It might be annoying, but people forget or miss the message because they were not online when you made the site announcement. Make sure to encourage them to subscribe to the new site’s feed, newsletter, and also pass the word on about the exchange.

Tell your search engine that you moved. You can do this by putting a 301 permanent redirect. However, for sites that have been around for years, you might want to park the new domain on top of the other and promote the new one to not lose traffic.

It might seem dumb to have to tell people you moved, but it really is nice to do and allows people to follow you. I have moved in the past and there are people that find me on occasion. Until last year, I still had a very old Geocities site with notice that the site had moved to Blondish.net. I was pleasantly surprised that there were people that were still finding me through there too. Even though Yahoo! Geocities no longer exists, I am grateful to have retained a heavy amount of traffic from my visitors that have been around for the past few years.

What other suggestions do you have for people that are changing their domain name or will be in the near future?

In the whole set up of a website, you might consider what type of monetizing plan you want to try. There are quite a few options.

- Self-hosted banner advertising

- Banner advertising with a company like BuySellAds, Project Wonderful, and more.

- Text Ads wit Text Link Ads, Google Adwords, and even Adbrite.

Of course, there are more places. These are just a few examples.

But STOP! You need to have a site with content, and then have traffic. Without traffic, how can you make money?

A lot of people think that just having a website means people will automatically come. It is not as simple as quoted in the movie Field of Dreams – “If you build it, he will come.”

There is more work involved. You can place all the right keywords, but that might attract and make people stay, subscribe, and become a regular… even a customer. It important to create a reputable presence for your site. Connect with others in your niche and allow them to give feedback. Return comments or make your visitors feel welcomed.

Once your site picks up enough traffic, you can finally start experimenting on incorporating ads and such to make money. Not every program works. Some do better while others do not. However, even if you build a site, be prepared to do more work to build a sturdy traffic flow.

Have you monetized your site? What works for you? (There is a poll in the sidebar related to this article… please try it out.)

Recently, I really started introducing most guest bloggers on Blondish.net. There have been a number of great people, and some that totally missed the point. Guest posting allows users to earn a little more reputation as a blogger in places where they may not normally visit. Some blogs are small, and others are influential. Often the blogger also gets a little link love back too.

However, I have been noticing that there are a lot of people who are using this as an opportunity to make money. This should not be the focus. Often these type of people are eager to insert keywords and links to places that are deceptive. For those site owners with a great rep in their community, this could hurt their blog. Do not promote a product unless the blog is about promoting products!!!

Another issue I have seen is site owners and guest bloggers having issues over the article itself. A lot of this is after the fact the article has been approved and published. Like any published material, all edits should be completed before putting the article to bed. For those in journalism putting an article a bed is nothing new. For others, this means that the article has successfully gone through the final proof and ready to be printed. Any discussions about edits should be done before the article is posted, not afterward. A lot of site owners do retain copyright over their own material, EXCEPT for the guest posters. It is important to keep an open line of communication. A lot of article writers are open to some changes.

Site owners need to product a set of guidelines for guest bloggers so they are aware of what is or is not permitted. Guest blogging produces mutual results, so both sides should realize that they are both walking away with something that benefits great results.

What are your expectations for guest bloggers? What kind of guidelines should writers ask.

Here is an article that spurred inspiration for writing this – What Guest Blogging Is NOT: Getting It Right

I do not know, but I thought the title was a bit in your face. However, I was reading Your Comment Is Awaiting Moderation by Andrea Lewis. She expressed her frustration about commenting and seeing the message that her comment will not show up yet because it is being moderated. She feels she is not considered important.

I use moderation to prevent spammers. For those with newer sites, you will not understand. For those with larger sites that have been around more than a couple years, you know the frustration of spammers. My usual policy is to moderate a person’s first comment to the site. Once they have been approved, they are welcome to post. I have Intense Debate, which also helps and allows people with a good reputation to be seen right away.

Comments are important to me, just as much as the article itself. How can I know what my commenters are thinking if they do not leave feedback or want to engage in further conversation on my blog. However, quality control is just as important. If I approve a spammer, what happens when one of my well known colleagues in the blog community come by and see my site littered with spam? They will become discouraged to comment because they are not sure if the same spammers will seek their site out and do the same. Or, they believe the blogger does not care about what comments their visitors leave.

So, what is your policy on comment moderation?

Blogging does not have to be something only talented writers and journalists can do. Blogging is suppose to be whatever the focus of the site is about, whether technology, mommy blogging, social media, or other topics. There are so many genres in the blogging world. I recently read a short article titled Why Blog? at Sugar Filled Emotions and was motivated to write a response of my own.

Blogging should never be a chore. You write what you want and when you want to. I still see sites where people post that they are hiatus from their blog. This is just not acceptable, especially since there are so many days a month and even two entries is not really time consuming. Leaving a site to basically collect dust allows visitors to grow bored of waiting. Why bother having a site if you cannot update it?

Blog about what you know. Like authors writing a novel, it is hard to write about something you have no knowledge or experience. Of course you can slink articles through that show your lack of experience, but to those in your niche that have more experience, you will only look foolish.

Blog because you are passionate about the topic. How can you motivate your readers to return if your site has nothing of value? You can write about anything, but if you cannot connect with your readers through your passion is lacking.

Blog with confidence. It takes guts to put your own words out there for others to read. You will receive both negative and positive comments. Sometimes the negative comments, you have to deal with diplomatically. However, never let it become a hindrance to your blogging.

Blog knowing that you might help or influence another. Some people are looking to answers to their own situations. Your own experience that you share in your posts may help another.

For some, blogging might be an art, but it really is just a way to share your thoughts with others.

What reasons do you have to blog?

We all hope that our blogs will eventually transition from ‘just another blog,’ into an active community discussion platform. This largely starts with readers beginning to actively participate in the comments. But how do you encourage your readers to leave comments (without personally hunting them down and begging them, of course)?

Discuss, Don’t Lecture
There’s a fine line between a discussion forum and a lecture. If your posts read like a lecture, they’re not very open to commenting. If you’re essentially just rambling off a list of your opinions without opening the floor to anyone else to contribute theirs in some way, then why would they take the time? Put your points across in a way that opens up an avenue for discussion or debate.

Don’t Over-Police Comments
If someone comments once and finds that their comment has been heavily edited to fit in more with the beliefs of the blogger, they’re unlikely to contribute again. Even if someone disagrees with your points, they’re entitled to their say. And this can be great for opening up discussion. Some of the most commented on guest posts take the form of debate. Someone disagreeing with your opinion really isn’t something you should take personally as a blogger. Comment moderation is necessary to fight against spam and obscenities. It’s not necessary to fight against diversity in opinions!

Don’t Sit on the Fence too Much
If you’re blogging about a feud between a couple of celebrities, as an example, by all means quote both sides. But, unless you’re writing for a high brow professional publication that demands it, sitting firmly on the fence doesn’t really promote any active discussion or debate. What’s your opinion? People will read your blog because they like how you write and how you put across your opinions or information? Listing off facts or repeating newspaper clippings isn’t going to set the world alight. If you’re writing about something people already know about, you need to add your own spin on it. Otherwise, why would they read about it at your blog in the first place? Why would they not just go to a newspaper’s website? Sitting on the fence and refusing to elaborate on an opinion means that those readers with an opinion don’t even know whether they agree or disagree with you – because they don’t know what you think!

Respond to Commenters
If someone comments and asks a question, the polite thing to do is to personally respond. Of course this might not be possible if you always get hundreds of comments. But it’s certainly worth trying. People leaving comments like to know their comments have been read. Why would they leave them otherwise? Responding to comments means that you remain involved in the discussion after the initial post and this sets the standard and really places your blog firmly as a platform for interaction.

Read, read, read.
Read the blogs of others in a similar niche. If a certain post makes you want to comment ask yourself why you want to comment. Understanding the psychology behind a compulsion to have your say means you can apply the same principles to your own blog. And taking the time to comment on the blogs of others means you are becoming a part of a network. Strong blog networks are made up of a number of bloggers who read one another’s posts regularly and comment.

Of course, different methods apply to different blogs and everyone tries different tricks.

What works for you?