What is duplicate content on social media?
According to Google, “duplicate content generally refers to substantive blocks of content within or across domains that either completely match other content or are appreciably similar. Mostly, this is not deceptive in origin.”
With hundreds of millions of pages currently on the Web, it is inevitable to have pieces of content that are significantly similar to other online content.
How duplicate content is created on social media
Duplicate content can be created inadvertently or deliberately.
Blogs – if your blog has archive pages, then your main content is probably also on the archive pages, creating duplicate content within your own site.
Printed/non-printed versions – some webmasters create printable versions of a web page. These versions are usually separate web pages that contain the exact same content as the non-printable page but formatted with plugins, CSS codes and widgets so they look good in print.
Canonicalization – some marketers direct their links to two URL versions: http://YourSite.com and http://www.YourSite.com. Using www and non-www URLs can create duplicate content.
CMS – your content management system will sometimes create duplicate versions of your content without you realizing it.
Placing the same content on multiple sites – if you are doing article marketing, you are creating duplicate content on purpose by posting the same article on multiple sites.
RSS feeds – another deliberate attempt at creating duplicate content is when you pull in RSS feeds, copy content that has been created by someone else, and post it on your own site or someplace else.
Splogs – authors of spam blogs, or splogs, brazenly go out and steal content for the purpose of increasing the search engine rankings of affiliate websites or simply sell links or ads.
How Google manages duplicate content on social media
Google is all about providing users with the best experience. And when you create or distribute duplicate content, you are depriving users of the best experience by making them read the same content over and over again.
Every time Google sees multiple copies of the same content, it will display the version it thinks is most appropriate for users. This may or may not be the version you prefer, or worse, it could be your content that was stolen by someone else.
If you are putting out several versions of your social media content, it could be helpful to link it back to your original article so Google can identify the main source.
Google frowns on duplicate content and penalizes websites that blatantly use them. Once Google sees that you are posting duplicate content to manipulate search engine rankings and deceive its users, it will adjust your ranking and might even take out your site entirely from the Google index.
Although duplicate content does have some link value, you don’t want to risk your main page getting kicked by Google and have all your social media marketing efforts go to waste.
