Are press releases that could end up being published with duplicate content links point back to you bad for your site ?
-
With all the changes to the seo landscape in the resent years im a little unsure as to how a press release work looks in the eyes of Google (and others).
For instance, you write up a 500 word press release and it gets featured on the following sites :
- Forbes
- Techcrunch
- BBC
- CNN
- NY Times
- etc ...
If each of these cover your story but only rewrite 50% of the article (not saying these sites wouldn't re write the entire artcile, but for this purpose lets presume only 50% is rewritten) could it be negative to your backlink profile, ? Im thinking not, as these sites will have high authority, but what if once your press release is published on these sites 10 other smaller sites re publish the stories with almost no re writing, either straight from the press release or straight from the article in the mainstream news sites.
(For clarification this Press release would be done in the fashion of a article suggestion to relevant journalists, rather than a blanket press release, via PR Newswire, mass mail out etc. Although i guess the effect with duplicate content backlinks is the same.)
You now have c. 50 articles online all with very similar content with links pointing back at you, would this have a negative effect or would each link just not carry as much value as it normally would.
By now we all understand publishing duplicate content on our own sites is a terrible idea, but dose have links pointing back to your self from duplicate (or similar) content hosted on other sites (some being highly authoritative) effect your site 's seo ?
-
As far as I know, you can always tell Google to ignore links when it's hurting you in Webmaster Tools, right?
-
Not harmful, I just have a theory that they don't count.
-
Thanks, what do you think of the trickle down effect regarding smaller publications who (who may still have decent DA say 30-40) who may just chose to copy and paste the press release, all the way down to the bottom rung publications that will just be rss aggregating content from other sites.
These are the sites im more worried about as there are more of these, between them all there may be 20 - 30 copies of the original press release hosted on different sites.
Can this still be harmful as they will have links back to you within duplicate content ?
-
Great question Sam-P. I am fighting with this in Czech Republic too.
In our segment (ERP systems for production companies) there is no real chance that big press-houses will publish our press releases. And in first place you want them to be published in segment relevant magazines that unfortunately have lower autority in Google's eyes. And even worse - very often they don't rewrite our PRs at all.
It's some sort of paradox for me - you write a good press release, and press loves it so it gets published. But in the end it could do more harm then good, I guess.
-
Sam -- if you get a link to or brand mention of your site on any or all of these powerhouse publishers, it will do far more for your SEO (not to mention your traffic) than any duplicate content penalty that could possibly ever be imposed. Think holistically about your content engine rather than focusing on specific penalties and you'll see why you can't go wrong getting mentioned on Forbes.
-
nope - you would be fine.
As these sites have very different audiences, why not spend the time writing individual articles to meet there readership (thus more likely to be used), for techcrunch, focus on the tech element, for CNN, the news part of it.
whats more likely is that most of the sites won't cover it especially BBC unless it is really news worthy.
Would be worth reading http://moz.com/blog/tips-from-a-recovering-journalist-how-to-write-effective-press-releases-that-help-seo
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Removing old content
Ahoy! Variously I have heard the opinion that content which does not generate regular search traffic (let's ballpark it at >10 views in any given month) should be noindexed or even removed. Allegedly this would improve the overall quality of the site, rankings and traffic. I remain doubtful. What would you do if the interest in a given matter goes down over time for any (most) given topics of your content and is replaced by "newer" specific interest? Concrete example: I have a website about (book) reviews. Naturally, there will always be new books; old books are not in the media as much and "forgotten". Nevertheless, the reviews (all unique, based on really having read the books, no trace of the standard back cover copy) are obviously still there. Personally I feel that they do not really lose any value - they are still reviews of that one book, even though it is not the most recent one. So, what would you do: Deindex "older" book reviews after a certain time? Even remove them completely? Just let them run? I am looking forward to your opinions - and even your experience if you have done something like this! Nico
Content Development | | netzkern_AG0 -
Sites Like Outbrain that are local?
So I used Outbrain and I liked it, but I think it would be more valuable if you could target the state where your client is. Outbrain targets the entire county, which might not be valuable for a local client. I am wondering if there are any other sites like Outbrain that allow you to target locally?
Content Development | | netviper0 -
Recommendations Content / Copywriter
We are based in the UK & have used alot of content / copywriters & so far have struggled to find someone we feel meets our needs? Can anyone recommend a content writing company or freelancer? Thanks
Content Development | | webguru20140 -
Is there a content ratio that google looks for?
What i mean by this is: If i have a 1000 page ecommerce site that has say 10 pages of good quality content (1% good content) and a competitive site that has 100 pages of good content (10% good content) and another that has 500 (50%). if they are all almost the same in every other way the 50% content site would win hands down. however this is not always possible to have so much good content on some types of site. The question is: Is there a min percentage to aim for? Also is there a similar min rate of content production to aim for. Is their a kind of tipping point to get past that google will think they are doing things right i should keep an eye on them!
Content Development | | mark_baird0 -
Would adding a news page hurt my site ranking ?
Hi Mozers I was thinking about adding an industry news page where we would post articles written by others but give proper citation and linking. Would a page like this hurt my SEO ? Thank You
Content Development | | Pzabarko0 -
How much duplicate content counts as duplicate content to Google?
Hi everyone! I've had a look through some duplicate content posts and I can't see the answer to this query, so I thought I'd ask in case someone could help. I've been looking at a website that competes with the site that I work on. They have profile pages containing content that has been copied and pasted straight from the suppliers' websites. Their pages have all their own code framing the content, which is diluting the concentration of duplicate copy. How much duplicate content can a page have before it gets penalised or ignored by Google? Any suggestions very gratefully received 🐵
Content Development | | ceecee0 -
Duplicate content problem
Hi, i have a serious problem. I work in joomla and sometimes it can be annoying. When you set up a category, you need to give it a name and maybe this is a huge error on my part as i did not really think about the names beforehand. The situation i have now is, all my sections are in front page mode, but because you have to name the categories in order to write articles, i am now left with a load of blog sections such as http://www.in2town.co.uk/benidorm/benidorm-news Now i have a main section called Benidorm news so i have duplicate sections, i want to know if i can redirect the http://www.in2town.co.uk/benidorm/benidorm-news to go to the main benidorm section or if there is a better way of doing it. i have left this blod layout the way it is to show you, but the others i just have it where it shows the title and then goes to the article. I work in k2 and would be grateful if anyone can let me know the solution to this as semoz is showing that i have many duplicate titles and content many thanks
Content Development | | ClaireH-1848860 -
What are the advantages/disadvantages of a blog residing on a website as opposed to free-standing and linked to site
I have a cleint with a web site and with 3 freestanding wordpress blogs - should we be housing those blogs on the site? should we combine them (its an insurance compnay with several business units). thanks
Content Development | | thirsty30