Article on site and distribution, is it duplicate content?

[anthonytjm]

I was always taught to place all original articles on site, let them get indexed by Google, then put out for distribution through various press release outlets.

With the latest penguin update, how does this practice work out concerning duplicate content? In theory, I wrote the article so I should get credit for it on my site first, then push through various distribution outlets to get it out to my targeted audience in my niche field.

Typing out loud I would tend to think if the article is on my site first then I would get credit and any others following would be hit by duplicate content if in fact google considered it a dupe violation.

Any input on this? Am I on track or am I heading for a train wreck.

[BeytzNet]

To be honest, I don't get why to do that.

I'd get the best article on my site, rewrite it (not spinning) and publish the simpler rewritten version.

I believe that also the rewritten version shouldn't be used more than a couple of times. I think that the best practice would be to have the distributed articles point out to your on site article as the source of information but don't do too many of these.

Coppied content of any type today is not healthy.

[TakeshiYoung]

Syndicating content is generally not a problem, if you have a site with decent site authority and you are publishing articles on your site first, like you say.  2 things that will help Google sort out the original article:

1. If you have control over the code on the sites you are syndicating to, add a rel=canonical back to your own site
2. Include links in your syndicated articles pointing back to the original article on your own site.  This will help Google determine which was the original, as well as get you some link juice

Hope that helps.

[inhouseseo]

If a domain with higher authority publishes the article, they will likely outrank you for your own content.

To be safe, you have to ask yourself this questions:

If you a re putting the same piece of information on multiple sites, what value does it add to the end user?

The goal of the last update according to Google is to have people create content for the sake of the end user, and not search engines. From that perspective, if you are doing this for the sake of rankings, it might not be a good idea. If it doesn't hurt you now, it might hurt you later.

The best way to do it would be to choose at most 2-3 very reputable press release sites and publish there with a link back to your press release page.