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
-
Clarification on duplicate content
Hi, if I have a page that unintentionally ranks for a term that I want to create a page for - say "atlanta apartments" - should I still create a page specifically intended to rank for "atlanta apartments"? Will canonical tags be crucial in this case? Hoping to avoid creating duplicate content and instead create the correct content for a specific term.
Content Development | | smiller760 -
New sister site VS site redesign and dangers of SEO dilution??
Hi I’ve got a site that is ranking #2 in my area for my chosen keyword but the site is in need of an expansion and overhaul its only one page at the moment and to rank for more keywords its need to be expanded. Or another option is I do own another domain and I was thinking of maybe instead of overhauling the new site launching that as a sister company aimed more at the corporate market, as my first site is a bit more alternative in domain name and content. The thing is i'm not sure how this will affect my SEO they will be on the same CBlock and be offering similar services.
Content Development | | genkee0 -
Sell your writing or make your blog to publish it ?
Hii would like to know that should we sell our own written articles on freelancing site or any other sites. or we have to make our own blog and publish it on. Because I see most words that content quality is very important, So what do you think i sell the writing or publish it on my website. Actually i register a domain mbgadget and just want to know what should i do, i sell my writing or publish it on my blog what to do, I don't know if there is any other stratgy that you know, to make some bucks online in a same manner what to do, please explain it.
Content Development | | seom20140 -
How to solve copyright content ?
My website fill of copy paste content , how can i solve this problem?
Content Development | | engmtamous0 -
What are your favourite tools for discoving popular content?
Since looking around for popular content discovery tools I came across a review about a tool called PostRank which seemed ideal until I learned Google had bought it and shut it down already 😞 So far I have been using Google reader and Topsy to discover popular content in my niches but I am guessing there are a whole bunch of other tools out there that may work even better - please do let me know your favourites!
Content Development | | Clicksjim0 -
How much content is needed
I have two clients whose websites have landing pages that feature a number of product links. In order to meet SEO/Google best practices, do I need to have additional content on these specific pages or will the links suffice? (Getpaper is an ecommerce; inpak is not) Any thoughts would be appreciated. http://www.getpaper.com/find-paper/inkjet-plotter-paper/color-bond-21-lb http://www.inpaksystems.com/bag-closing/bag-sewing
Content Development | | TopFloor0 -
Define: Good Content
I am curious to hear what you guys consider to be the characteristics of good content and in which order if you have a preference. Here are a few I can think of: Informative (you can learn something new) Substantial (enough of it and thorough) Complete (doesn't give half-baked information or ideas) Unique (not regurgitated original content) Helpful (practical actionable information) Visual (content complemented by media) Referenced (claims made are substantiated through citations) Entertaining (or otherwise emotional, e.g. surprising, sad, shocking, controversial) Formatted (easy to read and follow) Timely (right content at the right time, applies for news) Professional (writing style, grammar, spelling and sentence structure) Can you add to this list?
Content Development | | Dan-Petrovic1 -
Duplicate content
Hello Seomoz team, i'm french and so my english is not very good ;-). I work for a brand site and we publish content about our products. The problem is : as a brand site, many sites that sell our products, copy our content. And we have duplicate content. And since these sites have worked SEO, they put in place rel canonical tag. as a brand, how to avoid being accused by Google duplicate content? tanks for you answer. I hope it's clear. Take care Denis
Content Development | | android_lyon0