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Over the course of this year I have noticed a trend, people are starting to use content from other sites to write their own.  When I ask about the content’s source, the answer is always the same “There is so much out there, why re-invent the wheel?”  That is a fair thought track, however there’s a big problem…taking content from someone else is plagiarism. Yes, plagiarism.  You cannot list this content on your web site with out listing who or what the source is, and taking someone else’s finely perfected wording off their site and copying and pasting into yours is just plain unethical.  I really do not condone it.  There is a number of reasons using someone else’s content is bad.  I’ll list them now.

• Google recognizes similarity with pages, if a newer page has SIMILAR content to an established page/site Google will drop your page rank, which is bad…you want to show up on that front page.  If you don’t understand why or what PageRank is…read more on this blog.
• Its unoriginal, if someone is performing research on which firm to use for their widget service needs, and they read a few a local firm’s sites and you’ve duplicated much of your competition, this could be a problem.  Especially if that competition has a more established branding, they’ll instantly see yours as the copy.
• Its unethical, don’t steal, yes steal, someone else’s work.
• Its lazy, developing a web site is hard work, not just from a development stand point but from a content stand point, and you have to be prepared to make that college effort to get your message out there.
• Simon Says:  Be unique, do you really want your customers reading the same ol’ stuff they’ve possibly seen on another site?  Not to mention you’re different than your competition right?  Then your information should be as well.  You want your customers to understand what you do, how you do it and why they should choose you instead of your competition. In most cases a web site is the stepping stone to getting them in your office or on the phone, and you need your web site to reflect the same message they’ll get from you and your staff.

So, next time you go post something on your site, or write that new page…don’t do it JUST because your competition did, analyze it…do you need it?  Do your customers think its relevant?  Its all about relevancy folks and you want to stay relevant with your clients.  Stand out, make an image for yourself, dont copy off of Tom, Dick and Harry.

Happy Webbing.