We see it in search engines: Webmasters, bloggers, and other content producers using content from other websites to use on theirs. In many cases, the source of the content is mentioned; sometimes is not. Using copied and pasted text from other websites harms your SEO because search engines do not show duplicate content in their index, allowing only one singular website to rank for a specific keyword.
Such content is considered a form of theft or copyright infringement. It’s verbatim copying material from a source who does not hold copyrights. You see, when you copy someone else’s writing, formatting, and ideas, you are NOT original.
Do you know the meaning of plagiarised content?
Plagiarism is a serious crime. It is considered unethical and will invite severe punishments from Google if you are found guilty of plagiarism.
Plagiarism: Plagiarism is defined as the unacknowledged use of someone else’s work in any form. It can be unintentional or intentional. The difference between plagiarism and copying lies in two factors: intention and audience.
Inadequate research skills: Inadequate research skills are one of the main reasons behind plagiarism, as people lack knowledge about conducting proper research and getting information from different sources to write an article or blog post on any topic. In most cases, they copy content from other websites or blogs without acknowledging their source with a link or giving proper credits/attribution for their work. If you don’t have enough knowledge about how to conduct research properly, then you can hire an expert who would help you in conducting research for your articles or blog posts in an ethical manner so that your SEO
Inadequate writing skills: Inadequate writing skills are another reason many people copy content from others. Those who don’t know how to write properly can copy content from other sources and put it on their website or blog post without giving credits/attribution to their source by linking back to them. Suppose someone else writes an article on any topic. In that case, you should ask permission before copying it because if they refuse, it will be considered plagiarism which can get penalized by search engines like Google, Bing, etc.
Reasons To Get Plagiarised Free Content
Here are some reasons why plagiarised content is harmful to your SEO:
It Gives Google An Excuse To Penalize Your Site
Google will penalize websites that are found to use duplicate content from other sources. Using content from another source without giving proper credit will violate Google’s guidelines for webmasters.
It Harms The User Experience
The purpose of having unique content on your website is so that visitors can find what they are looking for quickly and easily without having to read through rehashed information that has been copied from other sites. Plagiarised content can confuse users who might not understand why there are duplicate articles on different websites claiming to offer the same information.
Can Lose Your Website’s Ranking
Your website will lose its ranking if it has plagiarised content. Search engines like Google don’t like to index websites that have copied and pasted content from other sources because it’s not original. If you want to stay ahead of your competitors and increase your search engine rankings, avoid copying and pasting as much as possible.
It Looks Unprofessional
When marketing your business online, you want to ensure everything looks professional, including your website’s content. Plagiarised content can hurt the credibility of your brand. Potential customers may think that if you’re willing to copy someone else’s work without giving them credit, then they probably wouldn’t treat their customers well either. When you use plagiarised content on your site, people will assume that there isn’t much value in what you’re selling or offering.
Can Get You Sued For Copyright Infringement
You could be sued for copyright infringement if you publish another person’s work without their permission or without citing them as the original author. That’s because copyright law protects original works of authorship, including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and other intellectual works. Copyright owners have exclusive rights to reproduce and distribute their works.
Types Of Copyright Infringements
There are two types of copyright infringement: direct and indirect.
- Direct infringement occurs when someone copies an entire work or a substantial portion of it.
- Indirect infringement occurs when someone takes an unauthorized step that causes another person to infringe on copyright (for example, posting links to pirated content).
Confusions Regarding Plagiarism
Plagiarism is copying someone else’s work and publishing it as your own While you may think that plagiarism is not an issue on the web, the truth is that writers of all kinds use the Internet to find ideas and inspiration. The problem with plagiarism has gotten so bad that Google now includes a “Top Results” section in its search results pages where it displays links to articles that are most relevant for your search. This feature gives users more access to the original content and helps them avoid scrolling through dozens of pages of similar results.
Types Of Plagiarism
There are two types of plagiarised content intentional and unintentional. Both are sinful and unbearable.
1. Intentional Copied Content
In this type of plagiarism, writers intentionally copy content from other sites and use it on their website with or without referencing back to the source. This practice is harmful as you do not have any control over your SEO ranking when Google updates its algorithm. When you submit a website for indexing by Google, there are chances that your website may get rejected because of copied content.
2. Unintentional Copied Work
Sometimes writers fetch information from other website sources which are not authentic, like govt, edu or news, etc. These websites publish many articles daily, and sometimes writers get confused between real and fake content, leading them to create similar content on their websites. This is called unintentional plagiarism.
In this case, many writers believe that if they rewrite someone else’s information in their own words in the same manner, it will not be harmful. But they must know that this is called paraphrasing. You may use the same information. Like if you have a topic on appliance watts, there’s no change in any electrical appliances watts; for example, 100W light bulb use 100W, and this is a universal fact. It can not be changed at all.
What To Do Then
In this case, what should you do to save your document from plagiarism hit?
It’s very simple; it only uses the same info differently. If you find people had made a chart of appliances, you may change their heads, or if it’s written 100W Light Bulb, you may write it as Bulb of 100 Watts.
By this practice, plagiarism tools and the google algorithm can’t match the same words from any context.
Results Of Copying Anyway
There are many reasons why using plagiarised content is harmful to your SEO. Here are some of them:
1) You will get banned from Google’s search results
2) You will lose your credibility as a writer
3) Your readers will not trust you anymore
4) It will be very difficult for you to build backlinks and authority for your website
5) Other search engines like Bing, Yahoo, and you could also get penalized.
Wrap Up
This article has been written for spreading knowledge and to remove misunderstandings with misconceptions about plagiarised content. Many people believe they have rewritten by themselves, this is unintentionally copied work. You are only allowed to fetch information and draw a structure with your creativity. Plagiarism in SEO content writing is a major unforgivable sin. So beware while drafting and structuring your content.
Focus only on your topic, use authentic sources and be firm on your writing skills.
