by drifter0658
Why Not Copy/Paste Content? I Have Permission.
June 5, 2009 in Drifter's Tales, Featured by drifter0658
Elmer did it. Why shouldn't I?
Time to copy/paste some content. Just the other day, the idea slammed you in the forehead like run away freighter anchor. “EUREKA! I’ve found the niche product to push,” you scream at the empty beer cans. The product almost got by you, but there you found it sitting on the dusty bottom of the back page of the directory. FatBurnerZitZapperForeXPert v3.1 looks like the ticket. After some keyword research you come up with what you think is a list of golden egg keywords that will get you traffic. On to build the site.
Okay, so you know it’s not ethical to copy/paste without permission what others have written and you just don’t feel the love enough to research and write in your own words. But you do know folks that have content that would fit. You offer Jack money for the right to use some of his weight loss secrets content, and you tell Jill that you’ll buy her dinner for the ability to lift her stuff on acne control. Your buddy John feels sorry for you and says he’ll give you the rights to some of his words. Now you’re set and no one can call you a copy/paste scum because you have all the permission you need. You fill your site up.
Why?
Before you answer that, consider this: Not only do search engines see identical content as spam and will consider the oldest to be the authority, but your readers will notice that you have no passion and be less likely to hang out for long at your site. Surely they won’t trust your brand.
In a report issued by Dynamic Logic MarketNorms (as cited by The Industry Standard), sites with original content scored higher on 47 out of 47 marketing benchmarks. Just the numbers in the benchmark “brand awareness” should be enough to steer you clear of copy/paste. Original content sites are seeing a 38% increase, while others are looking at an abysmal 19% decline, according to the report.
Many great authors have alluded to the fact that there are no more original stories to write, and haven’t been for quite some time. I agree with this to a point. An author’s “voice” can make old facts and non-original writing original. If there is passion. Passion can certainly rise through research and can be projected through writing. Write yourself into the content and you’ll see your brand.
If you can’t do this, then you’ll be looking at a lot of empty beer cans wondering why no one is interested in having a slim figure, clear complexion, and great success trading money.
[ratings]
With thanks to 
Overheard on twitter...
We definitely think alike on some topics.
I am going to feature this article on my new lens First Lens Mentor: Squidoo Tips–How to Write an Essay or Lens Excellently. Great post!
lakeerieartists’s last blog post..Conference Call with Seth Godin and Megan Casey
This is such a good post. I know it is a topic that get revived from time to time on the SquidU forum (and is rumbling away on there again at the moment) but until the message reaches everyone and everyone listens, then I dont think the topic should ever go away.
Supreme advice, Alex! It pays in the long run to be unique and original. And it’s a complete waste of time – in the long run – to make sites with copied content. It might work for a little while, on certain “hot” sales pages, but you won’t create a valuable web presence that might grow into a substantial, long-term income source. Nail on the head, bro!