I say foe - and here's why.
Google (and most search engines) would agree that you may use (or reuse) your content in any way you wish. However, there is also little debate that duplicating pages of content on multiple domains for the sole purpose of advancing Internet visibility comes with great risk; the risk that a search engine will ban your domain(s) from their indices. Google (of course) spells this out in clear details. It's hard to miss actually...
- Don't create multiple pages, subdomains, or domains with substantially duplicate content.
I noticed that Ken Deshaies (an avid user of the Blogsite Platform) is engaging in this risky behavior. You can find exact duplicates in his ActiveRain weblog. For example, this post (in his ActiveRain weblog) is identical to this post in his blogsite. To Ken's credit, while some of his posts are exact duplicates of his Blogsite weblog, some are also changed in subtle ways. The risk of this behavior is huge - it can jeopardize your own domain as well as the domains that possess the duplicate content. Search engines are rapidly changing - what used to be acceptable is no longer. I recommend you follow the writings of Matt Cutts (Senior Engineer at Google), and especially this recent post about the BigDaddy update (many references to real estate).
But this awareness underscores two important issues worthy of deeper consideration -
- While publishing duplicate content for the sole purpose of gaming search engines should be avoided, it points out that even ActiveRain can be gamed. ;-)
- Creating authoratative information that can only be found in one location (i.e., your own branded domain) is far more advantageous than creating a copy of it on ActiveRain.
Here's a tip to address Issue #2...
Consider blogging about your primary weblog (if you have one) or your own articles in local online media with your ActiveRain weblog. Here's a good example - I wrote a post earlier that referenced my article about the long tail of search; I did this because I anticipate updating that post from time to time. If I had copied it, I would then have two copies to update if I ever needed to change it for any reason. There are many other benefits to this approach including increased numbers of links between my ActiveRain weblog and my Blogsite brand - this is one way to increase search engine visibility.
Issue #1 - Gaming Any System Is A Bad Idea
As you have no doubt noticed, Ken Deshaies is ranked #1 in ActiveRain for Colorado. That's great - I'd vote for him if there were a way to cast ballots; Ken is a wonderful guy and a good friend and someone I consider exceptionally smart about real estate. However, is he the most "relevant" Real Estate Agent in the state? By definition (ActiveRain's definition), he is #1. Is it because he's blogged more? Is it because he has a bigger list of testimonials? Sure - these are each good metrics to use as a gauge of relevance, quality of service, and other factors that ActiveRain considers important.
ActiveRain's platform and social design underscores the issue of social network gaming at a much lower level than search engines presently deal with. However, it's fundamentally the same issue. The creators of ActiveRain have done a superb job designing a model that can be very successful and I hope that it truly will become the one and only Real Estate social network you'll ever need (I hate having more than one social network to think about). However, the landlords of this great service will have to continually refine the policies that encourage or discourage the likely arms race that has already begun to unfold.
My caution to everyone is to carefully consider how you contribute to this community. Write good [original] content that will endear your prospects and colleagues to you and your guidance as the best real estate people and thought leaders in the business. If you stay focused on creating value in the spirit of co-opetition, the ActiveRain landlords will reward you. If you engage in spammy tactics or any behavior designed simply to rank high within this social space, I predict they will eventually find a way to punish you. ;-)
;)
;)
Bill,
You make some good points, I was actually going to write a post touching on a few of them. While I disagree that posting duplicate content in one or two places will have a negative impact, it probably won't gain you you a noticable advantage either. Search engines such as Google will simply pick whichever source they think has more authority and use it in their index. The reason why it's probably not a disadvantage is the consumers are finding you either way. If you already have an established highly trafficed blog/weblog it's probably best not to make duplicate posts both places (or blog dumping as Paul Sullins called it).
If your new to blogging, it's definetly to your advantage to build a blog on ActiveRain due to the built in promotion and readership. I expect that within a few months as more of these promotional tools develop, even established bloggers will be able to get many more readers in their target audience to find their blogs on ActiveRain vs. their individual site. Don't think of blogging as about search engines or SEO, but about readers. Your trying to get consumers to find you through your blog, so the more of a target audience who can read your blog the better, regardless of where it's located.
The very true point you do make, is in the long run it's not going to do people any good to try and "game" the system. The network will evolve and we'll find ways to deal with this as it comes up. This is vital for us to maintain a healthy community.