Sploggers, copycats, scrapers, knock-offs, mimeos, ringers… no matter what you call them, they are out there duplicating your content. Almost every website has to deal with them or even their own onsite issues, so we wanted to give some ways to make sure you can keep ranking for your own material.

How Search Engines Determine the ‘Real’ Content

When search engines see two duplicate pages on a site, they mainly look at three different things:

• URL metrics: this is determined by PageRank, link diversity, how many and who are pointing their information back to that page on your site.
• Domain metrics: which domain is more ‘authoritative’ by more sources across multiple sites.  High-quality backlinks are a great way to ‘show’ the major search engines value and trust.
• Link attributions: single links back to your site by the websites that are copying your information may not provide much help, but when there’s many links sending that attribution back to your site, it can be extremely helpful. These links shouldn’t just go back to your homepage though, they need to go to the exact URL with the same content.

How Much Is Not ‘Damaging’

The aggravating issue surrounding this heated debate is that there is no single, solitary answer. The reason for this is simple. The major search engines are constantly changing their algorithms, so if there was a finite number today, it’ll probably change tomorrow. The method to follow is to make sure you are creating your content uniquely. By just changing the small ‘when’, ‘where’, ‘what’ and ‘whys’, you are still running the risk of getting penalized. If you are worried about duplicate content, find a way to leverage your uniqueness in a scalable way.

One way to get this is by user generated content. Ratings, reviews, voting — all of that information is unique to you, so use it to your advantage. Take for example an Amazon.com page. A lot of the content is taken directly from the manufacturer, but Amazon’s unique content comes from all of their reviews and comments thus helping them stay ranked for information that has been duplicated.

Another way is to have some sort of in-house editing department. If you are not equipped (or lucky enough to have in-house writers) you can hire an intern to let loose on your duplicate content. For each page written, they receive compensation based on the amount done. It is important to note that there are inexpensive ways to get the job done.

Explanation of Being ‘Filtered Out’ By Duplicate Content

There are some gray areas with the filtering of content, but what it basically means is that a certain page has been penalized and has no chance of ranking. The other aspect that a page loses is all of the link juice. Essentially, it looks like you are linking from a 404 page. All of the links going to that page as well as out are considered useless.

The most important aspect of what you put out there (even if it’s unique) is to make sure it’s valuable. If you’ve gotten past the duplicate content issues, offer information that is informative to people and try to ensure that it’s quality content. We all unfortunately have to deal with duplicate content issues, whether they are self-inflicted or not. The best way to deal with them if offer up unique, quality content—that is ultimately the only way to keep yourself out of the sandbox and in the index.

Can this be done? Shall we say that real-time can actually be scheduled? We say it can to a certain extent. If you are a small business that has a somewhat scheduled online presence, but are scratching your heads vying for a status update or tweet, then why not put your online marketing strategy to work? We’ve outlined a simple 3 step process to consider when mapping out your social media campaigns.

STEP 1: First look at your online efforts monthly. Which days during the month are you wanting to generate buzz about a new product? How can you incorporate a blog post on that product? How about a press release? Start filling in those dates accordingly.

STEP 2: Next, look at your strategy on a weekly level once the monthly topics are generated. Utilize your links, photos, white papers and other online media to endorse those topics on Monday through Friday.

Note: The Social Media Management Company, Vitrue released a study identifying the days and hours users are most active on Facebook. The results weren’t surprising. The three biggest usage spikes tend to occur on weekdays at 11:00 a.m., 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. ET. The biggest spike occurs at 3:00 p.m. ET on weekdays. Weekday usage is pretty steady, however Wednesday at 3:00 pm ET is consistently the busiest period. Fans are less active on Sunday compared to all other days of the week. That being said, when planning your daily posts, don’t sweat the weekends! We now have proof to send up to your bosses that those days are not the days when conversations are happening.

STEP 3: Suddenly, you will have a viable outline for the entire month to post on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and your other social networks. Fill in your scheduled posts with real-time information when it comes along.

Coming up with a successful social media campaign strategy can seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be an impossible one. TDM has unique strategies for online businesses to get ahead in the status update marathon. We understand that it’s simply not a race and creative, mapped-out efforts trump those that are disjointed.

Channel Advisor just released its bi-annual study titled “How Consumers Shop Online”.  As an industry leader in shopping comparison engines & product feeds, CA knows a thing or two about consumer shopping trends for the advertiser’s they serve.  The study comprised 850+ individuals in nearly 30 states, ages 18-65 years old.  To access the full report, click here.

Here are some key takeaways for online retailers to strongly consider as they plan for the Holiday Shopping season and into the future:

• “81 percent of consumers begin their product searches with Google and 11 percent begin with Yahoo”
• “Consumers are using more sophisticated, specific searches to seek out the exact products and deals they want. As a sign of this trend, Google recently reported an eight percent increase in searches comprised of three words or more.“
• “Free shipping, peer reviews/ratings, free returns and the ability to view products from multiple angles are the most influential purchase drivers on
  a retailer’s storefront”
  
• Advertisers are using a diversified mix of shopping comparison engines to help promote their brands and other primary traffic sources such as Google, Yahoo, Bing, Email marketing, etc.  Below is a breakdown of where CA customers are investing in comparison engines:
  

As this study indicates, search engines continue to lead the way for online retailers as a source of traffic, product research & comparison, finding deals and finding new brands.  Of that source, search optimization should continue to be a focal point for retailers as it’s the greatest area for improvement, yields the best ROI and provides the longest term impact.  It is important that eTailers consider ways to sell more through a multi-channel approach such as shopping comparison engines, affiliate marketing, email marketing, etc.  Use some of this proven information as outlined above to plan your efforts for the holidays & going into 2010.

CollegeHumor.com has a funny video on the new advancements with Bing.com and how it is revolutionizing search for consumers!

Actually Bing does have some nice usability features and is quite an improvement over it’s predecessor, Live.com. Will be interesting to see if MSFT’s advertising and branding campaigns can keep Bing more top-of-mind for searchers in an attempt to swipe some marketshare from Google & Yahoo! Surprising that they have not added in a sound component when you “Bing!” — like a bell at a front desk.

The Pew Research Center has released some very informative data on the shifting landscape of Internet usage by age group under its Pew Internet & American Life Project.  For the sake of time, we have recapped some key findings below that matter most to Internet Advertisers trying to engage and connect with various age groups.  The majority of this data was collected via telephone surveys from August 2006 – August 2008 and has a 4+/- % margin for error.  For the full report, go here.

PIP Survey Highlights

Generation X (Internet users ages 33-44) continues to lead in online shopping. Fully 80% of Generation X Internet users buy products online, compared with 71% of Internet users ages 18-32. Interest in online shopping is significantly lower among the youngest and oldest groups; 38% of online teens buy products online, as do 56% of Internet users ages 64-72 and 47% of Internet users age 73 and older.

This dynamic is somewhat predictable but should reinforce confidence to online advertisers for the simple fact that on average, higher income families fall within both the Generation X and Baby Boomer age groups.  Due the frequency of online activity amongst Teens and Generation Y (see report for full details), their adoption to online shopping could be a higher percentage than Gen X within the next 5-7 years; once their disposable income increases then they will more likely spend money using the technology they’ve been raised on: the Internet.

In 2005, half (50%) of Generation Y Internet users had booked travel arrangements online, and, in 2008, that number rose to 65%. During the same time, the percentages of Generation X and older generations to make online travel reservations remained about the same.

Generation X internet users have also maintained their edge in online banking, as they are significantly more likely than any other generation to do their banking online (67%). As Generation Y users get older, however, they have grown much more likely to bank online as well: the percentage of online Generation Y to do their banking online is up from 38% in 2005 to 57% in 2008. There has been no significant growth among older generations when it comes to banking online.

Finally, below are a couple of other key highlights where online marketers should take note — in particular with total usage, videos and the potential reach of viral blog marketing:

Online Activities by Age Group