Did you know Google ranks duplicate content? Reading SEO blogs and articles is nice and all, but when you practice SEO, that's when you really learn how Google works. Let me explain.

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• Duplicate Content | SEO Best Practices

A little while ago I was browsing around Overture's inventory to find some keywords to work on for my SEO blog. Apparently, there were tens of thousands of searches for Google sucks during the previous month. Having been a little frustrated with Google lately, I decided to write up my criticisms and rank them.

The post went live December 23rd. It was top 20 on Google by late January. I said I'd rank the post #1 on Google for Google sucks, though. So I asked a friend to link to my post from his blog and talk it up. Which he graciously did. He also paraphrased my post because his readership is not proficient with SEO jargon and my writing style is jargon-filled.

Due to that and other efforts to gain contextual links, my post hit the first page. Interestingly, so did Larry's. Depending on your geographical location, Google will either show you his post above or below mine. (No "dissatisfied with the results? reports" please; I need the site to rank for illustrative purposes and for my own SEO.)

Why did Larry's post hit the front page? Probably a mix of factors, including many in Rand's article on ranking factors. IMHO, he's got a trusted domain and he acted like a hub, in a way, by linking out to a relevant story on the topic. Subscribers to Google's Librarian Center newsletter will know that external links are working themselves in, or are already integrated, into Google's algorithms. But what's important to note is that his content ranks despite being essentially the same as mine.

Look at these SERPs, which I'm analyzing for a potential client. Do you see the dupe content? (Reminds me of those TV ads: "Can you guess who, do you have a clue?") If you found out that Chet Day also goes by "Jeannie Crabtree," you win! Indeed, chetday.com/charisma.php and personalcharisma.com are the same page, but with different sales copy. I suspect chetday.com ranks higher because there's other, probably trusted content on the domain, but that's just an aside. What I'm getting at is that the ideas and even the layout are duplicated.

So for all you budding spammers out there, Google will give you rankings for duplicate content, just so long as you paraphrase it. Need I say, Google sucks?