Does Google penalise duplicate content and SEO?

Busting the myth

It's a common myth that Google penalises you for having duplicate content. Read on to find out the facts.

Google recognises the original source of the content and rewards them. You are not rewarded for having duplicate content but you are also not penalised.

Many authorities estimate that up to 29% of the web contains some level of duplicate content. Google can't penalise 1/3 of their possible search results and Google themselves have many times let people know that by default they do not penalise for duplicate content, but SEO experts continue to state it as though it is fact, here is a video with Google discussing duplicate content.

Customise BOMA content to make it more original

Writing a blog from scratch takes time and resources. BOMA was designed specifically for accountants and bookkeepers. You can choose from hundreds articles and then customise them to make them relevant for your audience.

All content in BOMA can be customised and made to reflect you and your voice:

Change the image - we have over 5 million to choose from - or upload your own
Change the heading or title of the post
Customise the text - add your own tone of voice and ensure it represents your business, services, value, client and region. The more you personalise the content, the more it will be of value to your audience and reflects you.

It also depends on the purpose of the shared content, if you're sharing articles to your website so your social media posts can link to your website, then that is the reason you're putting them on your website, not to rank for SEO with the articles. You don't want them to negatively impact your website SEO, but if the goal is to use them to get visitors to your website then they can help you fulfil that goal successfully.

Supplement with your own content to build your presence online and support your clients. Read our ultimate guide to blog writing.

How does SEO work?

There are over 200 factors that affect a website's ranking. Google looks at the overall quality and having some duplicate content is a small part of the overall picture. Important factors to consider are:

Performance: page load speed & having a mobile responsive website
Quality: even spelling & grammar is taken into account
Popularity: how much traffic is coming to your site. Do you have links to other websites and/or others linking back to your site?
Relevance: keyword search, page titles matching the content on the page
Navigation: how easy is the site to navigate or browse
Bounce rate – give them a reason to stay rather than bounce right off

As an accountant, your website content should already be working hard to drive great SEO. In other words, your website copy should include specific keywords that you want to rank for. If you have a website that ranks well based on keywords, then adding some blog content from BOMA won't affect your Google ranking detrimentally. Great content will give your readers something of value to engage in when they land on your website.

Suggested keywords:

Accountant or Bookkeeper
Tax
Key industry phrases - eg tax, GST returns, compliance, accounts receivable, payroll, superannuation, bank reconciliation, accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll tax, single-touch payroll, BAS, cashflow forecasting, business success review, annual budget, performance targets, key metrics etc
Your business name
Your location
What you do/offer and any niche
Your services
Accreditations