Dija Oliver of Telemat writes in response to a question put to the Ask Expert section within thebestof Carmarthenshire's Business Newsletter:
"My initial reaction to this was a resounding "Yes" but as the internet becomes a more social place to be, people are regularly sharing content and blogging not only their own content but articles they think might be useful to their visitors.
How does Google differentiate this from duplicate content that is being used to manipulate search results? This article gives Google’s official response to the question of duplicate content that is shared with or without permission
The lengthy comments under the blog suggest that the wider community are still doubtful about Google’s ability to identify and attribute the original source. So here are my Top 5 Tips on how to avoid being penalised for duplicate content and ensure you get the credit you deserve for your blog.
1. Include links back to your site within the body of your blog not just at the bottom
2. If you actively seek other sites to share your blog consider writing a summary of your main blog with a link back to your site
3. Identify any site issues using Google Webmaster tools – if you don’t use this, sign up it’s free and gives really useful info on how your site is indexed on the web.
4. Set your preferred domain in Google Webmaster Tools
5. If you have a number of alias domain names ensure that they have been set up correctly using 301 redirects.
So in answer to the question - handled correctly duplicate content shouldn’t be at the top of the list of reasons why your site isn’t doing well on Google" Dija Oliver, Telemat IT Support
