Why You Should Cross-Post
on BlogHer

I'm a new blogger, and new to BlogHer. Information like that contained in this post is invaluable. I'm like a sponge soaking up all the info I can to make my blog better and increase traffic. Thanks for the help.

I heard back from my contact at Google. I hope this information is helpful. This is what she said:

From Google's help article on duplicate content: http://goo.gl/q4R6m

Syndicate carefully: If you syndicate your content on other sites, Google will always show the version we think is most appropriate for users in each given search, which may or may not be the version you'd prefer. However, it is helpful to ensure that each site on which your content is syndicated includes a link back to your original article. You can also ask those who use your syndicated material to use the noindex meta tag to prevent search engines from indexing their version of the content."

Her personal comments were:

"In the context of this debate I wouldn't worry about being "penalized" for cross-posting on one reputable blog, especially if there is a link back to the original article on your blog. However, I also like the suggestion of posting an article summary or totally unique content on a site like BlogHer - that sounds like a great way to attract visitors to your blog without duplicating your content."

When folks come to BlogHer.com and ask me if they can cross-post on BlogHer.com, my answer is always “sure you can but I recommend you post a variety of types of posts - instead…”

- Post some teasers with links back to the full post on your own blog (but make it a super good teaser so people will HAVE to click.)

- Cross-post some posts in full that you've already posted on your bog.

- Create some completely new, only for BlogHer.com, posts.

I make these recommendations for two reasons: First - because a variety of content types will help readers get to know you and learn more about your writing and your blog. Second - because posting all duplicate content anywhere MIGHT harm your Google standing. So far, we've never heard that this has happened to those who regularly cross-post on BlogHer.com. But, it's true - it could happen, so mix it up and decide what you’re going to do based on your blogging goals.

Denise

BlogHer.com Community Manager

Cross posting will do nothing for you if it's dupicate content....except maybe hurt you and have your site and this one penalized by Google. BlogHer has a high enough page rank not to care as much but you'll care if your blog get's penalized for this. And because BlogHer has more authority, the eyes of Google will see YOUR blog as duplicating their content.

the only way to "cross-post" and have a benefit is to re-write your entire post and not to have it duplicated.

I know someone who (i think) works on the webspam team at Google. I'll send her the link and see if I can gain any insight on this issue. If I do I'll report back.

Thanks so much for this post. Sally

I'm confused about this as well...I'm no expert on search engines, but everything I've read tells me my site will be penalized if I post the same content somewhere else. Can you clear this up Melissa?

My comments won't go through to reply to people below, but bottom line, duplicate content is bad. Skye's argument that Google would know the difference only make it worse for the blogger. Your original site would be Google smacked, not BlogHer. Changing the title and a few words is not enough in the eyes of Google. I signed a NDA, but this is coming from an inside perspective. What would be helpful, in terms of SEO, is posting an original article related to the blog post. For example, I could post about screening for heart defects in newborns on my blog and then come over and write here about my thought process for that post or why screening is important to me. Both articles need to be of high quality, and authority also helps i.e. an author's box with information about you and why you're voice on the subject matters.

I urge BlogHer to look into a bit more and change the suggestions for cross posting for SEO purposes. Love BlogHer. Love the community, but don't agree with this advice.

Feeling pretty stupid right now... how do I tell if I uploaded my blog correctly? So not technologically savvy...

Wow-what a great and informative discussion! I have to say that I cross post on Blog Her, and to my knowledge only good things have happened. I've had a few posts picked up to be featured here, and my Google PageRank is strong. I also post on our local Patch.com-most of the time the posts stay the same, sometimes the title/descriptions are altered.

Okay, so dumb question. I looked at the "tutorial" - the list of how to use the site, right? Is it the "upload a blog post" one? I guess what I'm asking is if we have to do this manually for every post, or is there a way to do it automatically through our RSS feed?

This isn't the best advice. It might get more people reading your words but they will read it on BlogHer and not on your blog. Any searches for phrases from your posts will result in the BlogHer posts showing up higher in the results *because* the site has more authority. The more you do this, the lower your blog's search rankings will be for those phrases.

How many readers do you think will bother to click through to your blog if you have the same content here on BlogHer? Not many.

If you wish to do something of this sort, post a teaser and link to the complete post which is hosted on your blog.

And what @showmyface said.

I'm sorry, Melissa, but I REALLY have to disagree with this post. Google actually penalizes duplicate content of this nature. See this link to their webmaster tools: http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=66359

"However, in some cases, content is deliberately duplicated across domains in an attempt to manipulate search engine rankings or win more traffic. Deceptive practices like this can result in a poor user experience, when a visitor sees substantially the same content repeated within a set of search results."

"n the rare cases in which Google perceives that duplicate content may be shown with intent to manipulate our rankings and deceive our users, we'll also make appropriate adjustments in the indexing and ranking of the sites involved. As a result, the ranking of the site may suffer, or the site might be removed entirely from the Google index, in which case it will no longer appear in search results."

I'm an online marketing professional and cross-posting is one of the first no-nos of search engine optimization. It's a bad idea and I would caution everyone to think twice before taking an action that Google describes as "deceptive" and "manipulative".

Cross-promoting (linking from your signature to your blog, sharing a summary of a post, etc) is a great way to increase traffic and authority without being penalized. Cross-posting (word for word copying of entire posts) is not.

So when you say cross promote, does that mean I post the same content I am posting elsewhere, or should I be posting new content to BlogHer entirely? Do member posts show up in searches by topic?

A note for your readers here for NaBloPoMo or who happened in via a link or a Google search: Cross-posting on BlogHer is a fantastic idea. All of the sections of BlogHer (Blogging & Social Media, Food, Family, Entertainment, etc) have Section Editors. The Section Editors look at the member posts every day to see if there's anything great to promote. Having your member post promoted on BlogHer means that a LOT of eyes see it, as it goes to feed readers, hits the front page, is tweeted and often Facebooked.

So yes! Crosspost on BlogHer, please! It's good for you and it's good for our editors. And it's fantastic for our readers who are then exposed to great writing.