“Content is king.”  This is something that we hear a lot.  Many people understand this truth because they know how much value Google places on this content.  Simply stated:  Information drives the Internet but duplicate content will get your web site punished.

There are a lot of really neat things that you can do online.  However, whenever you strip away all of the fancy things that can be done online, at the real heart of the Internet you will see that what is still driving the Internet is the need for information.  This is why search engines are so popular:  Whenever someone is in search of information they simply type in whatever they are in search of and hope that someone out there actually has the answer that they seek.  Most of the time their answer can be easily found.

Using the Internet to help you find information is nothing new.  It is also highly unlikely that this use for the Internet is going to change anytime soon.  This is not to say that the Internet will not change over the course of time because we all know that it will.  It is merely to point out that the Internet will still be driven by people’s need for information.  Instead of going to the library, you can simply go online from the comfort of your own home.

So, now that you understand why there is such a great need for the Internet to be filled with information, you may find yourself wondering about those web sites who are using copied content.  There is no real need to concern yourself with them because the search engine is going to punish them for this form of plagiarism.  These web sites are going to end up in what is known as the “supplementary results.”  Once a web site lands here, you can rest assured that nobody will ever find this web site.

You should know that it is OK to publish small excerpts and quotes from other web sites.  It is also OK to use syndicated articles.  What is not OK is for your entire web site to consist of nothing but copied articles.  Sooner or later the search engines will find out and people will also talk about how your web site should be avoided.  Of course, you do not want either of these things to happen to your web site, so hire a copywriter to create unique articles for you instead.