Generally speaking, there are three main categories of content you can publish to your website. Unique content, syndicated content, and duplicate content. Let's look at the differences and see what type of content best suits your needs.

Unique Content

Unique website content refers to the content on a website that is original and has not been published elsewhere. This can include a wide variety of types of content, such as:

• Articles, blog posts, and news updates that are written by the website's authors
• Product descriptions and reviews that are unique to the website
• Original images and videos that are created by the website's authors or commissioned specifically for the website
• Custom-designed graphics and layouts that give the website a distinct visual identity

Unique website content is important for a few reasons. First and foremost, it helps to establish a website's credibility and authority in its niche. Google prefers to see websites as an authority on their topics, achieved through creating high-quality, original content.

Additionally, unique website content is beneficial for SEO performance, as Google's algorithm tends to favour websites that provide original, valuable information over those that do not. Unique content will get cited in Google search and create more paths for people to find you online.

Syndicated Content

Syndicated content refers to content that is licensed and republished on multiple websites or platforms. This can include various types of content, such as articles, blog posts, landing pages, videos, images, etc. Syndicated content is typically created by one source (such as a publisher, blogger, or content creator) and then licensed to other websites or platforms for republishing.

It's important to note that when a website or platform republishes syndicated content, it may not hold the same SEO value as unique content. However, if targeted correctly, it will be just as relevant to website visitors. So, while Google's algorithm does not value syndicated content as highly as unique content because it's been published in multiple places online, it still has some SEO benefits because the site is still being updated with content that is valuable to the site visitor.

Using syndicated content on your website is an excellent idea to keep your blog active. But don’t expect syndicated content to show up in long-tail SEO or add citations to Google searches.

Duplicate Content

Generally speaking, duplicate content is any content on your website that is designed to manipulate search engine rankings to make you appear active in multiple physical locations. Google doesn't allow duplicate content as it deems it manipulates search results or misleads users. Duplicate content goes against Google’s guidelines.

Google's algorithms are designed to detect and penalize websites that use duplicate content to manipulate search results or deceive users. The main concern is that duplicate content can harm the user experience as it can provide the same information multiple times in the search results. Google wants to provide the best and most relevant information to its users.

Google uses various techniques to detect duplicate content, such as comparing content across multiple pages and websites and analyzing the structure and layout of pages. If a website is found to be using duplicate content in an attempt to manipulate search results, Google may take various actions to penalize the site, such as:

• Lowering the site's ranking in search results
• Removing the site from search results
• Applying a manual action penalty to the site

Moreover, It's important to note that creating or publishing duplicate content to manipulate search results or deceive users is considered a form of spamming and can result in long-term damage to a website's visibility and reputation. It's always better to have original, high-quality content or syndicated content that provides value to users.

Confusion between Syndicated and Duplicate content

Oftentimes, people confuse syndicated content and duplicate content. They assume that because an article, post, landing page, or image is published on multiple sites at one time that it is being “duplicated.” This is untrue. Just because a single post has been published on multiple websites doesn’t lessen the value it brings to readers.

However, duplicate content or content that is identical in nature with keywords swapped out in an attempt to increase the sites SEO value is against Google’s policies.

An example of duplicate content would be a mortgage professional creating a single page explaining the process of securing a reverse mortgage. But as they live in Vancouver, they would want to use that location keyword to seek clients in Vancouver. If they take that same article and swap out Vancouver for Toronto, keeping all the other information the same, this would be considered duplicate content.

In summary

Unique website content refers to original and high-quality content that has not been published elsewhere. It is important for establishing a website's credibility and authority, improving its SEO performance, and helping it to stand out from its competitors. Unique content is very time-consuming to create and expensive to hire out to an independent writer.

Syndicated content is content that has been licensed for publishing on multiple websites. While it provides less SEO value than unique content, it still provides value to site visitors and is an effective tool in being referable online. Syndicated content is available through a subscription and is considerably cheaper than hiring a content writer to create unique content.

Duplicate content is generally considered a "black hat" SEO strategy, which is any tactic used to manipulate search engine rankings in an unethical or deceptive manner. It is not the same as syndicated content and is not an advisable content strategy.

If you’re a mortgage professional in Canada looking to populate your website with professionally written content, we’d love to see you subscribe to our website and content package. With weekly blog posts, up to 14 landing pages, and a growing gallery of back page articles and resources, our Essential Mortgage Website and Content package will help you establish your presence online.  Get started right now!