Someone asked me how to protect web content from being stolen, plagiarised, reprinted, or re-posted on the Internet.
In the context of search engine optimization (SEO), it is extremely important to have unique and interesting content. Browsers love it and therefore Google loves it too.
So what happens if your content is copied and used on a different website? Well you may feel a little flattered by the lavish praise and compliments this may portray but you may also get in trouble if Google thinks that you are the plagiariser rather than the author of the text.
Here are some solutions you may want to consider:
2 preventative options
- Let's start with the obvious. Having a sticker on your window saying that your house has a big dog inside and a security system installed will probably motivate potential thieves to knock on your neighbour’s door instead. Equally, having a copyright statement on your site may persuade potential plagiarisers to think twice. For example, Copyright © EZiHosting 2022. The copyright sign is simply this code © within your HTML document.
- You may also consider getting yourself a CCL (Creative Commons License). This will further strengthen your copyright issues by half-bluffing your way through the © minefield. They have six different licenses depending on what you want to protect.
3 practical options
- If you are using WordPress then there are plugins that can further assist in protecting your content. For example, WP-Copyprotect is a great plugin to lock your content. If you come across individuals that really, really want your content then they will bypass this plugin. However, it will divert the bulk of your plagiariser away from the front door.
- You can use Copyscape to check retrospectively if your content is in fact being re-posted somewhere else on the web. You simply provide your website’s URL and Copyscape will tell you the sites it found your content. It also has a little banner that you can put on your site to scare off potential villains…
- You can report plagiarism to Google. They will investigate your claim and block the offending page from their search results. However, make sure you make yourself a coffee first because the process may take up to six months.
So remember, having your content copied and posted elsewhere on the Net can really do some damage to your Google ranking. Hopefully, some of the above suggestions may mitigate the problem to some degree…
