Why Does Website Content Need To Be Unique

Why Does Website Content Need To Be Unique

There are a number of reasons for why you should write unique content for each page of your website. Duplicated copy, whether plagiarised from another site or from your own pages, can do more damage than good; particularly when it comes to visitor perception and search engine rankings.

Simply copying and pasting content from one page/site to another may provide a quick and easy solution, but it won’t benefit your website. Each page of a site ought to be fundamentally unique, therefore it needs to be treated as an individual entity; this includes having its own body copy, Meta and headings.

In terms of SEO, unique content provides an opportunity for you to bolster a page’s keywords and give it an identity. Algorithms don’t look too kindly on duplicated content; it shows that you lack authority and perhaps aren’t a trusted source. With search engine crawlers constantly indexing pages, anything you’ve copied from elsewhere will soon become apparent and will be unlikely to help your rankings.

Plagiarism of text from other websites causes its own unique problems. First and foremost though, the site owner is unlikely to be impressed if they find their content on your pages, particularly if it is protected in any way. This might mean that you receive a few emails requesting removal, or could even find your site being reported.

So whilst it may read well and be wholly relevant to your page, don’t be tempted to ‘borrow’ from elsewhere. Ultimately it will be more trouble than it is worth and will do little to improve your SEO efforts.

If you have taken the time to write some decent, optimised copy, don’t undermine your efforts by regurgitating it on other pages. Whilst you don’t necessarily have to start from scratch, the copy should be unique enough so as not to attract the (unwanted) attention of search engine spiders. Quite often product descriptions will be remarkably similar, but similarity doesn’t mean that they have to be exactly the same.

Copy is a great way to attract the attention of search engines. It bolsters your SEO efforts and informs the crawlers of the exact context of the page, helping to highlight your relevance in particular search areas. But it shouldn’t be forgotten that the content is there primarily for human eyes.

By writing unique content you remove the possibility of your visitors having already stumbled upon the exact same description elsewhere. Just as search engines frown upon finding duplicate content, so do many web users. It can look unprofessional and lacks any effort, which may deter your all-important visitors from investigating your site any further.

Unique content is a quality issue. It will help your SEO efforts and provide visitors with vital information that they won’t be able to find elsewhere. Copy is your time to show what you’re all about, don’t let that opportunity pass you by.