Search engines do not like duplicate content. Google is especially aggressive when it comes to weeding out unnecessary content from its listings. The simple way Google does this is to keep the first copy it finds and to ignore all duplicate versions after that.

There are several types of Duplicate content:

1. Content that is stolen, ether blatantly taken from a site or scrapped by bots to create content.
2. Added in two locations on the site to aid navigation. This content belongs in two places on a site but it is really the same content.
3. Accidentally duplicated content.
   1. This can be subtle. For example, if you have a gallery and each picture has its own page, if you keep the meta tags and head titles the same and the rest of the pages contain only minimal text, you may find only one of your gallery pages will be listed.
   2. Another example of this is what is known as boilerplate repetition, where too much content is the same on each page. For example, having a large copyright statement on all pages.
4. Printer friendly pages.
5. Syndicated content.

The good news is that Google will not ban your site for duplicate content. Unless it appears deceptive and intentional, it will just not list the duplicate pages.

The best ways to avoid any duplicate trouble are to manage your site with a good robots.txt file or better still, use Google Webmaster tools and a sitemap.xml document to label the content correctly for the spiders.

Oh and of course the number one way to avoid duplicate content is to hire good writers to create original compelling Search-Engine-friendly content. And look no further then DDA as we have the best writers in the whole world when it comes to such a task.

The tip of the week is for people launching brand new websites. Don’t launch one with a brand new domain name; well, don’t do that if you expect it to rank well.

Due to Google’s aging delay for all new domains, it can take up to six months just for your site to, and that is on the quick side. It is more like eight to nine months even up to 12.

The idea of the aging delay in Google’s eyes, is to stop people creating spam, like throw-away sites that can rank well for a few months before being blocked. If you have to wait six months, it simply takes those sites away from spammers as a tool for quick rankings.

But wait, we do have solutions.

1. The best one is to use your existing domian name. This name will already have links to it and a history of content.
2. Second best would be to use a subdomain, i.e leaves.trees.com would be a good site for your leaves branch of your firm if your main firm was trees.com. You don’t get any existing links but the domain is established in Google’s eyes.
3. As a good website is not built overnight, but is a project lasting several months, you could plan ahead and buy the new name as soon as you start to create a new site. Simply post up a quick brochure style site or holding page, so that Google can find the domain and it will enter the aging process as you and your website design company create your new site. Thus when you launch your full site, it will not have as long to wait to be ranked.

If you have already launched your site on a new domain, then don’t worry you will rank. You just have to be patient and wait for Google.

Where does your traffic come from? Or more specifically,  which search engine sends you the most visitors? Well, obviously this is a rhetorical question, as I know you will answer Google. Below is the breakdown of traffic sent to one of our sites.

87% of there traffic is from Google–note that is just search engine traffic, not including referrals from other sources. You might say, well, maybe they just rank better in Google than in Yahoo or MSN, but then don’t they pretty much rank in all the main engines for roughly the same keywords. It just seems that Google gets so much more traffic that it is reflected in how much it sends our way.

So Google is still King and it seems it will stay that way for the foreseeable future–which means that you’d better play by their rules, because if you lose your rankings in Google, then you lose your traffic.

To start off my DDA blog, I thought I would write about something that had also just started–that is, the Video ads for Google Adwords that are now appearing in SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).

The video ads appear under the traditional Adwords copy. When you come across one of these ads you will notice a small plus sign and the words “Watch Commercial”.

If you search for the term “cell phones” you should be able to find an example of this type of ad for Blackberry:

Here at DDA, we think we are uniquely positioned to help our clients make the most out of this new feature. Given our over 10 years’ experience in both Digital Video and Search Engine Marketing, this type of advertising slots right into our field of expertise. We are already in the process of creating our first Google Video Ad for one of our existing clients, and we look forward to finding out how this effects their click thru rates and, more importantly, their conversations.