Duplicate Content Checking Tools You Need to be Using

Copyright laws have been in place for hundreds of years, but with the emergence of the internet there have been issues with content theft. Everything from videos to images are fair game to thieves, this is why it’s important to make sure your content is not being used without your permission.

Learn the tools that are available

Tineye – Tineye is a reverse image search tool. Essentially this allows you to find locations to where an image may be being used. This can be important if other sites are utilizing your images for their own profit. For instance, if you take the time to create a custom header image for a page or post, another site could use this as their own. Now it’s not a terrible thing if someone is using your image, however you will want to have credit giving to your site. Simply ask the site to add something that mentions photo credit goes to a certain URL.

Copyscape – Just about everyone knows how brutal search engines can be on sites that have duplicate content. There’s different opinions on duplicate content, and even Matt Cutts has said it won’t cost you rankings. However, it is safe to avoid duplicate content issues and here’s how you do it. Copyscape allows users to input content and quickly lets the user know if there are any pages that are using the same content. Now the more content you put in the more accurate the results. Once you locate sites that are using your content, if any, it is important to contact them. Now you can let them keep the content live, just ask them to add a canonical tag to the page. This will give credit to the original source and let search engines know where the content is coming from.

Site Liner – This tool is used more specifically for on site content. It scans a URL and lets you know where duplicate content may exist. It will report on how often specific words are used on each page and will find domains that are closely related. On site duplicate content can be just as harmful as someone copying your work. Make sure to fix any on site duplicate content when you locate it.

Google Image Usage Rights – You’ve created a new blog post, now you need a sweet image to accompany it. Head to Google, plug in the search term, click images, and you’re set. Well not so fast. Blatantly copying another site’s image can be a big no-no. This can land a site in some legal trouble, although this does not happen often, it can, so lets avoid it if all possible. Which images can I use? Google image search allows for users to look for images that have been marked for reuse. This allows users to find which images are up for grabs and can even be manipulated or changed.

Don’t let your site fall victim to content theft. Make sure to use these sites regularly to ensure the safety of your content. On the same note, make sure the new content you are creating is unique and your own thoughts. Of course there’s always going to be phrases and words that are duplicate, which is fine, just nothing word for word.