Sombody copied my content but didn’t link back to me

You’ve copyscaped your site and found that other websites are using your content. What can you do?

Link-backs:

Link-backs are a great SEO tool.  If somebody is using your content, you may as well get some benefit out of it:

  1. Contact the site and ask them to provide a link back to your site, and reference you as the source.
  2. If they don’t comply or respond, and it’s just a paragraph of post, probably best to just let it go.

Content Scraper:

But what happens if somebody has trawled you site and replicated a lot of the content, and they have no interest in linking back or referencing you as a source?

Why should you care?

If website rankings are important to you, you should care.  If your content has been stolen by a content scraper site, they could be outranking you in the search results.

What can you do?

There a couple of simple, no-cost options:

  1. File a SPAM report with Google.  There’s a check-box to indicate “Duplicate site or pages” – so you can report the offending site to Google for investigation.
  2. Most of the copy scraper sites rely on AdSense revenue.  If they’ve illegally copied your content, and have AdSense on their site – reporting them to Google for copyright violation can terminate their AdSense agreement.

Another option?

  1. File a complaint with the person’s ISP if they have published your work on their site.
  2. You can do this through www.whois.net

 

 

 

© Feature Image copyright LIZ LOMAX

Author: Roving Jay

Jay is a project manager who swapped corporate life for a nomadic existence as a travel writer. She works with authors and entrepreneurs to help them achieve their self-publishing goals and reach their target audience through content marketing. Jay has published a series of travel guides, a travel memoir, and nonfiction books about travel writing. She housesits and volunteers around the globe with her husband, a Hollywood set painter, and she’s never more that 10 paces away from a wi-fi connection.

4 thoughts on “Sombody copied my content but didn’t link back to me

  1. I hadn’t come across Yoast before. On my other blog I use All in One SEO – but I’m going to test drive Yoast as my all in one SEO for this site… thanks for the tip. There’s so many plug-in’s out there, it’s great to hear which one’s are being utilized by others.

  2. Hi Jay very useful information. Have found a few people copying content on my site but not attributing me to it! I wasn’t sure what to do.

    1. Paul — in a way it’s a compliment that they like your content! I’ve read a few stories about folks who have gone through Google to complain, and have been successful.

      I don’t mind people using my content, as long as I get credit and a link back.

      Hope things work out for you.
      Roving Jay recently posted..3 Little Words of LoveMy Profile

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