Using free article sources

Is it safe?

[hdpt00]

Does anyone here use any articles that they got for free on article posting sites? If so, have you run into any problems with google on the duplicate content, do the pages rank well?

Do you have any suggestions to get these common articles to rank better?

Thanks!

[edited by: rogerd at 6:12 pm (utc) on Nov. 29, 2004]
[edit reason] No specifics/URLs, please... [/edit]

[rogerd]

I haven't used such articles, but I'd start by taking a look at the terms of service to see what you can do with the articles. Minor rewrites, headline changes, etc., would reduce duplicate content issues. You might also break up the articles differently, include some content of your own, etc. The current state of the art for duplicate content detection isn't great when the sites are quite different, but might be expected to improve in the coming years.

Also be sure you are dealing with reputable sites - one occasionally hears stories of a "free" article actually belonging to a third party who then comes after sites which have posted the article.

[jim_w]

Personally I would also check the person that wrote the article out. Are they a good resource? I know you will find this hard to believe, but, I lot of stuff published on the net is just bull-stuff. You would not want to look foolish because of someone else’s writing.

[EileenC]

Quote: "lot of stuff published on the net is just bull-stuff. You would not want to look foolish because of someone else’s writing."

I'll second that. Because writing articles with your contact info in a resource box at the end is such a good way to get traffic, everybody does it. Unfortunately, you're right - much of it is just plain garbage. Either it's a totally unoriginal idea that contributes nothing to the conversation, or it's badly written, or both. When I go to a content site that has badly written articles, I'll tell ya - it's a total turnoff. I question the credibility of the site if they'll let just anyone write anything, without any quality control.