Page Copy Inquiry

[Skylo]

Hi eveyone.
Since I have started coming to these forums, I have read and learnt so much as a beginner and all is good. I have read here and there that having copies of sites is frowned upon by google and for obvious reasons (no one likes a cheat), But what if you had this copy site and it had different information and different meta-tags. Would it still be bad? Could we still be penalised?
Also just a quick newby question: What are <h1> and <h2> and what is their significance re: SEO

Thanks a million webmasters :)
Skye

[Susanne]

Some people get away with having dupliate sites while others suffer. If there is a real advantage to the user and/or to the administrator of a site, then having two or three instead of one is alright. However, you will still have to be prepared for possible penalities even though you aren't trying to spam. Design the sites so that they aren't too obviously copies of each other. The less similar they are, the smaller is the risk that you'll get in trouble.

Personally I'd always try to stick to one site because it is easier to promote one than several. Of course there are many exceptions and all cases are unique. You can find many threads about this subject here at WebmasterWorld.

H1-H6 are heading tags, with H1 being the biggest and H6 the smallest. You normally use them for headlines and most webmasters choose to set their size using css because the h1 and h2 are HUGE. They are part of the details in a site that are considered beneficial for good SEO. Having heading tags alone won't bring you anywhere, but in combination with other SEO practises they are supposed to help a little. Cheers! :)

[Skylo]

Thanks Susanne :)