I recently used a NP member that was advertising on NP to develop a 5 page mini-site with original content. I just received my package complete with "original" content. While I am very pleased with the design of the website, something just didn't seem right with the content that was provided.
At first, I thought that my hesitance was due to the fact that this person was not from an english speaking country and english was not their fist language, as many times throughout the articles, incorrect grammar was used or an incorrect tense was used. But as I was reading further, it was obvious that something else was wrong. Some of the content was written in the first person relating personal experiences. Then there was one article that mentioned what geographical part of the US the writer was from. And, worst of all, one article even had information about the original author at the end of the post.
I decided to use Google to search for specific wording in sections of my "original" content, and without exception, every result came back to articles posted on ezine article and free article websites such as isnare.com and amazines.com. Most of these sites allow you to use these readily available articles as long as link is used attributing the article to the author or back to the website.
Upon review and comparison, it became obvious that very minor changes had been made to these online articles; sometimes using a thesaurus to change words to those with the same meaning and sometimes adding small inconsequential transition sentences. For example, in one of my "original" articles, the author speaks fondly of "the memory of holiday dinner at their grandparents in the Midwest", and I found an article on the same subject at one of the ezine sites, speaking fondly of "the memory of Thanksgiving dinner at their grandparents in the Midwest".
So, just as a warning to those out there that use the same sort of site development services, you might want to research the validity of the provided "original" content. It took me less than five minutes to find out that there was a problem with the articles. If I can find this out so quick, I can't imagine that Google's spiders can't also figure this out and continue to provide poor indexing of your sight. I am also unsure of any legal ramifications from the original authors. While they specifically allow the free use of their articles, I don't believe that they allow people to change a few words and call the article their own.
In my case, I have decided not to name the NP member because I was happy with the website design and in my opinion, the amount charged was fair even if I was just paying for a website without content. I plan on contacting the member today and caution them on claiming original content in the future. And, I have decided to get off my lazy *ss and write my own original content. This will be best for any developed site in the long run.
Just wanted to share....
At first, I thought that my hesitance was due to the fact that this person was not from an english speaking country and english was not their fist language, as many times throughout the articles, incorrect grammar was used or an incorrect tense was used. But as I was reading further, it was obvious that something else was wrong. Some of the content was written in the first person relating personal experiences. Then there was one article that mentioned what geographical part of the US the writer was from. And, worst of all, one article even had information about the original author at the end of the post.
I decided to use Google to search for specific wording in sections of my "original" content, and without exception, every result came back to articles posted on ezine article and free article websites such as isnare.com and amazines.com. Most of these sites allow you to use these readily available articles as long as link is used attributing the article to the author or back to the website.
Upon review and comparison, it became obvious that very minor changes had been made to these online articles; sometimes using a thesaurus to change words to those with the same meaning and sometimes adding small inconsequential transition sentences. For example, in one of my "original" articles, the author speaks fondly of "the memory of holiday dinner at their grandparents in the Midwest", and I found an article on the same subject at one of the ezine sites, speaking fondly of "the memory of Thanksgiving dinner at their grandparents in the Midwest".
So, just as a warning to those out there that use the same sort of site development services, you might want to research the validity of the provided "original" content. It took me less than five minutes to find out that there was a problem with the articles. If I can find this out so quick, I can't imagine that Google's spiders can't also figure this out and continue to provide poor indexing of your sight. I am also unsure of any legal ramifications from the original authors. While they specifically allow the free use of their articles, I don't believe that they allow people to change a few words and call the article their own.
In my case, I have decided not to name the NP member because I was happy with the website design and in my opinion, the amount charged was fair even if I was just paying for a website without content. I plan on contacting the member today and caution them on claiming original content in the future. And, I have decided to get off my lazy *ss and write my own original content. This will be best for any developed site in the long run.
Just wanted to share....
