This is a guest post by Gabrielle Conde.
So, you’re seeing your post on scraper blogs, and want to know how to avoid them outranking your content in Google?
When my daughter watches Dora The Explorer, they stop the thief, Swiper, by simply raising their hands and saying, “Swiper, no swiping.”
Unfortunately, it’s not that easy in real life.
It makes sense to want to go after them. After all, it’s your hard work put into those posts and this lazy person just copied and pasted.
Let’s move beyond the blame game you find that Google isn’t removing these blogs and differentiate you from those copycats.
1. Brand your blog.
Stand out from your competition and copycats by branding your blog. If you’re a company, create a logo and color scheme to identify your blog from all the rest.
Even if you use an out-of-the-box WordPress theme, have the header changed. If you’re a solopreneur, put your face on the blog, preferably in the header.
Copycat blogs typically use a free or minimalist theme. Most are highly disorganized. It’s hard to even read the content amidst all the blinking and Google text ads. By putting your face on your blog, readers will know the real deal right away. Most importantly, they bond with you better.
2. Craft your RSS feed content to avoid making it easy for content thieves.
Michael Martinez published this post about how scraper blogs exploit RSS feeds like Feedburner by sending out links to blogs on a buy list. It’s useful for traffic to submit your RSS feeds and still encourage you to submit your blog to popular RSS lists. However, I do agree with his suggestion to post just a paragraph and not the entire article in your RSS feeds.
3. Start video blogging more.
Video blogging is getting bigger and bigger. It’s an exciting time to do it because so many people view YouTube each day, about 100 million on YouTube mobile, to be exact. If you’ve got a video camera and a few minutes, you can create one on the fly and post it on your blog.
Not sure what to say? Just focus on one point you want to make during your video. Keep it simple and smile.
4. Let them have it.
Yes, just give it to them, with style, of course. Post a creative commons license on your content and a byline at the end. In the byline, write that it’s okay for them to grab the post as long as they don’t edit it and leave the byline with a link to your site.
A friend of mine did this for her posts. I thought it was a brilliant idea because if anyone wanted to repost the content, she’d get links back to her blog and traffic.
5. Create internal links to more of your content.
We’re counting on these scraper blogs not paying attention to the actual post. Let’s believe they’re lazy and just copy and paste content without even reading it. Despite the copycats stealing your stuff, having links to more of your content will drive visitors to your site.
6. Put a copyright on your stuff.
Use a plagiarism warning via Copyscape on your blog to scare them off. Copyscape has a program, for instances your content was stolen, you can use to monitor the web. By pasting this banner on your site, you warn any potential thieves that you’ll be tracking them down.
7. Go after them.
In a thread on the WordPress forums, some users mentioned visiting Stolen Content to report content thieves. It’s happened to other blogs and they’ve posted some information about who they contacted. Copyscape also has a post about responding to plagiarism that includes filing with the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) and contacting the blog’s website host company. Wouldn’t it make you smile to check the scraper blog in question and see, “This blog has been shut down for abuse,” in place of their website?
8. Build your network.
A strategic way to build your community on your blog is by networking. Having an online network of marketers and peers will help you position yourself above copycats because you’ll have comments on your hard work and a thriving community that knows where to find you.
9. Put your personality in your posts.
No one can duplicate your personality. Make yours shine through in your posts. You can insert humor or a snippet about yourself. By being yourself, you give your audience a chance to bond with you.
A scraper blog that’s stealing your post can’t keep that up over time. They’re just going to grab someone else’s content and paste it as their own.
10. Don’t participate in copycat stuff unless you’re an Elvis impersonator.
Unless you copycat famous personalities for a living, you just have time to be one person, yourself. One of the best ways to get clear from copycats is to adamantly state that you refuse to participate and write a blog post about how you loathe copycats.
Spin Sucks even named their blog with their mission to end the spinning of lies. By stating your view on stealing content, you send a clear message to any copycat thinking of swiping your stuff.
Stealing is another form of lying. If a scraper blog isn’t crediting you for the content, they’re stealing.
How do you set up your blog against copycats? Or do you let it not bother you? Share your approach in the comments.
About GabrielleC
Kikolani covers blog marketing and blogging tips for personal, professional, and business bloggers to succeed in search and social media marketing. Kristi Hines is a 
Ah Gabrielle, video posts are all well and good when you don’t have a face that looks like it’s walked into a hammer, and a horiffic Mancunian accent…
Great point about personality too. I’ve written in the past about how important tone of voice is, and it’s a lesson that bears repeating!
Not too sure how effective Copyscape is though.
Andy Nattan @ SEO Copywriter recently posted What Bloggers Need to Learn from Poets
Ha ha! That’s exactly right about tone of voice. It doesn’t matter if you’re new to video or not, having enthusiasm will instantly pick up the energy and spread.
For Copyscape, it’s meant as a deterrent, as effective as one of those “Warning! This house is protected by Neighborhood Watch Program.” Supposedly though, in the United States, the programs reduce crime by up to 26%, according to the Campbell Collaboration.
Since writing this, I believe that the personality and branding makes the biggest difference. Thanks for your comment, Andy.
Gabrielle recently posted Mission: Goals Course Giveaway
What Andy said goes for me, but with a Cockney accent!
Dean Saliba recently posted October 2011 Blog Income Report
I’ve made a few attempts at making my own ‘how to’ videos. AT each attempt I gave up as soon as I started listenting to myself…
I’m thinking of hiring someone to do the voice-overs for me, but I’m afraid that this will result in a loss of the enthusiasm that Gabrielle mentions.
Michael
Michael@Ebook Times Newsletter and Blog recently posted Huge Collection of Videos with PLR and MRR
Great post, I’ve always wanted to try doing a video but I’ve always been camera shy (shy in nature). It will definitely separate with other bloggers and allows the bloggers personality to shine for sure.
Aaron Lee recently posted My Honest and Unbiased Review of Sprout Social
Thanks, Aaron! I’m naturally shy too. I’m officially stepping out of my comfort zone by starting video posts soon.
You make a good connection between video and the blogger’s personality. That’s so true. I’ve seen a case study where an author video blogged everyday after having his book proposal turned down. Writer’s Market used the example because he received a book deal after video blogging for a year and building a fan base!
Gabrielle recently posted Mission: Goals Course Giveaway
Awesome, any tip on how you started?
Aaron Lee recently posted The Five Smartest Kinds Of Twitter Users Which Ones Are You Most Like?
Yes, I came across Mike Koenigs’s 10x10x4 formula for videos. His PDF gives some great tips and some info about what to say and questions you can answer in the video.
You can get it here: http://www.trafficgeyser.com/tgblog/the-10-x-10-x-4-market-domination-formula/
I also got inspired watching Laura Roeder do her videos on YouTube. She uses a simple 1,2,3 formula to explain topics and answer questions. She makes it look easy! I’m working on my scripts now, videos coming soon.
I got sucked in by one of these scraper blogs today (for five minutes) – it came up really high on a Google search. The site design was dreadful but there were all these posts from Matt Cutts (from Google) and I was wondering what he was doing blogging for such an awful site. Then it dawned on me that it was a ‘fake’ blog and just stealing other people’s content.
It’s sad, a friend of mine gave up her really popular blog after she got sick of fighting the content stealers. She wouldn’t have minded so much but they took her affiliate links and replaced it with theirs! So very brazen.
Cathy@ProductCreation recently posted How to Plan and Write your Ebook with the modified Snowflake Method
Good thing you spotted that blog as a fake today! Sorry to hear that about your friend, Cathy.
My first blog had some content stolen from it and although they linked back to me, that blog didn’t seem to stick around for maybe a year. I suppose they didn’t receive much income from the adsense to pay the hosting fees and decided to split.
What I’ve learned recently is that it’s mainly done for SEO, although there’s more honest ways to get ranking than brazenly stealing content from another, like fostering online relationships.
Gabrielle recently posted Mission: Goals Course Giveaway
Hi Gabrielle,
Good to see you back blogging. Detailed write up. I usually do not think about copycats. I am looking at helping bloggers and small businesses. In the process I make money and I am happy about it. The subject I talk about is general and almost every one follows the same principles.
Eddie Gear @ SEO Expert recently posted Thank You, Derek Halpern
Hi Eddie! Thank you. I saw your new site design and I’m excited to hear that you’re doing well in your business! You’ve got your mind in the right place, focus on the people you help. Less stress!
No doubt in that video post have own identity which can help to huge traffic on your post.
Beside that all points are very nice but i like which most that one “”Don’t participate in copycat stuff unless you’re an Elvis impersonator. “” and i am sure if we will follow this rule in our blog post then definitely we will get good response.
I thought this post had valuable information in it. I got frustrated with Copyscape and tried a service that was supposed to check to see if anyone was stealing my photos, but it wasn’t very good. One thing you can do is use a tagline in the post, either at the end or in the content, that is fairly unique, then search for it using Google. If you turn it up, your content was scraped.
Stephanie Suesan Smith @vegetable gardening recently posted Top Ten Scary Bugs
Glad you liked it, thank you. Good tip, Stephanie! Thanks!
The most important part is copy infringement and trying to stop plagiarism. Sometimes these people can really fool people – as we see with fake Twitter and Facebook profiles, too. It’s sad but that is just reality.
We have to be aware and make others aware, too!
Hi Gabrielle, there are so many ways to create videos without getting in front of the camera. Screencasting is my favorite and it also helps build your brand and your authority on a given topic. Be sure to add your url to the description of your video and at the beginning of the recording too.
I add a string of characters to my RSS feed and set up Google Alerts with YoLinks to search for it.
Ileane recently posted Promoting Your Content on YouTube
Hi Ileane! You are so right about screencasting. I’ve seen businesses using it all the time and having excellent results in building authority.
I’m planning on starting to use it soon! Thank you for your awesome tip about RSS and Google Alerts.
Gabrielle,
Great list of ways to deal with those horrible copycats. They really get under my skin. But I do like your “let them have it” idea. if someone must copy your stuff at least if they provide a link back they aren’t harming you with the duplicate content. Of course I’m still rather not have people copying at all but this minimizes the damage.
Steve@Earn Money Online recently posted 6 Eye-Catching Graphics that ALL Blogs Need
Number 2 and number 5 contradict each other. I’d go for #5, and at least get some link credit for your posts. Who cares about the scrapers? If you are doing any promotion of your blog, it will stand out just by the fact that people see it. Scraper blogs are not seen almost anywhere (although some are getting picked up by Google Alerts).
David @ SEO blog recently posted SocialFloat – social sharing widget
Like many of the others, I’m not into video, yet anyways, I’m still on the fence about it.
I like the idea of the links, I did a post for Pro Blogger earlier this week, and had a link in the content to one of my posts, and it’s amazing how many pingbacks I got from the post being copied.
Jamie Northrup @ Domain Name System recently posted My Current and Upcoming Web Projects
Copycats makes blogging uninteresting to me because of the challenges I faced with most of them in ranking my blog at times. The funny thing is that they normally ranked higher in search engines more than my blog. Thanks for the information share
Olawale daniel recently posted The 5 Essential Parts Of Quality Content To Promote Your Blog
I’m sure you can also report these people to Google. You can prove that you produced the content first (time it was shared to social networks) and then show them the duplicated content which they’ll remove. A quick search should reveal the place to submit this claim – I remember Matt Cutts talking about it…
Sandip @ Cash Back Credit Cards recently posted Check Your Credit Rating For Free
Hi Sandip, yes and Google does have a link to file a complaint here https://www.google.com/adsense/support/bin/request.py?contact_type=dmca_complaint
And this is the information for getting Google to remove stolen content. http://www.google.com/support/bin/static.py?page=ts.cs&ts=1114905
It seems that some people still had trouble with getting content removed and posted about it several places online and above at Stolen Content, however the individuals may not have tried these links from Google or tried one and not the other.
It’s interesting but I actually have to remember to put some personality in my posts. I tend to really be a ‘just the facts’ type of blogger, and it’s clear people enjoy finding out about ‘you’ more than the info at times.
Darren@Cloud Hosting Blog recently posted Google Panda SEO Checklist
Just recently Google created a new feature within Google Webmaster Tools to alert webmasters if they version of a page wasn’t the “preferred” one – the page that shows up when the same content is indexed at multiple pages and only one is ranked high in search results.
I used to notice blogs that scraped some of my content, but because I had links to other areas on my site in these blog posts the scraper sites ended up linking back to my site. The links are pretty worthless but it shows who the original article was taken from
Techie @ Tech Blog recently posted Zagg Invisible Shield Review
It’s difficult for me to check to see where my stuff is going. I used to write for this website in the past and lots of my articles got stolen and re-published. Nothing was done about it.
I wouldn’t know how or where to check to see where my blog articles have gone. I know it must be happening, but I don’t know where. That’s yet another thing to worry about. I try to keep my head buried in the sand where stealing content is concerned.
The sad thing is, I work so hard to create original content for all my sites.
Anne Lyken-Garner recently posted How To Paint A Room
If your RSS is not a Full Feed it is a nuisance to genuine regular readers who prefer to read your post IN their reader.
I go with internal links, a copyright paragraph, watermarks on photos, and a tribe of bloggers who look out for each other. Each one who is scraped, passes on the tricks she has learned to the rest of us.
Elephant’s Eye recently posted October’s wildflowers, and comments from South Africa
Now that lots of people are viewing YouTube videos, video blogging is becoming attractive. It’s going to be pretty difficult to copy that.
What a coincidence. I was sending out a DMCA notification just a few days ago. Some of the tips you gave here are terrific ways to step ahead of the copy cats.
P.S. We watch a lot of Dora in our house also.
Nicholas Cardot recently posted 10 Powerful SEO Tips for WordPress Users
I have a WordPress site and I use the WP Copyright Pro which prevents anyone right-clicking and therefore being able to simply copy my content.
Bridie Jenner recently posted Your essential networking checklist
Thanks for mentioning that, Bridie.
I just found out about that plugin yesterday and passed on the tip to a lady on Twitter. Here’s a link for anyone that’s interested in this plugin… http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/copyrightpro/
Just like to compliment the above posts and say “Do Things Differently”!
You’ll be surprised how many blogs follow the same format. Headline, picture, text, inset picture, call to action. There’s nothing wrong with that format – I’m using it right now. But it pays to mix it up a little.
As for video, you don’t need anything beyond a (relatively) cheap microphone and/or webcam to start putting together audio and video content. Releasing a podcast or a how-to video (or rant) is sure to grab attention, and it gives your readers a welcome break from the bog standard “copycat” format.
Of course, the chances are that not everyone is an expert in multiple fields with an unmistakeable style and amazing screen presence (I’m certainly not), but that shouldn’t stop you from trying..
Shamelle@BetterBloggingWays recently posted 5 Ways Better Blogging Ways Is Different From Every Other Blog On Blogging
I didn’t really have problems like this, other than some teasers published on other sites with a link back. But that’s good, isn’t it?
However, I try to always add backlinks to my other posts and I try to add my own style when writing articles, so that will somehow stop this.
Eugen Oprea recently posted 13 Best WordPress Plugins you Should Have on Your Blog
Yes, Eugen, teasers, from my experience, are a great way to introduce your readers to other blogs and posts they might not have known about otherwise. If they’re relevant to your niche, then providing that service for your readers is great. Likewise if someone is quoting you and linking to your blog.
Hi Gabrielle, nice topic. It’s amazing at how quickly this content scraping issue is growing. Within hours I receive several trackback requests from low life scrapers.
One thing I just started doing is linking my subtitle, with heading tag, to the original post. This links back to my post at the top of the page even when the scrping site doesn’t. I also include internal links, as we all should, for many reasons.
Brian D. Hawkins@Blogging Tips recently posted Google Plus Hangouts For Business Tips
Good tip, Brian! Thanks for adding that about linking your subtitle. Agree about the internal links.
Hi, Gabrielle,
A well written post. I have read about the same earlier on other blogs but it was more focused on how other parts. Your 10 points are very informative and a serious blogger must look at this issue because it will take only few seconds by a content thief to steal your hard work.
Thanks for sharing this.
Pritam @ Part Time Jobs recently posted Earn From Mobile. Earn Money By Sending and Receiving SMS
Interesting
However, the content scrappers are now not that stupid. Lots of them manually edit the link so that my blog posts’ internal links are completely change. I am so depressed seeing the thefts copying my blog’s content over and over. The number is getting increased. DMCA complaint cannot do much… 
However, I totally agree that the blog’s brand and its author personality cannot be stolen in anyways. Trust is number one. The readers can judge whether the content of a blog is qualified enough or not. They know exactly.
Nice and useful post. Thanks
Azmee @ buka rahasia blogspot recently posted Kaos Blogger™ Eksklusif Plus Nama Blog, Buruan! (Pre Order)
I have used video Blogging as a huge deterant to this type of activity. Not that it has stopped “scrapers” but now my video is embeddedon their site and if that’s the worst they can do then i’m alright with it!
Great thoughts! Thank you!
Ryan H
Ryan Hanley recently posted 11 Blog Feeds That Will Change the Way You Market Your Business Online
Putting links to your other posts in an article may help as you mentioned. That way if it is scraped or someone does the copy and paste thing hopefully they will end up reposting your links. Whether it will get you any traffic or not I guess it depends, but at least you may get a backlink. I don’t know too many people that have done the dmca thing, but I do hear it mentioned often.
Ray@dolphin tutorials recently posted How to tell if links are dofollow or nofollow
Wow, these are all awesome tips to keep people from stealing your content. I’ve actually come across a couple of my competitors websites that have stolen PAGES! Now tell me that wouldn’t irritate you a little bit.
No matter what, there’s always going to be content that’s close to your on the web. There’s just too much information out there. I do like the idea that if they “borrow” your post they have to provide a link back to your site, though.
Owner Financed Homes Austin TX recently posted Austin Owner Financed Homes: Why Some Sellers Opt For This Selling Method
Thanks for the cool advise. I like the idea to let them take the content but leave the link. It can work and you will benefit from it. Videos is a great idea too as it is harder to steal video and you can use video instead of your posts and even present information in such a way to your readers.
Hi Gabrielle,
I have had my content stolen so many times, that I basically gave up. One of the funniest stories about it is that one of those blogs that basically was a complete replica of my blog and all my content (with no credit links of course) contacted me for a link exchange (thats how I found out about it in the first place).
It got me so mad that I did send him/her an email, stating that if my content isn’t removed by next week or if all my content don’t include a credit link back to my blog I would contact his host and he/she could get in a lot of trouble. Thankfully that was enough to scare him, so he did take them down.
Satrap@ Make Money recently posted How to Make Money Online
Thanks for sharing your story, Satrap. Good idea about contacting their hosting company. Glad it worked for you!
Hi Gabrielle,
Nice tutorial.You have shared great information on how to position our blog above copycats.All 10 points are simple and can easily be followed.Thanks for taking time to write this post for us.
Pete Goumas recently posted TimepiecesUSA Review
Gabrielle, these are all wonderful tips – thanks for sharing. One of the things I have done with videos (so that I don’t have to speak in front of the camera) is to create one using screen capture software. That way, if I’m showing someone how to do something, rather than just being a talking head, I take them through the process step-by-step.
As for scraper sites taking your stuff, I now realize that this has happened to me before (yet at the time wondered why they had. Now I know why). Thankfully I always link to pages and other blog posts throughout the article so I’ll make sure I continue to do that.
Thanks again Gabrielle.
Annemarie Cross recently posted Twitter Strategies: How to increase engagement and exposure
I agree with Gabrielle on the added use of video material. Yet I also think that RSS feeds are really part of what the whole WEB 2.0 experience is all about, so I’m still not sure where to draw the line on plagiarism. That being said, not having sources mentioned on posts that are copied, clearly is a no-no and I don’t agree with such conduct at all.
Good read, thanks,
Saku
Wow, Gabrielle that was really a compact and great list of making our blog scraper unfriendly…I think it is a great idea to use excerpts in RSS and also the idea of making more usage of video blogging is also quite a good one. One other point that I liked a lot was the more internal linking thing, I think that will give us more benefits in fact since most scrapers publish posts without reading, that will bring us more backlinks.
Shiva @ Blogging Tips recently posted Top Best Free and Premium WordPress Popup Plugins
These are really wonderful tips Gabrielle that can help me now for sure so i can protect my content from those fluffy copy pasters who dont even bother themself to add my link or my name in the resource of their websites as the real contributor of that article but am sure after following this guideline i will be safe from such copy pasters!!!
Rafay Qureshi @ SEO Pakistan recently posted 5 ways to reduce bounce rate of your blog
Plagiarism can be a huge problem. I had an experience early on where I found a copy of my post on a different blog. I had to write to the webmaster several times. At first I offered to let them keep it with an attribution, but I received no response. Eventually, I had to threaten to report them before they would remove my post. Afterwards they responded by banning my ip from their site so it would be harder for me to check on future copyright violations I suppose.. It was an awful experience.
Richard recently posted Get The Steve Jobs’ Biography Free Audiobook
The hint to post only a paragraph to your feed to prevent scraping is interesting and one thing I hadn’t heard before.
I have to disagree with letting them have it, though. This operates on the principle that getting backlinks is better for business, which is true. However, you’d be getting linked to by scrapers… Isn’t that bad for SEO by most accounts?
Also, I’d like to recommend a plug-in like Bad Behavior. It’s originally intended to prevent spam bots from commenting on your blog, but it works by preventing bots from ever seeing your content in the first place – nip it in the bud sort of thing – and would also work to prevent scrapers on your blog. That said, I don’t know how many actually get to your blog. Maybe they all work off RSS. Either way. It’s worth it just for spam prevention.
Michael Hoppal@Denver Copywriter recently posted Topic Inspiration for the Uninspired
Video blogging is one of the protective technique. A brand blog can be useful for for the blogger and it can defeat copycats
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