Can you outrank Google’s post — Web Marketing Academy

Can Copied Outrank Original Content?

Can you outrank Google’s Post? Yes you can (Not because Google was down yesterday — Dec, 14th 2020)

Yesterday, I was trying to access Google Drive but was unable to access and I told my colleague that the wi-fi is having some issue

After a few minutes, I came to know about how Google, YouTube, Gmail, Gdrive was down. Immediately we saw all kinds of memes :)

Meme’s on Twitter #Googledown

This post is not about Google's global outage, it’s about how Google sometimes might rank copied content on top of the original post. I was going through this post on Search Engine Journal: Google: Sometimes Copied Content is More Relevant

In this post, Google’s John Mueller answered a question about how Google handles copied content.

By the way, John Mueller is great at answering questions, and if you haven’t subscribed to Google’s SEO Office Hours YouTube channel. Please go and subscribe to get updates like this

The question:

“How Google determines if a particular… content is copied or not and who is the original source for that content?”

Why Copied Content Can Be More Relevant Than the Original

Mueller ended by using Google’s own blog posts as an example of Google’s algorithm ranking other sites ahead of Google’s own content. He said it was about relevance.

“And sometimes the person who wrote it first is not the one for example that is the most relevant.

So we see this a lot of times for example with our own blog posts where we will write a blog post and we’ll put the information we want to share on our blog post and someone will copy that content and they will add a lot of extra information around it.

It’s like, here’s what Google really wants to tell you and it’s like reading between the lines and the secret to Google’s algorithms.

And when someone is searching it’s like maybe they want to find the original source. Maybe they want to find this more elaborate… exploration of the content itself.

So, just because something is original doesn’t mean that it’s the one that is the most relevant when someone is looking for that information.”

Source: Search Engine Journal is another great resources for SEO

After going through this blog I want to test, I published an article on Medium, The Startup on Dec 24th, 2019 titled:

Google’s 2019 Research Report is all about Insights for 2020

Google’s 2019 Research Report is all about Insights for 2020

What did I do?

1. Google published this research report on its blog in December 2019. I downloaded the research report, understood and did my own research
2. I took each summary and explained it in detail, basically simplifying it which can be relevant to any business or marketer
3. I also related this report to any business and how can a business come up with content ideas and solutions to customers problems or queries
4. I added screenshots on how any business can use it for their industry
5. Instead of publishing my stories, I published them on The Start-Up(This gave a better reach and engagement)
6. I also cross-posted in our Web Marketing Academy Blog
7. I gave some examples like this for each topic

“Simple” + “ideas” mobile queries have grown by over 60 %

So, I did some research for these queries, and here are some of the popular related search queries

• Simple kitchen design ideas
• Simple digital marketing ideas for beginners
• Simple digital marketing ideas for restaurants/hospitals/small businesses
• Simple ideas to surprise your boyfriend, girlfriend, husband
• Simple ideas for a new career at 45
• Simple ideas to decorate a living room
• Simple ideas for a date/for a short film

After reading John Mueller’s post I research for posts that can outrank original posts like this:

And when someone is searching it’s like maybe they want to find the original source. Maybe they want to find this more elaborate… exploration of the content itself.

What John Mueller means, if, for example, this post which I published in 2019 is more elaborate, then Google might give preference to this than Google’s post itself

Please note, sometimes the rankings for each post might fluctuate. So here is the screenshot of rankings for the keyword: “Google 2019 Research Report”

If you notice, two blog posts from Google (Originally published) and two posts from my posts one is the Medium post and the other one is from Web Marketing Academy Blog

Please note, even thou the Title of this post says, Can you Outrank Google’s post, the idea of this Medium post is to explain how Google can rank another web page instead of the original posts and I am not to boast about how you can compete with Google :)

Here is another example

Key Takeaways

1. Google might give preference to an article that is more useful for a user than the original post
2. Always give credit/source to the original article if you are copying
3. Google is smart to give the relevant results
4. If you are copying content, add value to that content
5. Original content doesn’t always mean it’s relevant content

Agree/disagree? Would love to know your thoughts on this

About: Suresh is the Founder & CEO of Web Marketing Academy. One of the Top 5 Digital Marketing Training Insitute in Bangalore Rated 4.77/5* by alumni and current students

I am active on LinkedIn