Is It Possible to Plagarize Your Own Content?

[Nonbeardedman]

I'm mostly concerned with Affiliate style posts in regards to this question.

Suppose I have an article on the "Best Toasters of 2023"

I then have other articles targeting the term Best Toasters, this includes:

"Best Portable Toasters"
"Best Toasters under $100"
"Best Electric Toasters"

I then may also have an informational post that targets a specific query which may include the description of a Toaster product, for example

"What Kind Of Toasters Do Restaurants Use for Breakfast Buffets?"

Now, in all of those posts, there may be a common occurence of a certain product - the same toaster and in all those posts I may mention that toaster as the "best toaster" to buy

Let's say it's a Black & Decker Toaster. Now since this toaster is recognized as the best and fits well within all the above posts, I'd write about in every post. So, my questions regarding this process is:

• Do I risk cannabalizing other articles within this theme of "best toasters" due to repeated information?
• How do you write these product reviews? Do you just copy-paste the info you've written about them from your previous post and add them as is?
• Do you modify the product review so that it's similar but not too indifferent (like switching up paragraphs, converting info into bullets, or replacing words with synonyms)
• Would it be wise to create a WordPress reusable block for a certain product and just that add that in for each time the product is mentioned?

I can easily distinguish between standalone product reviews and product round-ups - as the standalone review requires detailed info. But what about these multi-level product round ups that require just the main highlights of the product and their pros and cons?

 

[Ryuzaki]

Do I risk cannabalizing other articles within this theme of "best toasters" due to repeated information?

It's possible to cannibalize yourself but this tends to happen when you target the exact same user intent as determined by Google. Not only do you need to target the same user intent, you need to optimize those articles in the "power places" for using the keyword, like the title, H1, H2, etc. Just merely mentioning the same keyphrase in a paragraph tag is not going to result in cannibalization.

Something like "best portable toasters" and "best electric toasters" are similar in that they are both likely electric, but without even looking I can tell you that they're clearly different user intents. They target different categories of the product. So you're safe there, and you're safe mentioning some of the same products.

How do you write these product reviews? Do you just copy-paste the info you've written about them from your previous post and add them as is?

You can do this. A lot of plugins people use do this and it works. That doesn't mean it's optimal. They may be overcoming the negatives through the power of other ranking factors.

Do you modify the product review so that it's similar but not too indifferent (like switching up paragraphs, converting info into bullets, or replacing words with synonyms)

This is typically what I'd recommend just to play it safe and eek out diminished returns. You do not get in trouble for "duplicate content" on your own site. But Google claims they only credit one page for being the originator of that content. It's kind of like canonicalization for text fragments.

Would it be wise to create a WordPress reusable block for a certain product and just that add that in for each time the product is mentioned?

Similar to plugins, this is what I've recommended to people doing programmatic SEO (rolling out largely automated pages created from combined data). If you value the time saved or if that time saved becomes too enormous to ignore, then yes.

What this also offers you is the ability to change that block and have it reflected throughout the site. So when Black & Decker Super Toaster 3000 version 2.0 comes out, you can change the one reusable block to update the fact that the new model is out and is the one now available and preferred. This will then update across the site.

 

[secretagentdad]

****So this is kinda a sideways answer rant to what you're saying. I'm trying to explain how you can look at this differently.

A very common outcome from doing a good job of that is they just feature more of your stuff on the front page.
Sometimes you even get a flag and featured subheadings for some of your secondary urls below your main domain making your serp presence even more prominent. (this boosts the main click through rate and pushes stuff to sub sections in my experience) The easiest way to get this is to have a brand term with sub items that people are looking specifically for to contextually navigate to.
When you do a really good job of covering a topic and its sub items and users are reacting properly you can get it for generics. I dunno if this is by design, or google getting confused and thinking its your branded keyword cuz your performance is so high. Either way it has a nice doubling down effect and has resulted in way more traffic for me when its happened. Typically this has been followed by across the board ranking improvements. I consider it highly desirable and spend significant amounts of time trying to work out high engagement page titles and sub items I can make in order to suck up more traffic and grow my footprint. You can even end up getting featured snippets (assuming you do your schema), google related and suggested on line item keyword inserts shifting traffic to your branded keywords.
There are no bigger wins. You looking at this wrong. If you're getting penalized its for churning out garbage. Make better content and title it with care. Delete low engagement articles, retitle shit with crappy click through even if its front page. You can see your numbers if you're front page in search console just keep dialing in. The prize is more than just ranking your line items keyword. It's creeping out into more topically related serps and sending great signals google can use to feature your stuff in related areas.
Pro side note- There are some next level bots trying to screw with ctr metrics, so match your data and don't accidentally gaslight yourself by getting to excited to quickly. Search console data in particular has a way of doing that.

 

[bernard]

I personally try to avoid copy-pasting from reviews. My gut feeling based on experience that Google doesn't like that. Or rather, don't reward that.

Just rewrite it it with AI.

That's not necessarily the right way to think about it though.

The structure of the affiliate cluster is something like:

Best Toaster
-- Best electric toaster
-- Best retro toaster
-- Best toaster for gluten free bread
-- Best cheap toaster etc
--- Acme Toaster review
--- Alibaba Toaster review

Toaster supporting content
-- Best toasting bread
-- How long should I toast bread for english breakfast
-- How to toast bread without a toaster (7 alternatives)

This content should ideally ALL be in a the "best toaster" review as subsections. Then expand on each of those in their own articles.

Lets say for the "Best toaster" you include 5 "electric toaster" products (<h2>Best electric toaste</h2> and your review summary is 400 words each. Then you should also have a supporting <title>Best electric toaster</title> post that includes maybe 10 electric toaster of 300-600 words each. Just include a bunch and spend less time reviewing those that aren't best picks.

Then ideally you should have individual reviews of those best 5 electic toaster, which are in depth reviews of each, like 1000-2000 words each. Unique images, data, numbers, user reviews, comparisons etc.

Then you soup that up with info content if it can support it and tie it all together.

To put it simply: Turn your <h2> into their own roundup reviews then turn your <h3> in your roundup reviews into their own posts. You have your top review post and just expand down and niche down until individual product reviews.

 

[freshpeppermint]

I personally try to avoid copy-pasting from reviews. My gut feeling based on experience that Google doesn't like that. Or rather, don't reward that.

Just rewrite it it with AI.

That's not necessarily the right way to think about it though.

The structure of the affiliate cluster is something like:

Best Toaster
-- Best electric toaster
-- Best retro toaster
-- Best toaster for gluten free bread
-- Best cheap toaster etc
--- Acme Toaster review
--- Alibaba Toaster review

Toaster supporting content
-- Best toasting bread
-- How long should I toast bread for english breakfast
-- How to toast bread without a toaster (7 alternatives)

This content should ideally ALL be in a the "best toaster" review as subsections. Then expand on each of those in their own articles.

Lets say for the "Best toaster" you include 5 "electric toaster" products (<h2>Best electric toaste</h2> and your review summary is 400 words each. Then you should also have a supporting <title>Best electric toaster</title> post that includes maybe 10 electric toaster of 300-600 words each. Just include a bunch and spend less time reviewing those that aren't best picks.

Then ideally you should have individual reviews of those best 5 electic toaster, which are in depth reviews of each, like 1000-2000 words each. Unique images, data, numbers, user reviews, comparisons etc.

Then you soup that up with info content if it can support it and tie it all together.

To put it simply: Turn your <h2> into their own roundup reviews then turn your <h3> in your roundup reviews into their own posts. You have your top review post and just expand down and niche down until individual product reviews.

So in the Best Toaster Article, you also include an h2 with Best Electric Toaster and you give like 1-2 electric toasters and then you say "Click here To View Best Electric Toasters"? And then you write a seperate "Best electric toasters" post with like 10 electric toasters? And then you have like 5 electric toasters that you review individual posts, and those are linked in the best electric toaster post like "Read Full Review"?

I feel like whenever I do something similar to this except the individual reviews part I get cannibilization issues. Or say in the FAQ section I add some h3 and answer it briefly then I say if you wanna check more or indepth click on this link. But then I go on Google and check it's my article with FAQ in it is ranked instead of the one which is the main topic.

I also didn't get the last part where you said "To put it simply" part.

 

[Nonbeardedman]

This is typically what I'd recommend just to play it safe and eek out diminished returns. You do not get in trouble for "duplicate content" on your own site. But Google claims they only credit one page for being the originator of that content. It's kind of like canonicalization for text fragments.

Okay, that's what I've been doing up till now, so good to know it's best practice. I wanted to know whether there was a faster way to do it, and mainly because I absolutely dread writing affiliate posts. I've never approached them with the same enthusiasm as informational articles, plus writing the same descriptions over and over again is just mind-numbing to me.

Because if I'm reviewing like 20 different toasters each with their own USP, at one point I go blank thinking "welp, I've mentioned its unique characteristic... now what? Mention the same things again?" Then it's basically a list of 20 something toasters with a "sleek modern design" and "smooth functionality" - it all starts to sound a bit cliche, like how every company mentions on their landing page that they have "State-of-the-art" technology or that they're "customer-driven"

The only thing I can write almost inuitively are the pros and cons. I also don't have an issue with standalone product reviews - just these roundup posts.

Definitely been contemplating hiring a writer with the little money I'm making currently with the site to write the affiliate posts, so I could focus on the informational posts and single product reviews, do proper marketing, and attract links.

What this also offers you is the ability to change that block and have it reflected throughout the site. So when Black & Decker Super Toaster 3000 version 2.0 comes out, you can change the one reusable block to update the fact that the new model is out and is the one now available and preferred. This will then update across the site.

Hmm. This is interesting. I just recently got accepted into an affiliate program for a software in my niche and they often have deals and discounts - I guess I could use that here and update it whenever they have a discount.

Huh. Makes me think that the Wirecutter probably doesn't have nameless, faceless people in their basement refreshing their affiliates' page 24/7 trying to check if they have a deal going on. All they gotta do is change the price of one block and it reflects everywhere.

You can even end up getting featured snippets (assuming you do your schema), google related and suggested on line item keyword inserts shifting traffic to your branded keywords.

I'll be honest, some of the things you mentioned seemed to flew off my head, but correct me if I'm wrong, but are you suggesting to target branded terms like instead of "Best Toasters", I try targetting "Best Black & Decker toasters?" ("Black & Decker" being the branded term)

Also, I use Yoast SEO for schema

Lets say for the "Best toaster" you include 5 "electric toaster" products (<h2>Best electric toaste</h2> and your review summary is 400 words each. Then you should also have a supporting <title>Best electric toaster</title> post that includes maybe 10 electric toaster of 300-600 words each. Just include a bunch and spend less time reviewing those that aren't best picks.

I've tried this on some of my posts but it seems to start ranking for the same keywords as well, which is what made me ask the cannibalization question. I had an article like Best Toasters with a few subheadings like that ("Best Electric Toasters" for example)

But that "Best Toasters" article started ranking for the "Best Electric Toasters" article as well. That's what search console showed, and even when I typed the keyword "Best Electric Toasters" in Google my site's search console snippet showed up showing me the position and CTR of that article - as if I've been trying to target that KW through my best toasters article.

But from Ryuzaki's comment, I guess to understand the above, I'd have to focus on this:

It's possible to cannibalize yourself but this tends to happen when you target the exact same user intent as determined by Google.

Since the articles have different intent and basically target a different set of people with different needs, I guess I'll be in the green.

 

[bernard]

I've tried this on some of my posts but it seems to start ranking for the same keywords as well, which is what made me ask the cannibalization question. I had an article like Best Toasters with a few subheadings like that ("Best Electric Toasters" for example)

But that "Best Toasters" article started ranking for the "Best Electric Toasters" article as well. That's what search console showed, and even when I typed the keyword "Best Electric Toasters" in Google my site's search console snippet showed up showing me the position and CTR of that article -as if I've been trying to target that KW through my best toasters article.

This happened to me too recently, but it all sorted itself out in the end. It might take a while before it settles down, like a couple of months.

 

[secretagentdad]

I'll be honest, some of the things you mentioned seemed to flew off my head, but correct me if I'm wrong, but are you suggesting to target branded terms like instead of "Best Toasters", I try targetting "Best Black & Decker toasters?" ("Black & Decker" being the branded term)

Also, I use Yoast SEO for schema

Yes, and branded keywords are the absolute best things to invade this way.
Product lines are winners with volume and intent you can direct back to branded article keywords and squeeze for affiliate commissions or retail premium.