I hope this question is in the right sections of the forums..
I want to start writing articles to boost my visibility on the web but I'm concerned about being penalized for content mirroring. From what I understand, Google's supposedly has a "duplicate content penalty''. I've done some reading and there seems to be no clear cut answer on this. Can I get some feeback"? I'd really like to know if this is a fact or a myth. Some 'experts' say it is a myth, others say it is a fact.

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Carlana Charles - Ciboney Virtual Solutions
Web: http://ciboneyvirtual.com Blog:http://ciboneyvirtual.com/blog

Carlana - Are you thinking of using articles you find at free articles directories? I'm not sure what you mean by "content mirroring." As I understand it, sites that are duplicated word for word under a different domain name may be shunned by search engines, but it's actually beneficial for your articles to appear on your site as well as on the directory listings. Just make sure the writing is 100% original (you can re-write someone else's piece, but make sure it's not recognizable as an imitation).
Does this answer your question? I may be entirely off track here, not understanding your question.

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Mary H. Ruth/Virtual Writing & Communications
http://www.writingVA.com

Good question! I am just getting started on writing articles among other things and there are so may "rules" that I don't know about!

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Doreen R. Patrick, MVA, ACS, CIVA
www.virtualbusinesspartners.net

Hi Carlana, Google calculates all incoming links to your site (for search returns/page-content value, etc.) - those links are MORE valuable when they come from fresh sources. So - when you have the same article posted in say, 10 article directories - the incoming link value for those listings is worth less than say if you posted 10 individual articles with links.
There is nothing wrong with posting the same article in more than one place assuming you're posting for the content value and NOT for SEO purposes.

Does that help?

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Mary, the articles are original. I wanted to submit them to multiple directories but did not want to be penalized. Thanks for clearing it up Tess.

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Carlana Charles - Ciboney Virtual Solutions
Web: http://ciboneyvirtual.com Blog:http://ciboneyvirtual.com/blog

One more quick follow up to this - if you post the article on your blog AND on a ton of article sites it *can* devalue the overall return of your blog - so I guess the point is to try to post fresh content to your blog/site and post the same articles sparingly on the BEST article sites. (If you're concerned about search returns/SEO).
Ultimately though, I'm assuming the idea of posting your articles is to share information and establish yourself as an expert - rather than compete in SEO for keywords - which should be the main purpose behind articles anyway.

Just like a blog can be a great SEO enhancement, SEO shouldn't be the motivating factor behind running one - it doesn't bode well for increased readership and longevity...same goes for articles.

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Thanks Tess. I'm doing articles to establish myself as an expert but quite often I do post the same content to my blog. I'll have to approach this differently.

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Carlana Charles - Ciboney Virtual Solutions
Web: http://ciboneyvirtual.com Blog:http://ciboneyvirtual.com/blog

Once again, Tess, you do a fabulous job of explaining things. Thanks!

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Mary H. Ruth/Virtual Writing & Communications
http://www.writingVA.com

Thanks Tess for posting as well. I have a client that I post articles to 10 article directories and he also posts his articles on his blog. He updates is content regularly but does it for expert opinion purposes rather than for SEO.

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Doreen R. Patrick, MVA, ACS, CIVA
www.virtualbusinesspartners.net