There are some folks out there who pooh pooh taking the time to come up with their own original website content, and instead choose to swipe some well thought out copy from other websites that are similar to their own.
Not only is this considered copyright infringement, this is not cool!
Think about it – one business owner has taken the time to sit down and think out their website. They plan, they rearrange, they sweat over the correct wording that is a good fit for both their customers and the search engines, and in the end they come up with their baby – their glorious website! What a proud moment.
Flash forward to business owner #2 who is in a rush, doesn’t know how to write good copy, hasn’t a clue about search engine optimization, and let’s face it – is downright lazy. So they search around to find other sites similar to their own and they come across business owner #1. “Wow!” they think, “This website has everything that I want for my own website!”. And so they proceed to copy big chunks of website copy that they like and want, taking a minimal amount of time to barely disguise the fact that it’s been copied by changing names here and there.
How do you think this makes business owner #1 feel? How would YOU feel if the tables were turned?
Please do keep this in mind when you’re trying to build your own website. Don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with checking out your competitor’s websites to get some ideas, but in the end you must come up with your own words in order to be ethical, and legal for that matter.
So, for those of you that are in line with business owner #2 – and you know who you are – better change your website before you get caught and slapped with legal action!
As for those of us who can identify with business owner #1 – I’d love to hear some of your stories!