Let’s debunk a myth right now: using Private Label Rights content (or PLR) is NOT plagiarizing! Here’s why:
Plagiarizing is when you copy and paste someone else’s printed words into your own document and claim that it’s your own work. Doesn’t matter if it’s one sentence, one quote, or an entire document; if it’s taken directly from another work without any quotation marks or citations, it’s plagiarizing.
On the other hand, when you purchase PLR, you purchase a LICENSE permitting you to use the text as is or to make any edits to it. You can brand it with your colors and logo; you can add your name to it; you can add your own case studies to it. That license permits you to make as many or as few changes as you like. It’s really no different than hiring a ghostwriter to do the work for you and then you publish the work with your name on it.
The Duplicate Content Issue
For years, content creators believed that having duplicate content or plagiarized content on your site would result in Google giving you a stiff penalty in the search engines. While there’s no true penalty, if the Google bots see multiple articles written exactly the same, either plagiarized or PLR that wasn’t edited, Google may offer only one of those results to the searchers, which could result in YOUR site being hidden. Who wants to see multiple search results of the same article? Nobody, which is why some sites don’t show up if they offer the exact same content wording.
Make Your PLR Unique
If you purchase PLR, spend some time making edits and adding your own flair to the pieces. PLR is meant to be a starting point for your content creation, not the final product (that’s why we have ghostwriters). Adding your flair can include rewriting in your own voice, with your own words, and in your own personal style that attracts your ideal clients. Be creative with your written PLR and use it as a script for a video. Take single ideas from an article and make a series of blog posts or a series of videos. Take these same ideas and create an infographic. You’re only limited by your own creativity.
More Content Creation Tweaks
If you want some more ideas on how to tweak your content to make it more unique and how to reuse content you already have in different ways, take a look at my Social Media Posting Planner workbook, with this 28-page workbook, you can plan your effective social media posting strategy and create original content for your business.
Tracey Lee Davis, founder of ZingPop Social Media, turns busy small business owners into online marketing rockstars! A social media expert and Certified Partner for Constant Contact, she coaches entrepreneurs in how to grow their business using social media and provides total management for their email marketing campaigns. Tracey Lee is also a featured speaker for associations and business groups. She is a 2022 Silicon Valley Woman of Influence, Alignable's 2022 Local Businessperson of the Yearfor San Jose as well as a Top 25 U.S. Business Mentor of 2021, a Certified Content Marketing Strategist, and the Co-Owner and Vice President of the Women’s Networking Alliance. She also really, really loves cheese.