Netiquette, Twitiquette, and Blogger-Etiquette for Sharing Content

BY Erika Yigzaw, American College of Healthcare Sciences Chief Institutional Officer

Do you love our natural health and wellness blog? Want to share some content with your website readers or store customers? Who doesn’t want to share tips on how to get well and healthy with simple therapeutic lifestyle changes and organic botanicals!

But when does sharing become stealing? We love when you share, but we’ve seen entire blog posts show up elsewhere without a word as to where it came from. Boo! Hiss! It takes time and effort to come up with good content and stealing is not just illegal, it’s really bad karma!

Google announced this week that they will be taking even more steps to lower rankings for sites that steal content, so how do you ensure you’re following the rules? Not just the rules of copyright law (can you explain “fair use” at a cocktail party?) but also the netiquette, twitiquette, and blogger-etiquette of it all!

How to quote, cite, borrow, and rework existing content is a common issue for students, but it doesn’t go away once you graduate. Most business owners need to steadily create content for blogs and websites, and that can be tiring, particularly if you’re not that handy with the keyboard. While some copying is blatant and just plain rude, we know that lots of folks out there are innocently copying and pasting away without realizing they are skating on thin ice. There is no “10% rule.”

We love this blog post from Hubspot on how to share and give credit in a way that builds your credibility and links, rather than inadvertently stealing content and hurting your Google rankings: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33098/How-Not-to-Steal-People-s-Content-on-the-Web.aspx

And here are some other ideas on how to get original content for your website or blog:

• Invite guest bloggers to contribute. (Are YOU interested in writing a blog post for the ACHS blog? Email us today! No, really. We’re talking to you!) This is a great way to increase your content while helping someone else get more readers to their own site and business.
• Hire a ghost blogger. It’s hard to make a living as a writer in your pajamas. There are lots of would-be Huffington Post writers out there who can write for you and your business. As a ghost writer, they don’t get credit or links out to their own business, but you have to pay them. What to pay ghost writers depends on the industry, experience, word count, etc.
• Get a copy of Dragon Dictate. It helps avoid carpal tunnel and makes getting that stream of consciousness down on “paper” that much easier.

Do you have a blog or newsletter for your holistic health business? What are your favorite tips for generating new content?