The Idiots Guide To Content Spinning
Everyone has heard of Article Spinning. Many SEOs and Affiliates have tried it. But I dont think a large number of SEOs understand it. Let’s take the no.1 result on the search “Article Spinning”
(shock horror, its wikipedia 
)
Article spinning is a search engine optimization technique by which blog or website owners post a unique version of relevant content on their sites. It works by rewriting existing articles, or parts of articles, and replacing elements to provide a slightly different perspective on the topic.
Ok I guess I can live with that simple explanation. But the how what and why? Don’t think Wikipedia, nor any other page one results in the SERPs explains it in its entirety. So I have taken a stab at a first draft.
The most common misconception about duplicate content is the word “penalty” attached to it. There isn’t a “real” penalty for duplicate content, it’s simply an algo indicator of low quality content or repeated content that lowers the value of duplicate content in the SERPs.
Let’s put this to bed once and for all, folks: There’s no such thing as a “duplicate content penalty.” At least, not in the way most people mean when they say that. Google.
So it’s not really a penalty, but dice it which way you like, the effect is to kill your site in the SERPs… Yeah, there are intentional duplicate content pieces out there, such as Affiliate Content, or subdomains, or site wide / category wide descriptions / paragraphs. But the fact is google’s algo removes duplicate , or lowers the ranking value of, and shows either the more original piece of content or the piece from the most trusted domain / page.
This is where spinning comes in. It allows you to vary your site content to be different, yet say the same thing J. However, this isn’t as great as you would think…
Content spinning is a bit more technical than most assume. In simple terms, yes, it’s the replacement of certain predefined sets of words within a piece of written copy to variations that could in silo replace those words, such as synonyms. In technical terms, there are various arts to Article Spinning, for example defining spin syntax.
A Spin Syntax is basically a marker for where and how you want to replace certain parts of your piece of content.
So let’s say I want to spin:
Rishi Lakhani today is really cool.
A simple syntax would be:
Rishi Lakhani today is really {cool | awesome| radical}.
As you can see, we will end up with three variations of the same sentence, meaning roughly the same. This is called “Simple Flat Spinning”.
Extended Flat Spinning would actually pick up on more words:
Rishi Lakhani {today| now |presently} is really {cool | awesome| radical}.
Which now gives you a 3*3 = 9 variation spin. Flip one more word and the same sentence hits 27 variations.
Still with me? Head not hurting yet? Ok let’s look at the Nested Spin:
Rishi Lakhani today is really {insanely {cool | awesome| radical} | mentally}?
Notice the bolded additions. See the potential results:
- Rishi Lakhani today is really insanely cool.
- Rishi Lakhani today is really mentally awesome.
- Rishi Lakhani today is really mentally radical.
- Rishi Lakhani today is really insanely awesome.
These aren’t all the variables – can you work them ALL out? Now imagine an Extended Spin used in addition to Nested Spin Syntax, and you get the real power of article spinning.
So I decided to show you how some simple Online Article spinners work. Using a free spinner, I spun my original text below:
This is an example of how article spinning works. Isn’t it interesting how we can use logic to translate words mechanically? After all automation saves a lot of time, however I cannot guarantee that this will help you become successful in optimizing your websites. A human writer makes more sense, but sometimes an artificial one does the job quite well too. The trick is to find the right artificial content spinner. Now let’s see how this works.
This is an illustration of exactly how article rewriting functions. Isn’t this fascinating how we are able to use common sense in order to turn phrases robotically? In the end hands free operation will save considerable time, nevertheless We cannot ensure that can help you be successful within refining Your own websites. A human article writer will work better, however occasionally a man-made One can the job quite well too. The secret is to discover the best synthetic content spinner. Now let’s observe how this functions.
Not too shabby? You get the gist of what I am trying to say, however the choice of words isn’t perfect. See the potential variations of this one paragraph by observing how the syntax has been set up:
{This is an|This is an|It is really an} {example of|illustration of|instance of} {how|exactly how|just how} {article spinning|article rewriting|article re-writing} {works.|works.|functions.} Isn’t {it|this|that} {interesting|fascinating|intriguing} {how we|the way you|the way we} {can use|may use|are able to use} {logic|reasoning|common sense} {to|in order to|to be able to} {translate|convert|turn} {words|phrases|terms} {mechanically?|mechanically?|robotically?} {After all|After all|In the end} {automation|automatic|hands free operation} {saves|will save|will save you} {a lot of time,|a lot of time,|considerable time,} {however|nevertheless|nonetheless} {I|I|We} {cannot|can’t|can not} {guarantee|assure|ensure} {that this|this|that} {will help you|can help you|will allow you to} {become successful|achieve success|be successful} {in|within|inside} {optimizing|perfecting|refining} {your|Your|Your own} {websites.|websites.|web sites.} {A human|A human|An individual} {writer|author|article writer} {makes more sense,|makes more sense,|will work better,} {but|however|yet} {sometimes|occasionally|at times} {an artificial|a man-made|a synthetic} {one|One|1} {does|will|can} {the job|the task|the work} {quite well|very well|quite nicely} {too.|too.|as well.} {The trick|The trick|The secret} {is to find|is to locate|is to discover} {the right|the best|the proper} {artificial|synthetic|man-made} {content spinner.|content spinner.|article spinner.} {Now|Now|Right now} {let’s|let’s|permit’s} {see how|observe how|observe} {this|this particular|this kind of} {works.|works.|functions.}
Isn’t that just so cool? SEO Automation can be fun
Now traditional content spinning isn’t the only way spammers and blackhats have generated reams of “original” and “unique” content. Google kind of gave them a helping hand. Not convinced? Let’s take this way back, when the google Blog pointed out:
Though we do offer a handy translation utility, our algorithms won’t view the same article written in English and Spanish as duplicate content. Similarly, you shouldn’t worry about occasional snippets (quotes and otherwise) being flagged as duplicate content.
AHA! So let’s take my original content and give it a bit of a play with google translate
This is an example of how article spinning. Is not it interesting how to use logic to translate the words mechanically? After all, automation saves time, but I can confirm that this will help you be successful with optimizing your website. A human author makes more sense, but sometimes artificial and does work quite well. The trick is to find counterfeit goods Spinner. Now let’s see how this works.
Bit of garbage, but still, it’s unique
Human Spinning usually makes more sense, and is more reader friendly. I took my original paragraph and gave the following instructions: I would like you to rewrite the below paragraph to mean exactly what it says, but trying to replace as many words as possible. The result?
Using the thought process of a written piece to rewrite content into a new form is an example of article spinning. Creating unique versions of an already written piece is easily manipulated with software that can generate dozens and even hundreds of variations. For search engine optimization, this sometimes works to get more visitors to your website. Of course, it can also be done without the use of software, but it’s more time consuming, and there is no magic formula that will ensure that your website will thrive as a result of spinning, with or without the use of technology.
Total cost: $1.50
It’s interesting, the writer slightly modified the meaning of the content, and it still sounds to wordy, however I didn’t leave much room for creative adjustment, so it’s not a horrendous piece, but neither is it a work of Shakespear
So what do Blackhats and spammers use article spinning for? Just a few examples, but there are plenty more.
I recently shared how facebook is creating thousands of autogenerated pages using grayhat techniques, by simply using Wikipedia content in most cases. Not only are these pages duplicate content, but they rank well. This is partly because of Facebooks trust factor. However the average webmaster doesn’t have this authoritative trust to be able to rank content stolen straight from Wikipedia. However, a lot of long tail traffic is available by these pages ( even if Facebook got 1 visitor a month from its estimated 17 million page 1 rankings, then it gets 17 million visitors to its sites through dodgy SEO).
Now imagine recreating every single one of those ranking pages, spinning the content to make it “original” and then using Googles recommendations, slap ads around it…
This one is pretty obvious… rip off someone’s content completely and pass it off as your own! Better still publish 100’s of variations on different sites and profit…
Ever noticed your comment spam sometimes sounds like nonsense? That’s because comment spammers who are autogenerating comment links in volumes are using article spinners to vary their comment text too.
Another Link Spamming method is to create Parasite Blogs and auto fill the content of these for backlinks.
When you are faced with hundreds upon hundreds of similar product feeds, crafting custom meta descriptions can be a pain. Also, a simple find and replace doesn’t necessarily make your description unique. However if you work out decent logic to spin these, you should be able to autogenerate 100’s of variations that still make sense, and remain unique.
The same technique can be used for commonly distributed on page text. Often large ecommerce sites will have portions of text that is the same throughout the site, reducing the “uniqueness” of the page. Spinning this content distributes the risk. For example, WP Robot has a built in spinner to vary the text it steals from its various feeds such as amazon.
Ok, so you want to submit to 100’s of low quality directories to get links back to your site. You write one article and submit to 100 sites. What’s the result? Google counts one, and deems all the others as duplicate, thus reducing the value of these. Now imagine you spun the article to generate 100’s of variations? What happens? You have 100’s of unique articles, on 100s of sites, almost all of which Google will see as different (theoretically).
Which is better? 1 article, or 100’s of variations?
When submitting articles for link generation (don’t laugh, people still do it, and it still works to some extent!) You can use Anchor Text Spinning to vary your anchors. Why do this? Well google does recognize and substitute synonyms and related words. See my post on the Tilde Search Operator for more information.
There are many WordPress Content Spinners out there, however you may want to try the Free Article Spinner Plugin for WordPress by Zack Katz.
For my example above, I used http://www.extremewordspinner.com/ to generate the spun content. If you know how to split and add syntax, then you can also use http://www.freearticlespinner.org/ . these are both OK for simple jobs, however you won’t create the volume of content that you would with a commercial spinner.
The Best Article nd Content Spinner
After speaking to a bunch of people, the general consensus has been that from a commercial point of view, the Best Content Spinner is indeed the best content spinner that money can buy.