Let’s be a bit frank about the number one objection I hear about Launch With Words: What about duplicate content?
“Duplicate content. There’s just something about it. We keep writing about it, and people keep asking about it. In particular, I still hear a lot of webmasters worrying about whether they may have a ‘duplicate content penalty.‘
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
From SEO Expert, Warren Laine-Naida’s blog:
How Many Different Brands of the Same Thing Do We Need?
My grocery store sells nine different brands of plain yogurt. Nine. How many types of plain yogurt do we need? One.
They sell fifteen different brands of ketchup, twelve different brands of mustard, and about twenty different brands of olive oil too. How many do we need? Honestly? How many would get the job done? Probably one of each.
Most people use Heinz ketchup. 150% more expensive than other brands – it’s still all ketchup though.
How many different colas are there? Aren’t they all just fizzy drinks?
There are more than 3,000 different brands of mustard in the world!
I don’t know how many olive oil brands there are but Spain alone has 93!!
50 different brands of sandwich bread, 85 different yogurt brands, 100 different types of beer … !!!
We live in a world of duplicate content, and we pay top dollar so it has a different label.
Bridget Talks About The Real Problem Service Businesses Have
Watch the Full Video
If you want the full walkthrough—including real-world examples, Google quotes, and why this fear keeps resurfacing—watch the video here:
Launch With Words vs the Duplicate Content Objection
Duplicate Content Is Not Your Problem (And Never Was)
If you’ve ever hesitated to publish content — or buy a Launch With Words pack — because someone warned you about a “duplicate content penalty,” this post is for you.
In my latest video, I break down why this objection keeps coming up—especially from web developers — and why it’s largely misplaced fear.
Here’s the short version:
Most small business websites don’t have enough content for duplicate content to even be a concern. Also, Launch With Words isn’t so wildly successful (yet) that duplicate content would be a factor. But thank you for thinking that.
Additionally, Launch With Words was never meant to be the only content on that website. That’s why it’s called Launch (as in launch the website) with Words (with blog posts).
The Real Problem Small Business Websites Have
The vast majority of local business sites:
- Have no blog at all.
- Have nothing new to share on social media.
- Give visitors no reason to trust, explore, or convert.
As a WordPress developer, this probably doesn’t surprise you. When was the last time you built and launched a website with blog posts?
Potential customers still check websites to validate their searches and referrals.
They get a referral. They scan a QR code on a business card. They Google the business name. And when they land on a site with no content, no updates, and no proof of expertise—it’s a dead end.
Service-based businesses have a long-standing reputation of being fly-by night. Consistently publishing articles, shows customers that they’re serious about their contracting business.
This is where Launch With Words comes in.
What Google Actually Says About Duplicate Content
This fear didn’t come from nowhere—it came from misunderstanding.
Google has been clear for years that “here is no such thing as a duplicate content penalty.”
What does matter is intent. If your client is a real business, they have nothing to fear.
Google only takes action when duplicate content is:
- Deceptive
- Manipulative
- Designed to game search rankings
In other words: spam.
Why Launch With Words Is Not a Duplicate Content Risk
Launch With Words content is:
- Not syndicated
- Not auto-published
- Not meant to be the only content on a site
Instead, it:
- Lives in drafts
- Is editable and localizable
- Gives business owners something to publish, share, and build on
Think of it as a content foundation, not a content ceiling.
It helps:
- Signal freshness and authority
- Inspire follow-up posts, videos, and case studies
- Support Google Business Profile posts and social sharing
The Hypocrisy of the Duplicate Content Argument
Let’s be honest for a second.
- Product descriptions are duplicated across retailers
- News outlets publish the same AP content
- Service businesses reuse the same core explanations
Nike doesn’t rewrite shoe descriptions for every store.
And yet—no penalty apocalypse.
The risk is not publishing content.
The risk is publishing nothing.
Why This Matters for Web Developers
Launch With Words isn’t just content—it’s a business lever.
It allows you to:
- Add content as part of maintenance plans
- Upsell localization and optimization
- Keep clients engaged beyond “site launched, goodbye”
It turns a one-time build into an ongoing relationship.
And yes—this content is written by humans (me + Warren Laine-Naida), includes strategic outbound links, real calls to action, and topics pulled directly from real search behavior.
Launch With Words Is Repositioned for 2026
I’ve updated the fee for multisite (just $200). There is an affiliate program. There are bundles.
If you have questions about Launch With Words, content strategy, or how to use this responsibly for clients, you can always reach me at hello@bridgetwillard.com.
Your Friend,
Bridget
Full Transcript
Bridget Willard (00:02):
Hey there, it’s your friend Bridget Willard here. I wanna talk a little bit about duplicate content. So it seems that a lot of people think about duplicate content from strictly, I’m gonna search this one thing on Google and maybe find some answers, right? So most websites aren’t even found in the first page results. So duplicate content is not your problem.
Bridget Willard (00:31):
Your problem is when you have a website, it has no blog at all. It has nothing for you, as the business owner, to share on Facebook, Pinterest, Reddit, LinkedIn, Twitter, X, et cetera.
Bridget Willard (00:52):
You people get referred to you, they get your business card, right? Get your business card, and they’re like, I wanna go look at this website. Or they, maybe there’s a QR code on the back. I, I collect all these web, all these business cards because I think it’s really fascinating.
Bridget Willard (01:14):
Now, these two were from a, a Fair Co. Cookies and Cupcakes. They have Facebook pages, Laura’s Cup, cup, Cakery Cupcakery has two as LinkedIn, I’m sorry, Facebook and Instagram. But there are no, there’s no website unless that’s what this QR code does. I have no idea the same, same with this, just a phone number. And that’s fine when you’re starting out.
Bridget Willard (01:47):
But you know, if I get, if I get a business card or if I see you, or if I see an ad for you, especially if you’re a home service, a handyman, I wanna go check you out. I wanna see what other work have they done. Do they have reviews on Google Business?
Bridget Willard (02:04):
So the idea of Launch With Words is that the developer will buy these packs or mini packs so that the website has some content on it that’s publishing. Either pre-published, back published, some published, forward publishing, but it is never meant to be the only content on that website. Instead, it’s meant to show the client that these blog posts are helping. They give them something to share on social media. There is something publishing, which is a, an authority signal to Google, and also it helps inspire them to write more content.
Bridget Willard (02:51):
If you use the Starter Pack along with one of the other packs, you’ll see there are 12 prompts, one for each month that asks the business owner questions. It also encourages them to make video, do case studies. And there are AI prompts that work very well with ChatGPT.
Bridget Willard (03:11):
So I think in 2026, not being afraid of AI, not being afraid of random penalties, none of these small businesses are ever going to have the volume that’s going to appear where duplicate content is their problem.
Bridget Willard (03:30):
Instead, what we’re, what I wanna share your, I’m gonna share the screen. Okay, here it is. Let’s, let’s share this. Duplicate content on a site. Here we go.
Bridget Willard (03:51):
“Duplicate content on a site has no grounds for action on that site unless it appears that the intent of the duplicate content is to be deceptive and manipulative to search results and to manipulate search results.” Google.
Bridget Willard (04:07):
So, in other words, spam. Okay? So this is from 20 2008.
Bridget Willard (04:15):
“There’s no such thing as a duplicate content penalty.” right? But it also says, “don’t create multiple pages, subdomains or domains with substantially duplicate content.”
Bridget Willard (04:25):
Now, this is something SEOs do all the time. You’ll look for a lawyer maybe in Corpus Christi, and you see these lawyers and it has a page just for Corpus Christi. And then their offices are where? Houston, San Antonio, Austin. They’re not in Corpus Christi. So these kinds of service pages where they randomly have this random page instead of just listing the cities that you serve, instead, you’re doing something that is really not working.
Bridget Willard (05:00):
It’s also about local. So what if I say roofer near me?
Bridget Willard (05:10):
Now I have some sponsors re sponsored results, I have more sponsored results, and now I’m getting to the maps. Bayfront Roofing, uh, we know them. They are on TV all the time. They’re in Walmart. Phillips Roofing, all this stuff.
Bridget Willard (05:29):
If you go to a a, you know, a website like this, you would expect to see blog posts that would help you decide about maybe what kind of materials to use, right? (That’s a lot of popups.) Now. They buried the blog.
Bridget Willard (05:58):
“What to consider before having a skylight installed.” Like these are actual, actual questions. So if the customer’s like, yeah, I saw Bayfront Roofing at Walmart and I talked to them, and now I’m kind of considering, ’cause really my hallway doesn’t have a lot of natural light, or my bathroom doesn’t have a lot of natural light. I know we get hail here. I know we have wind storms.
Bridget Willard (06:21):
Is that something that is important? You know, so December, 2025, they just added this. They’re gonna talk about it more natural light improvement in health, blah, blah, blah, blah. You get the point.
Bridget Willard (06:35):
So, if you have a website that has some of this content, you, the great thing with Launch With Words is you can edit it. It just gets imported into your draft folder. So you can localize it, you can change the call to action.
Bridget Willard (06:52):
It, it’s not syndicated content like every single newspaper has with the AP. Talk about duplicate content.
Bridget Willard (07:01):
How about product pages? Nike’s shoes have the same description. No, no matter where they are.
Bridget Willard (07:08):
The point of it is for you as a web developer to add in some profit to your service plan, not just website hosting, not just website maintenance, but content. Content that they can use to share on Facebook, to share on Google Business profile, and everywhere else.
Bridget Willard (07:31):
And you could offer a service to localize it for them. Another opportunity for you to upsell.
Bridget Willard (07:39):
Right now, we still have content for plumbers, roofers, commercial general contractors, residential general contractors. We have home health, um, care homes. Like if you have people living in your home for senior care, not dementia, but home care, residential care homes. We have one for the Chamber of Commerce. If you’re building those and we have a mini pack for mortgage brokers, that’s all been verified at in compliance.
Bridget Willard (08:14):
Now, why am I still talking about Launch With Words? Because I believe in this product. I believe in its ability to help you gain a better ground with your clients, that it’s not this one and done build the website. Keep the client for maintenance. Take control of the content. It’s not written by AI, it’s written by me. It’s written by Warren Lane-Naida. There are outbound links, there are calls to action. There are non-competitive outbound links strategically put there for SEO. The questions and the topics are top some of the top topics in a Google search. These are strategic, they’re not fluff.
Bridget Willard (09:00):
So I would love to have you go to LaunchWithWords.com. You can find it on my site in the footer. I’ve repositioned it. I’ve changed the multi-site pricing to only $200 as an add-on.
Bridget Willard (09:14):
This is a great idea. You know how to build websites, go pitch roofers, use my content pack. It comes with a free template that I built for Roofer Marketers that they use. They have now been acquired for the exact Mad Libs of home, about, and services. This is a great, great deal. If you have $500 and you’re willing to put some effort into building websites for local contractors.
Bridget Willard (09:43):
If you have any questions, reach out to me at hello@bridgetwillard.com.
Bridget Willard (09:47):
Thank you for listening. I believe in this product and I’m using it to build websites here too. So why aren’t you? Bye.
