He gives some common sense ideas on how to cope when your Plagiarism check has found someone that has stolen your content.

In particular he mentions

• - how you should contact the person
• - keeping your correspondence with them well mannered
• - keeping cool when your blood is running hot

Free Web Based Plagiarism Check Tools

One free web based tool that you may want to use when checking for plagiarism is CopyScape.
This searches the web for content that is the same as yours so hopefully you can keep an eye out for anyone trying to steal your content.

Another free tool is Plagiarism Checker

These are also useful tools for you to use to make sure that the content that you’ve created is unique.

This is especially the case if you are using PLR material.Not so much as a plagiarism check but more to make sure that your content isn’t the same as thousands of other articles out there.

You don’t want your article buried deep in a huge list of similar articles in the search results.

Another way of doing a Plagiarism Check

Is to use Google Alerts as I mention in this previous post.

Related Articles…

• Five Essential WordPress Content Protection Plugins – If you are concerned about content theft, there are several plugins that are simply not optional, they are requirements. These plugins provide critical protection to your feed and, best of all, do so without any direct action from you…
• How Big A Problem Is Blog Plagiarism? – I have written about this in the past and used to have very strong views about it…
• Blog plagiarism ? Steal this blog! – Is wholesale blog-copying wrong? Obviously. Is Google making money from the AdSense ads that run on such sites?…

I had that happy occasion today as I stumbled across Sonia Simone’s article on using Sub Headings to split your content.

I’ve used this method for years

When writing reports and other such things that can be very dry to read so you need to keep the reader focused and interested.

Breaking it into small chunks really helps to give them little stepping stones across the wide river of your content.

From starting with doubts of should I read it, each stepping stone brings your reader across the river of doubt and gets them to the end of your post.

My technique is slightly different from Sonia’s

She writes the sub-headings first to create the article structure and then fills in-between.

I simply create the content and then tend to find that certain phrases stand out as stepping stones, which is exactly what I’ve done with this post.

Ironically this post isn’t the best example of the sub-heading technique, but you’ll see me using it in other posts in this blog.

Our techniques do agree though

On that sub headings also attempt to provide a running commentary across the article so that glancing thru it you could read a summary just by reading the headings alone.

This can be a double-edged sword in that may help draw the reader in or make them go away if they don’t gel with what they read.

Its always time to savour these moments where you’ve been using a technique before you read about it from a expert.

I’ve only just discovered and become a follower of Darren Rowse’s excellent Problogger blog and have just finished reading his
“Google Knol – A Wikipedia Killer or a Blog Killer?”

At first my heart sank as I thought…

Well here we go my Blogging career over before it really got started.

A swarm of fears buzzed thru my head like:

• - Google Knol would become the sole directory of information.
• - It would only be admissible to a select inner circle of accepted authors.
• - That if you weren’t in the In Crowd you were nowhere.
• - That my lowly blog would be pushed out of the ether.
   

It was Time to Pack Up and Go Home.

But then, after a while I thought…

“Hang On, Thinking about it…”

“Why didn’t Wikipedia kill off Blogging ages ago ?”

If Google Knol is going to kill off Wikipedia (maybe even killing off at least us lowly bloggers in the process), why weren’t blogs or blogging killed off by Wikipedia ages ago.

It was then that I realised that its because of what it is and how I use it and probably how you do too.

I use it more like a reference library.

There are real world examples to this.

If I want to know what a Digital Camera is, I will look it up in a reference book, which to me is the same as using Wikipedia.

If I want to know which are the best Digital Cameras out there, or how to use a Digital Camera or the best prices for a Digital Camera, then I will get a magazine which is the same to me as finding the info in blogs.

For example…

Only today I needed to know what Ideation meant (I know, strange, but true).

Here’s a snapshot of the results in Google…

Without thinking I went straight to the number one result from Wikipedia and got what I wanted.

Ideation – “the process of creating new ideas, normally for new products”

And that’s when it dawned on me, it was without thinking, I naturally chose Wikipedia.

But if I then wanted to find tips on how to go about Creating New Ideas then this time, again without thinking, I’d pretty much blank out and skip over any entries from Wikipedia, to get to the tips results.

And there’s a good chance that it would be Blogs providing the answers.

Here’s what I’m trying to say in a picture:

So that’s how I’ve naturally filtered out Wikipedia results when they’re not relevant to what I’m looking for and why as far as I’m concerned it hasn’t been the death of Blogs.

All well and good, but what’s that got to do with Google Knoll I hear you ask ?

Well…

It lead to me asking myself other questions like…

“So Is Google Knol really the same as Wikipedia ?”

Like many have said, Knol looks like it has more in common with Squidoo and HubPages than with Wikipedia.

1. Wikipedia has one entry about a topic which is moderated so that even though its open to all, its aim is to provide a single reference on a subject, that will tend to improve in time.
   In that sense Wikipedia is what is says on the box – a free encyclopaedia.
    
2. From what I’ve seen so far, Google Knol on the other hand, isn’t following that model.
   At face value it seems to be offering something similar, but the difference is that it could have loads of pages for one particular subject.
    
3. Wikipedia pages are built by open collaboration where anyone has the opportunity to edit, with editorial safeguards in place to prevent or at least try to prevent them being abused as it moves towards becoming a quality reference.
    
4. Knol pages on the other hand, will be owned and controlled by just a single or a group of authors that have offered themselves as being an authority on the topic.
   Although the intention is for each page in Knol to be an authority page, at the moment at least, the authority of the author is on a voluntary basis and I’ve already seen plenty of Knols where the Biography is empty, never mind verified.
    
5. Also, unlike Wikipedia, the pages in Knol can be closed to editing or collaboration with anyone else, though comments can be posted, even on a closed page.

So to me, from what I’ve seen so far…

I can’t see what the difference is between a Knol and a Blog Post.

“Is Knol Going to be a Wikipedia Killer ?”

I’ve no Crystal Ball…

But having looked at it, I still can’t get past this feeling that Knol is going to me more like an Article Directory or in a funny way similar to a Blog Carnival for each topic, though with some notable differences like author rather than centralised moderation.

(Sorry, couldn’t resist using Wikipedia for the Blog Carnival definition.)

I’m now beginning to think that worrying about Knol killing off Wikipedia is more like me worrying about Blogger.com killing off Wikipedia, I can’t see it happening.

So I’d have to say No to the question.

I think that Wikipedia will continue to be an authority, reference site, that hopefully will maintain our trust and will carry on in the true spirit of a Web 2.0 site.

However…

I’m more than happy to be put straight on that if I’ve missed the big picture here.

“Is Knol really just another Article Directory ?”

I don’t know if it will be just another, but to me is does seem to be more that way inclined.

“Is Google Knol going to kill my Blog ?”

From what I’ve seen so far, I’d have to say No.

But don’t quote me if you see me on Skid Row.

If anything, I see it as yet another opportunity to publish quality content.

Though you may not thank it for adding to your publishing burden.

However…

If you’re producing quality content and if Google get it right and it becomes established as a place to find that quality content, then it could actually help rather than hinder you.

Time will tell as they say…

But at least for now, I’ve laid my fears on whether its going to kill off my Blog or Wikipedia for that matter.

“What Next ?”

Well I still didn’t answer all my questions, particularly about how Google Knol is going to affect search results, but I think I’ll leave that for another post.

What were your first thoughts on Google Knol ?
How do you think it will affect Search Results ?
Are you going to be a Google Knoller ?

The new free XsitePro2 brochure did just that for me.

I can’t believe that its Free

They should be charging for it as a lesson on how sales brochures should be done.

Its a stunning piece of work, with vibrant photos and a style that even if you know the product, makes you want to enjoy it like a good book.

To me it highlighted that even the World’s Best Content, will not be read if its not sat in a quality medium.

When you’ve put all that effort into generating great content, then your blog or website needs to match its quality.

The trouble is, Creating Quality Websites is Not Easy

We usually need all the help we can get and XSitePro 2 wants to help you, by making it as easy as possible to create stunning websites.

We’re usually tempted by all those free website templates out there and usually pretty disappointed when we get to them.

At the end of the day, your blog or website is your store front and even if you’re the world’s authority on a subject, all your hard work generating that excellent content, will be wasted if most people just walk on by because you’re store front looks like its made out of bits of string and cardboard.

We’re all told not to “Judge a Book by its Cover”

But we all know “First Impressions Count”.

So if you want your visitors to want to come in and browse your site and read all that great content that you’ve probably sweated over for hours if not days, then you’ll need to invest surprisingly little these days, to get your hands on one of the world’s best design tool’s.

Sit down and take a read of this delectable and surprisingly free XSitePro 2 Brochure and let it inspire you into producing equally stunning websites for your content.

And this Book’s Got a Happy Ending

Which I won’t spoil by giving it away.

Just in case this free XsitePro 2 Brochure doesn’t make you dream of crowd pulling sites for your content, then take a look at their

“Reasons Why XSitePro 2 Hits the Mark“

on the features page of their XSitePro 2 Demo Video page.

What do you think about their new brochure ?
What are your thoughts on using XSitePro 2 ?
What’s your favourite Web Design Software ?