In my opinion, the best way to avoid duplicate content penalties is to actually rewrite the content, replacing words and altering sentence structures.

There is a tool that will check the uniqueness of 2 articles, [dupecop.com...]

Simply copy/paste the original and new text into the appropriate box and click "compare"

Some say a difference of at least 40% is acceptable, while others feel 60% is best.

There are tons of freelance writers available that can do this for you as well.

Hope that helps :-)

You shud definitely rewrite the stuff. the basic concepts can be intact... just play around with adjectives, verbs and nouns. It is not that difficult. It is always better to stay away from trouble, as far as search engines are concerned. why to ruin ur chances even before you have stepped into the highly-lucrative web marketplace?

Very good information. A lot of content is required to rank or make money,correct? So it is difficult to write so much content overnight.
And freelancer will not do the job free! aslo I am not sure about their content will be up to the standard, or no duplication. So I have a question, if a content is translated into other language(s), would it be duplication, or will it bring traffic at all? What language is good ?
Thanks and regards,
Dr Altaf

As far as I know, websites can be completely translated into another language with no duplicate content penalties.

As far as the best language to choose - that would depend on your target audience. I'm a US shopper/user, so I would not visit a site that was not written in English. If your target audience includes Canadians, French may be a good option...if you're targeting a more global group of clients, Spanish, German, Italian, Arabic, Chinese...

I would keep an eye on visitor statistics and see what other countries my visitors were coming from and then decide on the best language.

These are just my thoughts from my personal findings though :-)

Very thoughtful Write_2_Plz.
Usually, visitors come to my site from US 48% and EU 55% , Asia 8%.
In EU no idea which country sends what % of traffic.
India is having over 1.3 bn pop. but no traffic, why? May be majority does not use PC. Chinese- % of use of PC is very high, but they use AliBaba site most.
You are correct. But when the rest of world will use online portal for shopping. Are they scared of security than US.
Is Canadian English different than US?
I would prefer to target Middle East, but so far not much traffic, though economies are at booming stage despite recession in other parts of the world.
Regards,

If the Middle East is your preferred audience, you may want to translate into Arabic or other languages spoken in the area you prefer. You could also seek out Middle Eastern based search engines and submit your site.

I'm not sure if internet access is filtered in some areas there or not, so that could affect your traffic.

Ontario, Canada has a high French population, otherwise I think that Canadian Enlish is more similar to that in the UK rather than American English. I'm not 100% positive though. All 3 types of English are very similar.

Another tip that may help gaining your target market's attention is to look at what it is visitors from those areas are searching for when they reach your site.

For example, if you market pet products and hope to sell to Asia - look at the keywords vistors from Asia used. If you notice several searches for cat collars, it may benefit you to create a special section on that product.

If you run an environmental site and see several searches in the area you're aiming for on "hybrid cars" - then do a write up on the latest developments in the hybrid market or something.

Statistics show that it takes the average user 10 visits to a website before they decide to make a purchase. Giving your reader a reason to come back is the key to actually making money.

I'm not much help with the languages. That's about all I can tell you! Hope it helps some!