Hi I am in the process of writing content for a websie for the purpose of affiliate marketing. Can I ensure my content is not copied? Thanks
You can use Copyscape to check your website, but Google isn't keen on showing duplicate content in their SERPs anyway - it's not good for users. So as long as your content is indexed first, you shouldn't have an issue with people stealing your content - it will be pointless for anyone else to do so.
Simple answer: no. Unfortunately, copy protection is very much an after-the-fact affair, where you get copies removed rather than preventing them in the first place. The simplest way to do this is to set up Google Alerts to spot copies of pertinent parts of your work. If you get an alert of a copy, you contact the site owner or their ISP and get it taken down.
Apart from Copyscape (- the Premium version preferably) and Google Alerts, there are some other ways mentioned here - https://blog.kissmetrics.com/find-remove-stolen-content/. I don't think though there's any foolproof method to ensure that people will not copy your content. Some cases of plagiarism are NOT detected by Copyscape Premium and even if you use a search engine to check whether your content has been copied, you'll come to know about it only if that particular page or website has been listed. Again, some people are so amazingly deft at SEO and gaming the algos and bots/spiders/crawlers, that they can get their copied content indexed in Google before you. Not trying to scare you at all, but I think the only solution is being constantly vigilant and always keeping yourself updated about how you can track content thieves. DON'T rely completely on a single method; employ everything you can.
Crimebuster_of_the_Sea is pretty much on the money. I'd also make sure to submit the link (via Google Webmast Tools) as soon as you make it public to make sure it gets indexed first. Then catch places it is copied and go with the DMCA take downs of needed.
They're right - there is no real way to prevent someone from copying and pasting. Even if all of your content was pasted into images and the images used instead of plain text - a really unscrupulous person could just hand type it. Not to mention that would kill your indexing. The truth is this: focus on doing what you have to to create success. Don't worry about the very small percentage of idiots who would copy you. Anyone who copies instead of creating is doomed to fail, or at best receive mediocre results. Things have a way of working out that way. Just go forward positively and do your best and let the other stuff sort itself out. You'll have more success and more peace of mind on top of it too.
The above comments are all on target and correct. However, I wanted to mention that I once went to a website that had somehow locked its source code from being viewed through the browser as every other website allows. And, yesterday, I went to a website where I wanted to cut and paste some text for notes for myself and it would not allow this to happen. I may have run into that situation once or twice before. Anyway, it seemed to me that the owners of these sites were trying to protect their IP and it might be an interesting strategy though I do wonder if it will also limit the search engine bots. Or, if it has any value at all against the scraping that goes on all day long on the Web.
One thousand time, while you are writing content, your question is not about quality of it or else, but how to protect the COPYRIGHT. This has been discussed exhaustively and is even part of a sticky post is this section but, *cough*, *cough*, COPYRIGHT and COPYWRITING aren't the same thing. Copyright is often discussed here, https://forums.digitalpoint.com/forums/legal-issues.44/
The reason that I brought up potential other methods of protection in my above post is because copyrighting content for legal protection is only as good as the depth of your wallet to pay lawyers to enforce such legal protection. And, because copyright laws and enforcement vary by country, it can become a quagmire and hopeless pit of despair if you base your business decisions on such protection efforts. Is it worth adding a copyright claim at the bottom of all unique content you post? Yes, because it is fast and easy to do. Will it protect your IP? Probably not at all, unless you are prepared to spend an unlimited amount of money legally prosecuting violators around the world. Good luck with that.