My main paid work involves writing blog posts by rewriting original content, usually accident reports from different online newspapers.  It’s the same thing a newspaper does when they take copy from the Associated Press or other press syndicates and turn it into a story that matches their editorial style. If you blog with content from other sources you should know about newsmastering.

Newsmastering means rewriting a story to make it appear original to search engines. Or at least sufficiently different that it warrants ranking higher than a copied article. Google looks for repetition and dismisses same. Reposting without reworking ensures a lower ranking than is possible. The idea is not to write a better story but a to write a  story that appears sufficiently new.

Original Story

A motorcycle rider was sent to the hospital in Bossier City on Friday morning after a crash with a car.

It happened just after midnight near the intersection of Airline Drive and Texas Street.

Bossier Police say the crash left the rider of the motorcycle with a leg injury. He was taken to University Health and is expected to recover.

The driver of the car was not hurt.

No lanes of traffic were closed.

The Bossier City police are investigating and say tickets are pending.

Rewritten

A car versus motorcycle accident wound up sending the motorcyclist to Boosier City’s hospital early Friday morning.

The accident occurred at Airline Drive and Texas Street.

The motorcyclist suffered a leg injury and was transported to the WK Bossier Health Center. His recovery is expected.

The car driver suffered no injuries.

Traffic lanes remained open.

The accident remains under investigation by Bossier City police. They say tickets are pending.

The Results

Using Copyscape’s compare routine (external link) we can gauge our success. Click on the image for a fuller display.

While the rewritten article is not entirely original, it is a waste of time to try to make it so, it is significantly different according to the Copyscape algorithm. This does not guarantee that Google or the other search engines will agree, however, this new article is in much better shape to be ranked higher than it would be left alone.

Remember, you are at a disadvantage compared to news outlets, which are naturally ranked higher as a result of their news distributing mission. Your blog needs any help it can get. One last point. When your post is done, don’t forget to add your URL to Google. (internal link)