Comments on: Good Website Ideas – To Copy or Not to Copy?

By: cheap web designers

cheap web designers — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 08:23:06 +0000

I’m comfortable with HTML/CSS, Photoshop, and a tiny bit of Flash…is it necessary to know PHP and other coding languages in order to build a website? And while I’m at it, what is the difference between HTML and other languages?

By: privo shoes

privo shoes — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 13:25:11 +0000

Hi there,
As someone else mentioned, the word copying is too strong a term for what most people do. I know that I have seen a few sites that I like the look of, especially the themes. I wouldn’t say that I was copying when I choose to use the same theme or something similar.

As long as people are not blatantly taking the whole site and replicating it 100% then there shouldn’t be a problem.

By: DIY Car Hire Melbourne

DIY Car Hire Melbourne — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:35:15 +0000

I am finding now, is in the behind the scenes stuff and there’s no way to really copy that.

By: Kirsty

Kirsty — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:16:27 +0000

@alan Thanks, transparency is my thing!

@will Ya, the real work, I am finding now, is in the behind the scenes stuff and there’s no way to really copy that. You or someone you pay will ultimately have to do the legwork to make that new site you’ve just made do anything.

@diogo That’s funny because I would say the opposite. Text is something a person has created and I would never copy or even reword someone else’s text. As for keywords, I’ve never really thought about it. I think a set of keywords would come to me when I saw the site, I would do a bit of research and them choose them that way. If it was obvious which keywords the site was using though I would obviously type these into the keyword tool as well and check them out.

By: Court Reporters

Court Reporters — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:15:22 +0000

Yes, ignore it someone’s idea and content of website. It’s not good copy ideas for website.

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:00:56 +0000

Interesting post and helpful comments. Thanks for giving me some new food for thought. I probably shouldn’t share my new URL’s until they’re a little more developed.

By: Aluminum Case

Aluminum Case — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 18:40:48 +0000

There is no problem with copying someone else’s idea for a website. These days it is very rare to come up with an original idea for a website. Most good ideas have already been done over and over. So to establish yourself online, it is best to copy what someone else is doing, but do it better. Just be careful how much you copy them. You still want to present something unique that is not a blatant ripoff.

By: Diogo Slov

Diogo Slov — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:17:06 +0000

For me, copying the text isn’t even that much of a big deal because it’s right there in your face. Copying the affiliate program or the concept/idea isn’t, as well. But copying the keywords a person is going after… That’s like copying a car’s engine.

And as someone else said, you do well in not revealing you main niche/s.

Cheers, D.

By: Webjourneyman

Webjourneyman — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 01:25:41 +0000

Since you bring it up I´d like to mention that it costs a little over $100 to buy a list of your 80 plus domain names, you could make an ebook about your active domains and sell for same price or more, especially if you include thoughts on each, what you are earning etc.
I´m sure there are some who would buy it, including myself since paying that $100 has tempted me, but you know, ethics is a b—h and I´m a believer in Karma. You will notice if you go to the right online espionage site that such a list can not be bought for neither nomadicmatt, workingnomad or goldfishcare above here because they all have private registration.

By: Tiptopcat

Tiptopcat — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:41:09 +0000

As long as people are not blatantly taking the whole site and replicating it 100% then there shouldn’t be a problem.

By: Will

Will — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:03:12 +0000

Well….ethical….I dunno, I think that’s up to each person to decide for their self. But what I really think matters is that the original person to have the idea isn’t going to make any money on it if they don’t also do heaps of SEO and marketing work to ensure that traffic is driven to their site. In the end, the person who works hardest is going to be rewarded the most. That hard work can encompass all facets from coming up with the original idea, networking, SEO, aggressively dissuading others from copying their idea, backlinks etc. My first thought would be that someone who’s basic idea is to copy a site simply isn’t going to profit from that act alone so ethics really doesn’t enter into the equation.

By: Ask Goldfish Care

Ask Goldfish Care — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:54:24 +0000

to Copy is probably too stronger a word, unless it is the source, or the actual text. Getting ideas from around ourselves & making them better or worse is how we are where we are today. Take the bicycle was it copying when someone added a motor?

Like yourself I will not talk about a few of my websites simply because they are simple & could easily be done better, should someone come along and create a similar site that started to do better than mine “knock me off those top positions in Google” I would probably just go improve mine the web & many other things are better today because of people making an idea better.

By: Alan

Alan — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:20:55 +0000

Kirsty – one of the reasons I like this blog so much is that you tend to be more transparent than other similarly structured sites. It’s quite informative.

That being said, yes, you’re making the right move by not disclosing the actual URL. For so many reasons.

Keep up the good work over here!