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Unfortunately I don't do very mainstream stuff, which means that my content isn't very shareable. On top of that, I don't write provocative pieces, which means that they aren't commented on a lot. I know how to do those things and I did them for past employers, but I've chosen personally not to do so because I find them toxic. This also means that my readership, at least on my blog, is very low. Of course I could go back to my old ways - I did here with a lot of success: http://www.thefinediningblog.com/food-bloggers-post-negative-reviews-comped-meals-thoughts-strange-industry/ - but I don't like the vicious arguments that ensue on social media.

Can I take a look at your blog? Maybe I could pick up a few ideas!

And, once again, I haven't made any money from having a blog. I got, what, $15 from Google once? That's about it!

EGOL, thanks for your thoughts.

I'm a freelance writer. I've never made a penny with my blog and probably never will. It's a business card more than anything.

Try to get them to give you rel=canonical.  If they will do that then publishing on their site is building value for your business.  If they will not do that then it tells you something important about them.  They are 100% for themselves and are all about having other people carry them around in a sedan chair.

Yes, I agree with you fully that they want free content to carry their brand. That's the whole premise of their business and that's why they have so many problems with disgruntled employees. That being said, if you take a look at the link I shared, you can see that every paragraph or so links directly to one of my blog posts. What I shared on their website is more or less a recap of all of my own blog posts for this specific city.

On top of that, well, there's no better business card, as a writer, than a series of posts of the Huff Post linking towards my stuff!

Thanks again for your thoughts, I'll keep everything in mind, of course.

Hm. So that probably means that I don't have any sort of possibility towards modifying the rel=canonical on the HuffPost. Right? Can you think of any other way? I only have access to the body.

This means that I should simply ignore and keep going. Right?

And if I can get go4TravelBlog (or any other place where my content is published) to add a rel=canonical pointing towards my version of it, I'd be golden. Right?

Thanks again!

Thanks for this answer.

Of course I can't go play around in HuffPost's headers. What I can do, though, is change the body, which includes the code and the href's. Would a rel=canonical in the body still work? How would I go about implementing it?

I'm still trying to wrap my head around rel=canonical and its importance. Thanks to the community, I've been able to understand most of it. Still, I have a couple of very specific questions:

• I share certain blog posts on the Huffington Post. Here's an example: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/cedric-lizotte/munich-travel-guide_b_13438956.html - Of course I post these on my blog as well. Here: http://www.continentscondiments.com/things-munich-classics/ - Obviously the HuffPo has a huge DA, and I'll never match it. However the original post is mine, on my blog, and not on the HuffPo. They wont - obviously - add a rel=canonical just for me and for the sake of it, they have a million other things to do.

QUESTION: Should I add a rel=canonical to my own site pointing to the post on the HuffPost? What would be the advantage? Should I just leave this alone?

• I share blog posts on Go4TravelBlog too. Example: http://www.go4travelblog.com/dallmayr-restaurant-munich/ - but, once again, the original post is on one of my blogs. In this case, it's on another blog of mine: http://www.thefinediningblog.com/dallmayr-restaurant-in-munich/

QUESTION: Well it's pretty much the same! Should I beg Go4TravelBlog to add a rel=canonical pointing to mine? If they refuse, what do I do? Would it be better to add a rel=canonical from my site to theirs, or do I fight it out and have a rel=canonical pointing to my own post? Why?

Thanks a million for your help!

Thank you very much for your detailed answer.

One last question: do I need to put BOTH in the header and Click here in the body? Or am I confused again?

Thanks again

So here's the deal. I write for many different outlets. I also have many different pages on my blog that have duplicates (authorized, of course). On my blog, I have many different pages that redirect to "the original" content.

I've only recently discovered the existence of rel=canonical. However I don't understand how it works. I have very specific questions. Can anyone help?

• If, on my blog, I have a blog post that's the original. And another website has the same content, used with authorization. If I want to tell search engines that the original content is on MY blog, what can I do? Is the only solution to ask the owner of the other blog to add a rel=canonical in the header of the specific post?

• If, on my blog, I have a blog post that's NOT the original. Do I simply add rel=canonical to the header, then add a link to the original in the body?

• If, on my blog, I have THE FIRST 300 WORDS of a blog post, then add a link saying "to read the whole article, click here" with a link pointing to the original, do I need to have a rel=canonical tag somewhere? Does it HAVE to be in the header?

• Can rel=canonical be used in the

- What penalties are included with having duplicate content of my work everywhere on the web? I've been trying to find specifics, but can't.

Thanks for the help. I'm quite confused, as you can see.

I'm trying to figure out why my DA is so very low.

Is introducing an article (first 300 words) then linking to the original on another site considered duplication?

Here's the deal: I'm a freelance writer and a blogger. I link to the posts I sold from my blog to the website that posted it in the first place. In order to do so, I keep a few images and the first 300 words, which I post on my blog, then link ("In order to read the full article, click here") to the website that posted the whole article.

Here's an example: http://www.continentscondiments.com/where-to-eat-in-paris/

Will my domain (continentscondiments.com) be penalized for that behavior?

Unfortunately I don't do very mainstream stuff, which means that my content isn't very shareable. On top of that, I don't write provocative pieces, which means that they aren't commented on a lot. I know how to do those things and I did them for past employers, but I've chosen personally not to do so because I find them toxic. This also means that my readership, at least on my blog, is very low. Of course I could go back to my old ways - I did here with a lot of success: http://www.thefinediningblog.com/food-bloggers-post-negative-reviews-comped-meals-thoughts-strange-industry/ - but I don't like the vicious arguments that ensue on social media.

Can I take a look at your blog? Maybe I could pick up a few ideas!

And, once again, I haven't made any money from having a blog. I got, what, $15 from Google once? That's about it!