When it comes to SEO we always run into all kinds of problems, and columnist Ryan Shelle believes that duplicate content is one of the easiest problems to solve. In this article we'll walk you through why duplicate content is the easiest to fix and what you should do.
The term "duplicate content" terrifies many webmasters and SEOs. But the truth is, not all duplicate content is created equal.
Since content is a core element of good SEO, many people try to manipulate results by using the old "copy and paste" method. Google penalizes this approach, so it should make your heart dread.
However, don't panic if you accidentally create some duplicate content on your site. Below, we'll take a look at how Google handles duplicate material, and I'll share some tips to ensure your site's content is fresh and unique.
To better understand how Google handles duplicate content, you need to read their overview here. If you fear punishment, let me help you cite this abstract from the article above more easily.
"Unless the intent of the duplicate content is deceptive and to manipulate search engine results, duplicate content on a site is not a reason to take action against that site." - Google
Okay, so now you know Google isn't here to crack down You, but if you have duplicate content, you should take some time to clean it up. Duplicate content is generally divided into three categories: exact duplicates, approximate duplicates, and cross-domain duplicates.
• Exact Duplicate: Two URLs have the same content.
• Near Duplicates: There are minor differences between two content segments.
• Cross-Domain Duplication: Exact or email list near duplicate content exists across multiple domains.
Duplicate content can come from a variety of different factors. In some cases, site-licensed content is available for users to use elsewhere; poor site architecture flaws can also play a role. Plagiarism leads to duplicate content, and in my opinion the most common cause is a problem with the CMS.
While all of these can create problems, we must address each in a concrete way. Before discussing prompts, let's talk about the consequences of duplicating content.
Duplicate Content Consequences
If duplicate content is posted inadvertently, most of the time search engines filter it out and show what they think is the best version in the SERPs.
Sometimes, they filter out all fragments before indexing them. Users want variety in search results. So crawlers and engines are doing their best to make it happen. Here are some common consequences associated with duplicate content.
• Wasteful crawls: Search bots come to your site with a crawl budget. If you have a lot of duplicate content, you're wasting your bot's crawler budget, and your unique, high-quality pages have little chance of being crawled and indexed.
• Wasted link authority: Duplicate pages can gain PageRank authority and link authority, but it won't help because Google doesn't rank duplicate content. This means you're wasting your link authority from these pages.