In this article, we will learn what duplicate content is and what effect it has on on-site SEO.
Duplicate content is content whose exact copy can be found elsewhere. However, the term duplicate content can also refer to almost identical content. (such as changing a product, brand name, or just a location name) Just changing a few words will not save a page from being considered duplicate content. In response to this, your organic search performance may experience a negative impact.
Duplicate content is also content that is the same across multiple pages of your website or two or more separate websites. However, there are several ways to prevent or minimize the impact of duplicate content that can be created by technical fixes. In this article, we’ll take a deeper look at the reasons for creating duplicate content, how to avoid it, and how to make sure that your competitors can’t copy your content and claim that they did. are the main creators of this content. Keep in mind that SEO and sales are only one of the channels of digital marketing. To learn about all the channels in this field, read the digital marketing article.
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The impact of duplicate content on SEO
Pages that are made with duplicate content may face multiple hits from Google search results and eventually even be penalized. The most common duplicate content problems include:
Showing the wrong version of the page on the Google search results page
Unexpectedly poor performance of keywords on the search results page or experiencing various problems with indexing
Fluctuation or decrease in the main site metrics (traffic, position on the search results page, or EAT Criteria)
Other unexpected activities by search engines as a result of confusing prioritization signals
Although no one is sure which content elements are and are not prioritized by Google, Google has always advised webmasters and content creators to “build pages for users, not search engines.”
With this in mind, the starting point for any webmaster or SEO should be creating unique content that provides value to users. Although this is not always easy or even possible. Factors such as content formatting, searchability, UTM tags, information sharing, or unified content can be associated with the risk of duplication. Ensuring that your site is not at risk of duplicate content involves a combination of clear architecture, continuous monitoring, and technical understanding to combat the creation of duplicate content as much as possible.
Ways to prevent duplicate content
There are many different methods and strategies to prevent duplicate content on your site and to prevent other sites from profiting from copying your content:
- Taxonomy
- Canonical tags
- Meta tagging
- Manage parameters
- Duplicate URLs
- Redirects
Taxonomy
As a starting point, it’s wise to have an overview of your website’s taxonomy. It doesn’t matter if you have a new, current, or modified document, mapping pages from a crawl and putting a unique H1 and main keyword is a great start. Organizing your content into thematic categories can help you develop a smart strategy that limits duplication.
Canonical tags
Probably the most important element in fighting duplicate content on your site or different sites are canonical tags. The rel=canonical element is a snippet of HTML code that tells Google that the intended publisher owns this piece of content, even though the content can be found elsewhere. These tags tell Google which version of the page is the original version.
Canonical tags can be used for print and web versions of content, desktop and mobile versions of web pages, or target pages for multiple locations. These tags can be used for all situations where there is a duplicate page and it is separate from the original version of the page. There are two canonical tag models, those that point to a page and those that point out of a page. Those that point to another page tell search engines that another version of the page is the original version.
Another is those that identify themselves as original, also known as self-referential canonical tags. Referential canonicals are a critical part of identifying and eliminating duplicate content, and self-referential canonicals are good practice for this.
Meta Tagging
Another useful technical item to consider when analyzing the risk of duplicate content on your site is the metabots and signals you are currently sending from your pages to search engines. Meta Robot tags are useful when you want to exclude a certain page or several pages from being indexed by Google and you prefer that they do not appear on the search results page.
By adding the meta robot tag “no index” to the HTML code of your page, you are telling Google that you do not want this page to be shown on the search results page. This is the preferred method over robots.txt blocking, as it allows individual blocking of a specific file or page, while robots.txt usually works on a larger scale. Although this instruction can be given for several reasons, Google realizes that this is intentional and should exclude duplicate pages from the search results page.
Parameter Handling
URL parameters indicate how the site can be effectively and efficiently crawled by search engine crawlers. Parameters usually create duplicate content because their use creates duplicate pages. For example, if there are several different product pages of the same product, this will be considered duplicate content by Google.
However, parameter management creates more useful and practical reviews of the site. This is a proven benefit for search engines and their goal is to avoid creating duplicate content. Especially for larger sites and sites that use integrated search capabilities, implementing parameter management through Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools is very important.
By showing the parametrized pages in the desired tool and signaling to Google, it is possible to tell the search engine that these pages should not be checked and if necessary, another action should be taken in this regard.
Duplicate URLs
Multiple URL structural elements can cause duplication problems on a website. Many of them happen because of the way search engines understand URLs. A different URL will always mean a different page if there is no other guide or instruction.
This lack of transparency or wrong signaling can unintentionally cause fluctuation or decrease in the site’s main metrics (traffic, rank, or E-A-T criteria). As we mentioned above, URL parameters created for search performance, tracking codes, and other external elements can cause multiple versions of a page to be created. The most common ways to create duplicate versions of URLs that can happen include HTTP and HTTPS versions of pages, versions of www. and non-www. And there are pages with slashes that come and don’t come after them.
In the case of versions with www. and those that www. do not have and also the links that have a slash at the end and do not, you should find the version that is used the most and implement the same version for all pages to avoid the risk of duplicate content. Be. Additionally, redirects should be implemented in a way that directs to the version of the page that needs to be indexed, eliminating the risk of duplicate content. On the other hand, HTTP links have security issues while the HTTPS version of the page uses SSL encryption, which makes the page more secure.
Redirects
Redirects are very useful for eliminating duplicate content. Pages copied from each other can be redirected back to the original page. Where pages of your site with a high volume of traffic or link value are copied from another page, redirects can be the option you want to solve this problem. When you use redirects to remove duplicate content, you should remember two important points; Always redirect to a page that performs better than others to limit the impact on your site’s performance, and also use 301 redirects if possible.
What to do if our content is copied against our will?
What if your content is copied and you haven’t used a canonical tag to indicate that your content is original?
See the search console to identify how your site is indexed normally.
If possible, contact the site owner who copied your content and ask him to mention your name or else delete the content.
Use self-referencing canonical tags on all new content to ensure your content is recognized as the source of information.
Avoiding duplicate content starts to focus on creating unique content for your site; However, the activities required to avoid the risk of others copying your content can be a bit more complicated. The safest way to avoid duplicate content is to think about site structure and focus on users and their journey through the site. When duplicate content occurs due to technical factors, the tactics presented in this article should be able to minimize the risk to your site.
When you consider the risk of duplicate content, it’s important to send the right signals to Google to mark your content as a source. This is especially true when your content has been syndicated or you find it has already been copied by other sources. Depending on how the copying occurred, you may need to implement one or more tactics to establish the content as the source and identify other copies as copied.
By participating in the digital marketing course, in addition to learning about SEO and how this channel works to increase organic traffic, you will also gain skills in other areas of online marketing, and through these skills, your sales will increase.