SEO proves a tricky business.
A lot of different factors go into it.
We aim to help!
Our blog series, “SEO Villains” explores some of the most common SEO mistakes and how to avoid them, like Mr. Invisible.
Many people believe that duplicate content serves as one of the biggest villains when it comes to search engine optimization.
But is duplicate content really a villain?
What is Duplicate Content?
Let’s put duplicate content on trial and explore whether or not you have cause for concern.
Duplicate content is defined as “substantively similar” content that appears on more than one page of a website.
This can happen for a variety of reasons, but the most common is when someone copies and pastes content from another source onto their own website.
The same goes for product descriptions or even something as simple as your company’s address and contact information.
Different URLs that lead to the same page of content can also produce duplicate content.
For example, if your website is accessible with or without the “WWW” in front of the URL, that means you have two URLs leading to the same content.
Where Does Duplicate Content Exist?
Duplicate content can also occur when there are multiple versions of the same page (for example, if there is a “printable” version of a page that is identical to the regular version).
It can also exist when there are multiple pages with very similar content.
For example, if you have a blog post that discusses the top ten ways to improve your SEO and you have another page on your site that lists the top five SEO tips, then you have duplicate content.
Does it Matter?
So, should you be worried about duplicate content? The short answer is: it depends.
If you have a lot of duplicate content on your website, it could potentially hurt your SEO efforts.
However, if you have a small amount of duplicate content, it is unlikely to have a significant impact.
In general, good content practice avoids duplicate content whenever possible. If you do have duplicates on your site, consider using canonical tags to tell search engines which version of the page is the “master” copy.
If you have a website/blog, it’s important to make sure that all of your content is original.
Authenticity in content goes a long way!
