It’s an aggressively competitive digital world in which your business or organization is operating, so a robust web presence isn’t optional. You already know that search engine optimization plays a crucial role in establishing a solid digital footprint for your brand.
As the saying goes, content is king when it comes to SEO. However, did you know duplicate content can significantly harm your optimization efforts, whether on the same website or across different sites?
Why is having duplicate content an issue for SEO? The post below goes into the risks of duplicate content and how to avoid them. If you’d like more confidence in your campaigns, professional SEO services in New Jersey like Peppermonkey Media’s can also help you master SEO best practices and unique content creation.
What Is “Duplicate Content?”
Say you run a small company that sells bespoke hats or funky T-shirts. You want people to know about it, so you publish the same piece or near-identical content across your web pages (internal duplicate content) and on different websites or social media pages (external duplicate content).
If search engines do not see that repeated content as valuable or relevant, their algorithms drop your search rankings. If so, your content marketing plan won’t have nearly as much impact as if you’d created original content with unique selling points, even if you’ve put a lot of time into spreading this information around online.
Whether you end up with duplicate content intentionally or unintentionally, search engines frown upon the practice. If you want to maximize your SEO efforts, you have to do things differently.
How Duplicate Content Affects SEO
So, why is having duplicate content an issue for SEO? Posting the same content harms your optimization efforts because it dilutes the ranking potential—the unique content on your site is no longer unique!
If multiple pages have similar or identical content, how can the search engine choose the best source of information? It tries to pick out keywords, but if there are identical words across many search engine page results (what the industry calls keyword cannibalization), the search engine gets confused. Aside from a lower ranking, duplicating your content also attracts penalties, such as the risk of removal from the search results altogether.
Another complication is when different pages with similar content fight for backlinks, resulting in a backlink authority split. Having to crawl and index duplicate content also wastes the search engine’s crawl budget, resources that would otherwise go to your unique, valuable content.
Do you already have some duplicate or similar content on-site? One pro tip is to set the less-important page to “noindex” to prevent search engines from trying to rank it. Using canonical tags to inform Google which of the two pages it should prioritize in rankings also helps.
Best Practices To Avoid Duplicate Content From Diluting Your Site’s Rankings
Why is duplicate content an issue for SEO? Remember, it dilutes your SEO efforts.
If duplicate content is bringing your site down, you can maintain a solid SEO strategy as follows:
Invest in Original Content
When you create original, high-quality content, you won’t have to worry about duplicating anything. Exclusive content adds value that your target audience can appreciate and search engines will notice.
What sets you apart from others in your industry? Craft content that communicates your unique value proposition clearly.
Structure Matters
If duplicate content is becoming a problem, pay attention to your website’s structure. Canonical URLs can help prevent duplicate content issues by showing search engines a clear path to the preferred page. This is particularly crucial if you have similar content on different pages, such as on an e-commerce website.
Imagine having gained some traction in your marketing campaign only for Google to remove the page from the search results because of missing canonicals. That’s the risk if that same T-shirt or hat appears on multiple pages without canonicals.
Acknowledge Your Sources
Whenever you include content from other sources, always validate the information by backlinking to the original source.
Following these simple best practices will help ensure your website remains free of duplicate content and continues to perform well in search engine rankings.
Why Hire an SEO Expert?
Why is having duplicate content an issue for SEO? Since there isn’t one clear answer to this, hiring a seasoned SEO expert offers the following benefits:
Optimized Content Creation
SEO experts will know how to optimize content for those you want to reach and search engines alike. They’ll help you develop optimized content that hits the nail on the head.
Keyword Research
You can’t optimize your on-page SEO without effective keyword research. An SEO expert can navigate these tools for you.
Link Building
Link building positions your site as authoritative. An SEO expert saves you a lot of time and effort when you’re running backlink campaigns.
Website Audits
A practiced eye auditing your website ensures your site’s on-page and technical SEO remain up to par. An SEO expert checks the following:
- Everything works (your user experience is top-notch)
- It’s easy for search engines to find your stuff and to confirm you update it regularly (your content is relevant)
- There are no broken links (your site is valuable and should rank higher)
The Bottom Line
SEO best practices aim at more than just boosting your search engine rankings and avoiding Google penalties—you want to establish your website as a credible source of information. Creating original content gives your website visitors the best possible experience, and that’s what search engines want to facilitate.
Remember to exercise caution when creating website copy and page content. If you’re at a loss as to how to create original content in-house, consider hiring an expert to help you.
Your Website Can Stand Out With SEO Professionals | Peppermonkey Media
Why is having duplicate content an issue for SEO? Now that you know, you might feel more motivated to master SEO-driven marketing.
There are entire teams of dedicated experts specializing in this kind of SEO and content marketing service designed to get you to the top. Why not enlist Peppermonkey Media’s help? Call (888) 231-9764 or contact us online.
