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5 min read
Opinion

Why it’s important to remove duplicate content.

Why do I need to remove duplicate content?

You should always strive for originality when creating content. But to put your best content-creating foot forward, you need to make sure your existing website pages aren’t setting you back. Duplicate content accumulates over time if you’re not carefully auditing and optimising your website regularly. The good news is that it’s easy to identify, remove and prevent in future [especially with our expert guidance].

In today’s blog post, we talk you through everything you need to know when it comes to identifying and avoiding duplicate content.

What is duplicate content?

There are two types of duplicate content:

  • Within-your-domain duplicate content occurs when duplicate content is created within your own domain
  • Outside-your-domain duplicate content occurs when two different websites have the same written content.

Content duplicated within your domain is usually a result of referencing too much similar text on another page or reusing the same links and URLs across multiple pages. Each page must have a clear purpose and contribute something unique to your website - does it tell a story, sell an unmissable service or point the visitor toward valuable information? Your meta, tags and URLs should reinforce this.

Why does my website have duplicate content?

Duplicate content can appear on your website for several reasons, including:

  • You’ve used syndicated content
  • You’ve created multiple URLs that all contain the same content
  • You’re experiencing issues with localisation, content management systems, minor content variations and archives
  • You’re using a faulty internal linking procedure.

How to find duplicate content 

Google’s index can identify any of your website page content that has been duplicated across the web. Simply copy and paste the selected text you want to check into Google’s search bar and view the results. 

You can also use a duplicate content checker such as siteliner.com for quick and easy identification of any duplicate content issues.  

How much duplicate content is acceptable?

There’s no set rule, but if two or more of your web pages duplicate each other, you lower the likelihood of one or the other being included in search results. This runs the risk of your content not being discovered on a relevant search [and we don’t want that].

Is duplicate content bad for SEO performance?

We won’t beat about the bush… Yes, duplicate content doesn’t do your website any favours. Websites with original content gain the best search engine optimisation results, so removing all unnecessary duplicate content and optimising your website is a key factor in improving your SEO performance.

How to remove duplicate content 

Keep your page tags original

  • Every page should have a unique title, meta description and meta keyword tag in the HTML code.

Use unique heading tags 

  • Your page headings should not only use relevant, topic-specific words related to the content, but they should also be different across every page.

Review your site map structure 

  • In cases where you have similar pages that are essential for your website, check that your site map includes links to your preferred page’s URL so search engines rank this page as the best version.

Minimise repeated text 

  • Slogans are great for marketing campaigns, but not so much for avoiding duplicate content. Consider placing your slogans and taglines on graphics instead of in the text on your pages, except for the one web page you’d like to rank for that specific content. 

Consolidate similar pages 

  • Once you’ve identified your various pages with similar content, decide which one you’d like to be the canonical page for that content, then combine the others and edit as needed.

What do I need to know about consolidating pages? 

Though it tidies up your content, by reducing the number of similar pages, consolidating your web pages also risks losing valuable content if you miss some key steps. When consolidating your content, you should avoid removing link equity and breaking links and bookmarks for repeat website visitors. Sound daunting? It doesn’t have to be. Just be sure to:

  1. Use a backlink checker to find out which other websites have inbound links to your page, and only keep the one with the highest number of relevant links
  2. Update your internal links on your site map so that none of your pages link to a page you’re removing
  3. Create a 301 direct to automatically reroute incoming links to the canonical URL from the page you’re removing. 

We’ve helped you to understand how duplicate content affects your website and search engine performance, but we’re also here to help you manage all of your website and content needs. We’re a revolutionary website development and hosting agency you can rely on to maintain and optimise your website.

With a team of [crafty] content creators and copywriters, you never need to worry about producing original, memorable content again. Our search specialists even optimise all website content to supercharge your search engine performance. Find out more about the many marketing services we provide to help you get the most out of your digital content.