Duplicate content
Duplicate content can be like having an invisible twin to one of your landing pages, causing confusion for search engines like Google. Here you can learn more about duplicate content - what it is, why it's problematic and most importantly: How to avoid it.
- Home " Dictionary "
- Last updated:
What is duplicated content?
Imagine you've finally cracked the code to the recipe for your favorite cake. You share the recipe with your friend and he decides to bake the cake for his birthday. You proudly tell the party that it's your recipe, but he also takes credit for it. Now the birthday party is scratching their heads and getting confused. Who came up with the recipe?
It's the same as duplicate content on the internet. It's when the same content is found on several different landing pages and websites.
The problem with duplicate content is that search engines like Google can have a hard time determining which version is the original or most valuable. If there are several identical recipes out there, the search engine may only show one version in their search results or even de-prioritize both.
To avoid this, it's best to create original content that stands out. Think about adding your own personal flavor to the recipe or giving it a unique twist.
How duplicate content can occur
To understand how duplicate content can occur, it's important to distinguish between internal and external causes - which are either consciously or unconsciously copied.
Internally duplicated content
Your website should only be accessible in one way:
If your website can be accessed both with and without "www" in the URL, duplicate content is likely to occur.
You have multiple versions of the same product page:
If you have multiple versions of the same product pages displayed under different categories, duplicate content can occur. It's important to ensure that your products have the same URL - regardless of which categories they belong to and how many.
You have sorting and filtering on your products:
If your users can sort and filter your products on the website, it can create new pages with different URLs but with the same content. That's why it's important to have your web developer add a canonical tag to all duplicate pages to help search engines like Google understand that the content is original.
You have a printer-friendly version of your page with its own URL:
You should make sure that the printer-friendly page is not intercepted and displayed by Google, as the printer-friendly page has the same content as your original page.
Externally duplicated content
Others have copied your content:
If others have gotten a little too much inspiration from your content - consciously or unconsciously, the content will be duplicated. Therefore, you should contact them and ask them to remove your content from their website.
You have copied someone else's content:
If you have accidentally copied content from others without permission, the content will also be duplicated. Therefore, it's best to avoid copying from others, but use it for inspiration and write your own unique content.
You have not rewritten the product description from your supplier:
If you have received a product description from your supplier but have not rewritten the text, the text will usually be registered as duplicate content.
If you find it overwhelming to check your content for duplicate content, consider getting an SEO agency to take care of it. That way, you can leave the work to others and ensure improved search engine optimization.
More concepts
Want to learn more digital marketing terms? Our digital dictionary is full of them - and we're constantly updating it.
