One of the most hotly debated beliefs among SEO Specialists is that "producing content with duplicated material will get you severely punished by Google." In reality, however, if a website has duplicate content, Google will certainly not waste its time sending you a warning message saying, "Be careful, this website has duplicate content."
But that does not mean a website with duplicate content will go unpunished by Google. Within Google's system there is an algorithm that constantly checks the content on web pages, and if it finds duplicate content, Google's algorithm will choose only one piece of content to use for SEO ranking. Of course, in most cases Google's algorithm for selecting which content to rank is not all that accurate, which can become an awkward predicament for the true content owner, who is left in tears watching content they painstakingly wrote, wiping away tears a hundred times over, get pushed down in visibility by Google. For the many people who still wonder whether having duplicate content on a website really does cause SEO scores to drop, in this article Relevant Audience will take you through the answers to all your questions about Duplicate Content.
What Is Duplicate Content?
Duplicate Content, or duplicated material, refers to content, articles, or anything else that appears on more than two web pages (on different URLs). For example, some websites may copy content from another site and then make only minor modifications. Put simply, whether it is a case of "we copy theirs, or they copy ours," Google counts it all as Duplicate Content.
Check for Duplicate Content Regularly
We have to admit that even most experienced SEO professionals still slip up on small details—like not checking thoroughly for duplicate content—until these minor mistakes ultimately turn into a wildfire of a problem. Duplicate content is a frequently encountered issue, whether it stems from another website copying your content, modifying it, and posting it on their own site, or from you copying content from another website. After all, it is far easier and more convenient than spending time writing fresh, new content yourself, because a simple Copy + Paste makes everything instantly easier. But as explained earlier, Google's algorithm does not think so simply, and the result you get back may be reduced visibility—or worse, your website may be viewed by Google as spam.
The recommendation is to diligently check for duplicate content at all times, perhaps by using a tool that can help detect duplicate content on your website. In the past, there were very few tools available to help check for duplicate content, but now that technology has advanced rapidly, more new options have emerged—both free and premium (requiring additional payment). If you want to keep your SEO score from dropping due to Duplicate Content, you can find one to try out.
Fixing Duplicate Content Problems
Generally, E-Commerce websites have a system that helps fix Duplicate Content automatically. However, you should avoid fixing it this way, because the instability and effectiveness of this method are still not good enough. If possible, the easiest and best solution is "rewriting the content from scratch."
Fixing the problem can be quite complicated and requires a fairly high level of expertise. For websites with a large amount of duplicate content, there are many other technical solutions to the problem that we have already discussed in a previous article (click here), and it is best to seek out an SEO expert to address this issue directly.
SEO Consulting at Relevant Audience
Relevant Audience is a Digital Performance Marketing Agency whose main goal is to provide digital marketing services that help businesses reach the target audiences who are looking for their products or services at the right time, place, and device, through various online channels. Our services cover Search Marketing, Social Media Ads, Search Ads, and SEO (Search Engine Optimization), all the way to Influencer Marketing, and we are also part of the Google Partners program.
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