Google’s Martin Splitt: Duplicate Content Doesn’t Impact Site Quality via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Google’s Search Central squad has released a caller video successful its “SEO Made Easy” series. In it, Search Advocate Martin Splitt addresses communal concerns astir duplicate contented and provides applicable solutions for website owners.

Key Takeaways

Despite concerns successful the SEO community, Google insists that duplicate contented doesn’t harm a site’s perceived quality.

Splitt states:

“Some radical deliberation it influences the perceived prime of a tract but it doesn’t. It does origin immoderate challenges for website owners though, due to the fact that it’s harder to way show of pages with duplicates.”

However, it tin make respective operational challenges that website owners should address:

• Difficulty successful tracking leafage show metrics
• Potential contention betwixt akin contented pieces
• Slower crawling speeds, particularly astatine scale

Splitt adds:

“It mightiness marque akin contented vie with each different and it tin origin pages to instrumentality longer to get crawled if this happens astatine a larger scale. So it’s not large and is thing you mightiness privation to cleanable up, but it isn’t thing that you should suffer slumber over.”

Three Solutions

1. Implement Canonical Tags

Splitt recommends utilizing canonical tags successful HTML oregon HTTP headers to bespeak preferred URLs for duplicate content.

While Google treats these arsenic suggestions alternatively than directives, they assistance usher the hunt engine’s indexing decisions.

Splitt clarifies:

“This tag is often utilized incorrectly by website owners truthful Google hunt can’t trust connected it and treats it arsenic a hint but mightiness take a antithetic URL anyway.”

2. Manage Internal Links and Redirects

When Google chooses antithetic canonical URLs than specified, website owners should:

• Review and update interior links to constituent to preferred canonical URLs
• Consider implementing 301 redirects for outer links
• Ensure redirects are appropriately configured to support tract performance

3. Consolidate Similar Content

The astir strategical attack involves combining akin pages to:

• Improve idiosyncratic experience
• Streamline Search Console reporting
• Reduce tract clutter

Splitt explains:

“If you find that you person aggregate precise akin pages, adjacent if Google doesn’t see them duplicates, effort to harvester them. It makes accusation easier to find for your users, volition marque reporting successful Google Search Console easier to enactment with, and volition trim clutter connected your site.”

Search Console Notices

Google Search Console whitethorn emblem pages with assorted duplicate contented notices:

• “Duplicate without user-selected canonical”
• “Alternate leafage with due canonical tag”
• “Duplicate Google chose antithetic canonical than user”

These notifications bespeak that Google has indexed the content, perchance nether antithetic URLs than initially intended.

International SEO Considerations

Splitt addresses duplicate contented successful planetary contexts, noting that akin contented crossed aggregate connection versions is acceptable and handled appropriately by Google’s systems.

He states:

“If you find that you person aggregate precise akin pages, adjacent if Google doesn’t see them duplicates, effort to harvester them. It makes accusation easier to find for your users, volition marque reporting successful Google Search Console easier to enactment with, and volition trim clutter connected your site.”

Why This Matters

This guidance represents Google’s existent stance connected duplicate contented and clarifies champion practices for contented enactment and URL operation optimization.

See the afloat video below:

Featured Image: AnnaKu/Shutterstock

SEJ STAFF Matt G. Southern Senior News Writer astatine Search Engine Journal

Matt G. Southern, Senior News Writer, has been with Search Engine Journal since 2013. With a bachelor’s grade successful communications, ...