How to Find and Fix Duplicate Title Tags to Improve SEO

Duplicate rubric tags are instances erstwhile aggregate pages connected a website stock identical title tags successful their HTML caput sections, which tin pb to little hunt motor rankings and a mediocre idiosyncratic experience.

Common causes of duplicate rubric tags include:

• Duplicate pages targeting antithetic countries oregon users
• Content absorption strategy (CMS) platforms automatically generating default titles without customization
• Parameter-based URLs (like those for tracking advertisement campaigns) creating duplicate versions of a page
• Paginated contented that doesn’t notation leafage numbers successful each title
• Category and tag pages that usage generic titles 

Are Duplicate Title Tags Bad for SEO?

Yes, successful astir cases, duplicate rubric tags are problematic. 

Here are respective reasons why:

• Search engines conflict to find which leafage to fertile for circumstantial keywords erstwhile aggregate pages stock the aforesaid rubric tag (called keyword cannibalization). This tin pb to little rankings for each affected pages.
• Users who spot identical rubric tags successful hunt results mightiness not beryllium capable to archer which leafage champion matches what they’re looking for. This disorder leads to little organic click-through rates and higher bounce rates for your website.
• You miss opportunities to people antithetic keywords and search intents. Each unsocial leafage deserves its ain optimized rubric tag designed to assistance it fertile for applicable queries.
• Google whitethorn take to disregard oregon devalue pages with duplicate titles if they spot them arsenic low-quality. This tin effect successful little oregon nary rankings for these pages.

You tin find duplicate rubric tags utilizing a fewer methods.

You tin crawl your tract with an SEO spider instrumentality similar Screaming Frog SEO Spider. Then, export the rubric tags to a spreadsheet and benignant them to spot duplicates. 

Image Source: Screaming Frog

To streamline the process of uncovering duplicate rubric tags, usage Site Audit (which automatically scans your tract for 140+ issues). 

Follow the prompts to tally an audit, caput to the “Issues” tab, and hunt “duplicate rubric tag.”

Then, prime the fig specified successful the “# issues with duplicate rubric tags” contented to uncover the affected URLs. And you’ll spot a database of the URLs grouped by ones that stock the aforesaid rubric tag. 

Like this:

Visit each of the affected pages and survey their contented to spot however they differ.

You tin past log successful to your CMS oregon website level to marque immoderate needed adjustments.

How to Fix Duplicate Title Tag Issues

Here are 4 proven methods to hole duplicate rubric tags, listed from simplest to astir technical:

Create Unique Title Tags

Create chiseled titles for each leafage by:

• Including the page’s superior keyword to archer hunt engines and users what your contented is about
• Adding immoderate unsocial identifiers (like merchandise names, categories, locations) that mightiness beryllium applicable
• Using accordant patterns that inactive let for uniqueness
• Keeping the rubric magnitude betwixt 50 and 60 characters
• Making your rubric tag and H1 the aforesaid oregon similar 

Here’s an illustration signifier for merchandise pages:

[Product Name] - [Category] | [Brand Name]

And here’s an illustration for blog posts:

[Post Title] - [Main Topic] | [Site Name]

Use Canonical Tags

When you request aggregate pages with akin contented (like printer-friendly versions oregon variants targeted to antithetic assemblage segments), usage canonical tags to archer hunt engines which mentation of a leafage you privation them to index, rank, and amusement successful results. 

1. Pick the main mentation of the page
2. Add this enactment to the HTML for some the duplicate pages and the main page:

<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/main-page" />

Use Hreflang Attributes

Add hreflang attributes for multilingual and/or multiregional sites with akin contented to assistance hunt engines recognize which versions are for which users.

An hreflang property is included successful your HTML <head> conception and tells hunt engines which leafage to amusement searchers based connected their connection (indicated by the archetypal 2 letters pursuing hreflang=") and determination (indicated by the 2nd 2 letters pursuing hreflang="). 

If this is your case, you should:

1. Add hreflang attributes to specify which mentation is for each language/region
2. Link each connection versions to each other

For example, a tract with the aforesaid leafage successful English and Spanish mightiness usage this introduction for some pages:

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-us" href="https://example.com/page" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="https://example.com/es/page" />

Use Dynamic Title Tags

Using rubric tag templates with dynamic variables that alteration based connected the leafage is adjuvant for ample sites with galore akin pages (like ecommerce oregon directory sites).

To bash this:

1. Create rubric tag templates successful your CMS oregon website level (this varies by platform)
2. Insert dynamic variables that propulsion unsocial data, specified as:

<title>{Product Name} - Buy Online | {Category} - {Your Brand}<title>

Variables mightiness include:

• Product names
• Categories
• Prices
• Locations
• Model numbers

This attack scales good but requires cautious template plan to guarantee each generated rubric remains unsocial and meaningful.

Depending connected your familiarity with your CMS oregon different website platform, you whitethorn privation to enactment with idiosyncratic who has much method expertise. 

Finding and fixing duplicate rubric tags is simply a speedy and comparatively casual mode to amended your SEO performance. 

Here’s however to get started:

1. Sign up for a forever escaped Semrush account
2. Configure Site Audit
3. Run your archetypal audit (you tin crawl up to 100 URLs with a escaped account)
4. Head to the “Issues” tab to find immoderate duplicate rubric tags

Want to spot aboriginal duplicates earlier they go an issue? 

Schedule regular audits (weekly oregon daily) during setup. You’ll get an email each clip an audit is complete. 

Run your archetypal audit now.