What Is Duplicate Content? + How to Fix It for Better SEO

What Is Duplicate Content?

Duplicate contented is erstwhile identical oregon highly akin contented appears astatine much than 1 URL connected the internet, affecting the rankings of 1 oregon much of the pages.

This contented tin hap connected your ain website (internal duplicate content) oregon crossed antithetic websites (external duplicate content).

For a leafage to suffice arsenic a duplicate, it indispensable have:

• Noticeable overlap successful wording, structure, and format with different piece
• Little to nary archetypal information
• No added worth for the scholar compared to a akin page

How Does Duplicate Content Affect SEO?

Duplicate contented tin harm your hunt rankings—regardless of whether duplication occurs internally oregon externally.

With interior duplication, your ain pages cannibalize each other's ranking potential. And with outer duplication, there's a hazard that different site's transcript could fertile alternatively of your archetypal content.

You whitethorn besides brushwood further interior challenges:

• Diluted backlink power: Backlinks are links connected different sites pointing to your tract that walk ranking powerfulness to your pages. If you person identical pages that each get backlinks from antithetic websites, you're splitting your ranking powerfulness alternatively of concentrating it connected 1 main URL.
• Wasted crawl budget: Search engines person constricted clip and resources (called crawl budget) to research your site. When they crawl aggregate versions of the aforesaid content, that tin forestall important pages from being crawled and indexed—especially if your website is large.

Common Causes of Duplicate Content

It’s adjuvant to recognize what causes duplicate contented successful the archetypal place, truthful you tin instrumentality steps to forestall it.

Here are immoderate of the astir communal culprits:

1. URL parameters: Every clip your tract adds parameters to a URL (for tracking, sorting, oregon filtering), it creates aggregate URLs that person the aforesaid halfway content. For example, “domain.com/shoes” and “domain.com/shoes?size=9” volition amusement precise akin content. 
2. Domain sanction variations: Your contented mightiness beryllium accessible done aggregate versions of your domain, including HTTP vs. HTTPS versions of your site, with oregon without "www" successful beforehand of your domain name, and with oregon without a guardant slash astatine the extremity of URLs. So, a azygous leafage could beryllium astatine respective chiseled locations.
3. Scraped oregon syndicated content: If different websites republish your contented (with oregon without permission), it creates duplicate versions connected antithetic domains
4. Pagination: If you divided contented crossed aggregate pages (like successful an nonfiction bid oregon merchandise catalog), each leafage volition person a abstracted URL but precise akin content

How to Fix Duplicate Content Issues

Let's spot what you tin bash to forestall and hole duplicate contented issues. 

Implement 301 Redirects

One reliable mode to hole duplicate contented 1 your ain tract is by utilizing a 301 redirect to permanently determination 1 URL to another.

This method is champion for duplicates you don't request to keep, specified arsenic when:

• Moving each HTTP postulation to HTTPS
• Standardizing your domain format by choosing www oregon non-www
• Consolidating duplicate pages into a azygous page

Most hosting providers and contented transportation networks (CDNs) connection casual ways to acceptable up 301 redirects. 

If you're utilizing Apache servers, you tin instrumentality redirects successful your .htaccess file (a record for configuring definite website details). It’s conscionable a substance of penning a directive. 

For WordPress users, plugins similar Redirection and Yoast SEO tin grip redirects for you—just a fewer clicks and you’re done.

To adhd a redirect with Yoast SEO, conscionable instal the plugin, activate it, and past prime “Redirects” from the Yoast paper successful the near sidebar.

You tin past prime your redirect benignant and specify some the aged and caller URL.

Use Canonical Tags

A canonical tag is simply a snippet of HTML that specifies the main (canonical) URL for duplicate oregon highly akin contented to guarantee lone the main mentation is indexed and that hunt engines volition consolidate backlink powerfulness to that version.

Here’s what a canonical tag looks like:

<link rel="canonical" href="https://domains.com/shoes" />

The “href” property should constituent to the main mentation of the leafage you privation hunt engines to prioritize. 

When should you usage canonical tags? Here are a fewer scenarios:

• You person duplicate contented due to the fact that of parameterized versions of URLs
• Your contented is divided into aggregate pages (pagination)

For the archetypal case, duplicate versions should person a canonical tag pointing to the main version. And the main mentation should person a self-referencing canonical tag (one pointing to itself).

For pages successful a paginated series, each leafage should person a self-referencing canonical tag. This means each leafage points to itself, helping hunt engines recognize that each leafage is simply a unsocial portion of a bid alternatively than duplicates of a azygous page. 

To instrumentality canonical tags, simply adhd the tag to the <head> conception of the page’s HTML. 

If you usage WordPress, SEO plugins similar Yoast SEO and RankMath volition fto you acceptable a canonical tag done their settings.

Here’s however to bash it with Yoast:

Just unfastened the leafage you’d similar to acceptable the canonical tag for, navigate to its SEO settings, click “Advanced” to grow the menu, and past participate the canonical URL successful the designated field.

Use Noindex Tags

A noindex tag is an HTML directive that tells hunt engines not to see a peculiar leafage successful their index—meaning it won’t look successful hunt results. 

This attack is particularly utile for handling syndicated content—when your contented is published connected different websites (with your permission).

In cases similar this, inquire publishers to adhd a noindex tag to the syndicated versions to guarantee lone your archetypal contented appears successful hunt results.

Here's what a noindex tag looks like:

<meta name="robots" content="noindex" />

You tin inquire publishing partners to adhd this tag to the <head> conception of the syndicated pages.

They tin besides usage fashionable SEO plugins similar Yoast SEO oregon RankMath to adhd the noindex directive without touching immoderate code. (Note that this lone works for WordPress sites.)

Differentiate Content

Sometimes, the champion solution for duplicate contented connected your ain tract is simply to marque each leafage unique.

Here's however to differentiate akin content:

• Rewrite the contented with unsocial insights and perspectives
• Add applicable examples and actionable steps your readers tin follow
• Include archetypal research, adept quotes, oregon information to enactment your points
• Run your contented done SEO Writing Assistant to place immoderate substance you whitethorn person inadvertently copied, truthful you tin marque it original

Request Removal from Other Sites

Sometimes, websites whitethorn transcript and republish your contented without support (known arsenic contented scraping). 

While Google's algorithms are mostly bully astatine identifying and prioritizing the archetypal source, you whitethorn privation to instrumentality enactment if unauthorized copies of your contented look successful hunt results.

First, interaction the website proprietor straight and petition removal of your content. Many website owners volition comply to debar ineligible issues.

If nonstop interaction doesn't work, you tin taxable aDigital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown petition done Google's ineligible troubleshooter tool.

After submitting your complaint, it usually takes a fewer days for Google to process the petition and region the contented from hunt results.

Find Duplicate Content Issues On Your Site

Before you tin hole duplicate contented connected your site, you request to find wherever it exists.

Google Search Console (GSC) provides a escaped mode to place duplicate contented issues done its indexation reports. 

If you privation to bash a much thorough analysis, you'll privation to usage a dedicated auditing instrumentality similar Semrush’s Site Audit.

To get started, unfastened the tool, participate your domain sanction successful the hunt bar, and click “Start Audit.”

After configuring the basal audit settings, hold for the audit to complete.

Once it’s done, spell to the "Issues" tab and hunt for "duplicate.”

The instrumentality volition emblem pages that are astatine slightest 85% identical, on with duplicate rubric tags and meta descriptions.

Click done to find the affected pages. And past usage the due hole for the situation.