Why is Having Duplicate Content an Issue for SEO?

Why is having duplicate content an issue for SEO? We hear this question all the time, particularly from clients who paid for original, optimized content from another agency, only to find out that it's copied and pasted across several other websites, word-for-word.

Worried an agency you work(ed) with may have published the same content on other websites? Contact us and we'll check your content against other content on the internet for free.

You can also directly message me on LinkedIn if you have any questions.

Matt Cutts, the former head honcho at Google's spam team, said that “25 or 30% of all content on the web is duplicate content.” However, this usually isn't a problem when webmasters implement canonical tags, redirects, and other methods that organize their websites and manage duplicate content found on the same domain.

But what does it mean when you have duplicate content that's found elsewhere on the internet?

In this post, I explain what duplicate content is and why we never copy and paste content on multiple client websites. If you need original, engaging, optimized, compliant content for your website, feel free to visit us at NoStringsContent.com. You can also directly message me on LinkedIn if you have any questions.

What is Duplicate Content?

Most of the time, when an SEO is referring to duplicate content, they're talking about duplicate content on-site. This tends to happen by mistake when a page is duplicated or a blog post is reposted. It's a pretty easy fix and is usually a matter of redirecting the page or post to the original page or post.

However, duplicate content also includes duplicate content found on different domains. Most of the time, duplicate content on different domains falls into at least one of the following categories, and it can definitely hurt your website from an SEO standpoint:

• Product Descriptions - This usually happens on e-commerce websites reusing product descriptions from the manufacturer.
• Templates - Website content templates are a great way to get started with a new site. However, in some cases, website owners forget to replace the placeholder content.
• Plagiarism - Some people don't know any better and take competitor content outright. In other cases, webmasters might be purchasing content from providers and unknowingly publishing content that's already been published on other websites.
• Content Repurposing - Website owners who have multiple domains may publish the same content to multiple sites they own.
• Legal Notices - Site disclaimers or legal notices are sometimes used across several domains.

Is Duplicate Content On Different Domains Problematic?

Yes, duplicate content on different domains can cause issues. One of the main problems here is that the duplicate content is competing for the same keywords. This makes it more difficult for users to find your website as the original content competes with the duplicate content to rank for the same keywords.

Google has also gotten pretty good at recognizing duplicate content, meaning it's likely to rank duplicate content lower or filter it out of the search results entirely. The original content gets prioritized positively and the duplicate content doesn't get high rankings in most cases, and rightfully so.

According to Google's Search Console guide, "In the rare cases in which Google perceives that duplicate content may be shown with intent to manipulate our rankings and deceive our users, we’ll also make appropriate adjustments in the indexing and ranking of the sites involved."

Another significant problem is copyright infringement. If you're the owner of all the duplicate content found across several domains, you're not at risk. However, if you're publishing duplicate content across multiple domains you own, you might be viewed as an easy target for someone looking to steal content.

If you're using content that's displayed on other sites, you're also not likely giving users new or useful information. If the content is available elsewhere, the original content is more likely to rank above you. This can also cause issues if you're ranking the same content for the same keywords, resulting in your content appearing side-by-side with the original content.

Known plagiarists can also get blacklisted by Google. While the search engine doesn't blacklist websites for incidental duplicate content, it does remove some sites and may even remove the plagiarist from Google services entirely.

If you believe your content has been stolen, you can file an infringement notice with Google. This is the first course of action we recommend taking against plagiarists to protect your property.

Duplicate Content Examples

Above we see some prime examples of duplicate content. Each of these articles are word-for-word the same content, and 3 out of 4 are using the same featured image.

While these website owners may think they're publishing content that's beneficial, this content does little to provide value to their target audience and nothing for SEO. I've reached out to these site owners to inform them of this as it's likely they don't know their content provider is reusing content across multiple websites.

How to Fix Duplicate Content

Revise & Enrich

To mitigate content duplication issues across multiple domains, start by revising the existing material. Enhancing your content reduces the similarities while increasing the value of your pages.

Consider the intended purpose of each page. How can the content more effectively meet these expectations?

Optimize your use of keywords to boost organic search traffic and clarify the page's aim. By doing so, you can lessen the impact of duplicate content while enhancing the user's experience.

Considered Syndication

If you're distributing blog posts or articles across various platforms, it's crucial to proceed with caution. As per Google Search Console, Google selects the version it deems most suitable for users in search results, which might not always align with the content you're creating.

To establish the legitimacy of your content, include a link back to the original piece on your site when syndicating. It's also worth using canonical tags on your primary content because this signals to search engines which version is the original.

Vigilant Outsourcing

Producing entirely original content consistently can be challenging, particularly when outsourcing. It's vital to ensure the uniqueness of the content received from external writers.

Employing tools to check for duplicate content can help verify that the material is original. If substantial portions of content are found to be copied, it may indicate that the external writer has either reused content or plagiarized it from other sources.

Emphasize Distinctiveness

If you manage multiple websites within the same network, issues of duplicate content can arise, particularly with similar business descriptions or location details. To combat this, focus on the unique aspects of each site.

Highlight distinctive features such as local landmarks or specific services offered by one location over another. This approach not only helps in distinguishing your sites from each other but also provides a richer experience for the visitor.

Is Duplicate Content a Penalty for SEO?

This is a question we get asked a lot. Simply put, there aren't any 'penalties' for duplicate content. Not outright, anyway.

However, this isn't to say that duplicate content won't damage your site's SEO. Having duplicate content on-site is a big no-no, especially if it's stolen from other sites. But as discussed above, duplicate content can result in some serious red flags, trustability issues in the SERPs, the same content competing for the same keywords, and other issues.

So, Does Google Still Punish Duplicate Content?

Google Search Console does not have a notification for duplicate content penalties. This penalty simply does not exist. Regardless, it's important to understand that even though there isn't a penalty, having the same content or content that's too similar on multiple pages or across multiple sites is problematic and should be avoided.

If you need help handling duplicate content issues on- or off-site, feel free to contact us at NoStringsContent.com. You can also directly message me on LinkedIn if you have any questions.