{"id":5103,"date":"2019-10-18T06:54:33","date_gmt":"2019-10-18T06:54:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/?p=5103"},"modified":"2022-09-13T14:46:49","modified_gmt":"2022-09-13T12:46:49","slug":"why-is-duplicate-content-on-your-website-bad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/blog\/why-is-duplicate-content-on-your-website-bad\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is duplicate content on your website bad?"},"content":{"rendered":"<section class=\"l-section wpb_row height_medium\"><div class=\"l-section-h i-cf\"><div class=\"g-cols vc_row via_grid cols_3-1 laptops-cols_inherit tablets-cols_inherit mobiles-cols_1 valign_top type_default stacking_default\"><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"w-image align_center\"><div class=\"w-image-h\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"493\" src=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/111-e1571381578104.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"DSM Digital School of Marketing - duplicate content\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/111-e1571381578104.jpg 700w, https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/111-e1571381578104-600x423.jpg 600w, https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/111-e1571381578104-300x211.jpg 300w, https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/111-e1571381578104-284x200.jpg 284w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><p>The term \u2018duplicate content\u2019 refers to chunks of content which are either completely identical to one another (exact duplicates) or are very similar. (The latter category is known as common or near-duplicates.) The term \u2018near-duplicate content\u2019 refers to two pieces of content that only have only minor differences between them. There are certain situations where having some similar <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/blog\/guide-to-content-marketing\/\">content<\/a> is natural and unavoidable, as is the case with quoting another article that is found on the Internet.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The types of duplicate content<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>There are two types of duplicate content which are found on the Internet these days. These are the following:<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Internal duplicate content<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Internal duplicate content occurs when one domain creates duplicate content through multiple internal URLs on the same website.<\/p>\n<p>A lot of the time, <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/blog\/building-online-community\/\">online<\/a> shops have to manage duplicate content. Here is a case that occurs very commonly. The product detail pages can also be accessed without the necessity of having the related category or product page in the address of the web page:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.onlineshop-domain.com\/category\/productpage\/productdetailpage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/www.onlineshop-domain.com\/category\/productpage\/productdetailpage<\/a>, and<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.onlineshop-domain.com\/productdetailpage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">http:\/\/www.onlineshop-domain.com\/productdetailpage<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It is a common occurrence that those pages would then be indexed by search engines and both URLs are linked to externally. Another reason for internal duplicate content occurring can be an inconsistent internal link strategy.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>External duplicate content<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Another name for \u2018external duplicate content\u2019 is \u2018cross-domain duplicates\u2019. This occurs when two or more domains, which are different, have the same page copy that is indexed by the search engines.<\/p>\n<p>Many websites can be accessed by using a number of domain names. There is nothing that is incorrect with this practice if all other domain versions are redirected to the corresponding main domain by using a 301-redirect.<\/p>\n<p>If this does not happen, Google is see that there are different domains which all have the same content. This makes it difficult for Google-Bot to determine the relevancy of each individual page, which can lead to ranking challenges for the website.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-video align_none ratio_16x9 has_iframe\"><div class=\"w-video-h\"><iframe title=\"Vimeo video player\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/285084922?autoplay=0&loop=0&autopause=0&color=00adef&portrait=0&byline=1&title=1&controls=1&muted=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\" allowfullscreen loading=\"lazy\"><\/iframe><\/div><div class=\"w-video-icon\" style=\"font-size:1.5rem;background:rgba(0,0,0,0.5);color:#fff\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_medium\"><\/div><div class=\"wpb_text_column\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><h2><strong>Examples of duplicate content<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Quoting from another source is fine. If this source is another web page, link back to that site in order for the website owner to get additional value from you quoting them. The more backlinks that a website has, the better it is for their SEO.<\/p>\n<p>Replicating chunks of text verbatim, without the addition of any other value,\u00a0 won\u2019t benefit your users. Rather steer clear of this practice as it will harm your SEO and will turn your readers away from your site.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Here are some examples of duplicates which are seen often:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Specifications in product descriptions.<\/li>\n<li>Products appearing in more than one category on your e-commerce website.<\/li>\n<li>Pages of content which appear in two places on your website (for businesses or consumers, for example).<\/li>\n<li>Using another website\u2019s content openly (press releases or feeds for local events, for example).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Why is duplicate content bad for SEO?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>There are a number several reasons why duplicate content is harmful to the SEO health of your website.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Duplicate content can present three main challenges for search engines:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Search engines \u2013 such as Google and Bing &#8211; don&#8217;t know which version(s) to include or exclude from their indexes.<\/li>\n<li>They don&#8217;t know if they need to direct the link metrics (trust, authority, anchor text, link equity, etc.) to one page or, alternatively, keep it separated between multiple versions.<\/li>\n<li>Search engines don&#8217;t know which version(s) they need to rank for search results.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When duplicate content is present, website owners can be subjected to ranking and traffic losses. These two often stem from one of the following main problems:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>To offer users the best search experience possible, search engines will not often show multiple versions of the same content. This means that they are forced to select which version is most likely to deliver the best result. This minimises the visibility of each of the duplicates.<\/li>\n<li>Link equity can be further weakened as other sites have to also make a choice between the duplicates. As opposed to all inbound links pointing to one piece of content, these link to multiple pieces. This spreads the link equity among the duplicates. Owing to the fact that inbound links are a ranking factor, this can then impact the search visibility of a piece of content.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As people use Google, these days, as a means to find what they are looking for, it\u2019s vital that your website gets found on the Internet. This means that you must do everything in your power to make sure that nothing on your website harms this.<\/p>\n<h2><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/contact-us\/\">Get in touch with the Digital School of Marketing<\/a><\/h2>\n<p>To learn more about how SEO works, <a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/courses\/seo-and-web-analytics-course\/\">please follow this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-758 size-shop_single\" src=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/DSM_Footer03-600x96.jpg\" alt=\"DSM Digital School of Marketing SEO and Web Analytics course registration\" width=\"600\" height=\"96\" \/><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"wpb_column vc_column_container\"><div class=\"vc_column-inner\"><div class=\"w-btn-wrapper align_justify\"><a class=\"w-btn us-btn-style_2\" href=\"#enquiry\"><span class=\"w-btn-label\">Enquire Today<\/span><\/a><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_medium\"><\/div><h3 class=\"w-text us_custom_6caa4608 has_text_color\"><span class=\"w-text-h\"><span class=\"w-text-value\">Blog Categories<\/span><\/span><\/h3><div class=\"wpb_text_column us_custom_5cd26a65\"><div class=\"wpb_wrapper\"><ul>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-1\"><a href=\"\/blog\/content-marketing\/\">Content Marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-2\"><a href=\"\/blog\/digital-marketing\/\">Digital Marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-2\"><a href=\"\/blog\/cyber-security-blog\/\">Cyber Security<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-2\"><a href=\"\/blog\/graphic-design-blog\/\">Graphic Design<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-3\"><a href=\"\/blog\/public-relations\/\">Public Relations<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-4\"><a href=\"\/blog\/seo\/\">SEO<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-5\"><a href=\"\/blog\/social-media-marketing\/\">Social Media Marketing<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"cat-item cat-item-5\"><a href=\"\/blog\/web-design-blog\/\">Web Design<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><div class=\"w-separator size_medium\"><\/div><h3 class=\"w-text us_custom_6caa4608 has_text_color\"><span class=\"w-text-h\"><span class=\"w-text-value\">You might also like<\/span><\/span><\/h3><div class=\"w-html\"><ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/social-media-marketing-blog\/zero-moment-of-truth-benefit-social-media-marketing\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Use the Zero Moment of Truth to Benefit your Social Media Marketing<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalschoolofmarketing.co.za\/digital-marketing-blog\/your-complete-guide-to-ppc-marketing-basic\/\" rel=\"bookmark\">Your Complete Guide to PPC Marketing Basics. 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