Webmasters seeking to maximize search engine optimization (SEO) occasionally run afoul of Google search rules and are penalized for duplicate content. As explained in our October 7 post, the problem is one of differing goals: ranking vs. filtering. Webmasters who want site content to be accessed by as many search parameters as possible often assign multiple URLS to the same content. Working to produce unique search results, Google’s filtering process groups duplicate content and selects a representative site or page for display. Webmasters often feel they pay a “penalty” for unintentional duplicate content through decreased Internet exposure and display of less than optimal sites/pages.
Try these tips to minimize duplicate content and maximize your SEO exposure:
If you participate in an affiliate program, avoid the “cookie cutter” approach to site content. Your site should contain unique, relevant content that adds value to that found on the parent site.
Don’t use the “cut and paste” approach to creating content on multiple pages or sites. Some repetition of key phrases is unavoidable, but each page within a site should carry unique content with a distinct focus. For boilerplate text such as copyright info, use a short summary and link to a detail page.
Avoid scraping content from other websites; it’s a definite Google foul. However, there’s no penalty (besides annoyance) if someone scrapes your site. Google is quite good at determining which is the original site. If you syndicate your content, ask syndication partners to identify and link back to your content as the original source.
Use the robots.txt file to block less desirable printer versions of content from access by Google crawlers. Check the file to verify that content you want crawled hasn’t been blocked. If you have created multiple versions of your site, include the preferred version of your URL in the sitemap file. Google does not consider multiple language versions of a site to be duplicate content.
Use 301 redirects in the .htaccess file to redirect Google’s spiders.
Keep internal linking consistent.
Get rid of publishing stubs by either not publishing or blocking empty pages.
Use top level domains (TLD) to denote country-focused content.
Increase Visibility offers a free website analysis that can tell you how Google and other search engines see your site. Our trained SEO specialists can show you how to optimize your site and improve your search ranking.
