There’s a lot that goes into crafting and maintaining a comprehensive ongoing SEO strategy, but some factors are better understood than others. 

For instance, everyone knows how important keyword research is. Plus, even newcomers have a basic understanding of the significance of a solid backlink portfolio or a blog filled with high-quality content.

However, duplicate content is another matter entirely. While people know duplicate content isn’t ideal most of the time, not everyone is clear on why it’s an SEO issue or what to do about it.

Here, we’ll cover everything you need to know to navigate these issues and stay ahead of the curve.

External Duplicate Content Issues

Of course, not all duplicate content problems are internal. Any website or content producer with much original content of value to their name will likely eventually see some of it republished, either with or without permission. 

Here are some examples of external duplicate content situations to know.

With Permission: Syndicated Posts

Occasionally, every content producer will come across opportunities to syndicate (or republish) their content with another publication or website.

You may do this on your own, as with electing to repost a popular post (or a portion of it) to a secondary blog on a platform like Medium or Quora. 

Alternatively, you might receive requests from third-party publications asking to syndicate your content.

Although this may seem like a bad idea if you’re trying to avoid duplicate content, syndication can actually help you. Not only does it make you and your brand more visible, but backlinks to your site can send extra traffic your way, too.

Without Permission: Scraped Content

Unfortunately, most content creators and brands will eventually become acquainted with content scrapers. 

Scraped content occurs when another website owner or content creator decides to steal your content and repost it on their own without permission.

Although this is naturally an attempt on the thief’s part to give their own site a visibility boost, it often backfires. 

To begin with, scraped content is usually very easy to spot. There are also serious penalties for deliberately trying to manipulate Google’s algorithm and search rankings in this way.

If you do find you’ve become the victim of content scraping, you should report the offending site to Google as soon as possible.

You may also be interested in these articles:

• Will Google Punish You for Copying (or “Plagiarizing”) Your Own Content?
• Do You Know How to Avoid Keyword Cannibalization in Content?
• 7 Common SEO Mistakes That You Want to Avoid Right Now

How to Check for Duplicate Content

Again, although duplicate content isn’t necessarily going to be the factor that makes or breaks your SEO campaign, it is something you want to stay on top of to avoid any potential issues. 

This is the case for both internal and external issues with duplicates. Here are some key tips to keep in mind for dealing with both.

1. Add a duplicate content check to your SEO audit

If you’re not yet regularly auditing your website for potential SEO issues, it’s officially time to start. And if you are already doing it, make sure you add a duplicate content check to your ongoing routine.

Although there are several ways to check your site for duplicate or near-duplicate content, there are tools out there that take a lot of the guesswork and tedium out of the process. 

For example, Copyscape’s Siteliner tool does this very quickly and displays your results in a way that makes it easy to spot problems at a glance.

Here’s the thing — duplicate content sneaks up on even the most diligent site owners. Sometimes something as innocent as a staff bio being copy-pasted onto multiple “About Us” pages can throw a wrench into the works. Or think about e-commerce: product descriptions provided by manufacturers, reused across dozens of shops, tend to cause headaches. You’d be surprised how often a few repeated lines can turn into ranking turbulence if you’re not paying attention. It never hurts to take a magnifying glass to your own pages once in a while — even if you’re pretty sure you’ve kept things tidy.

Detection is only half the battle, honestly. Fixing it sometimes feels more complicated than hunting it down in the first place. You might have to rewrite copy that’s already “working,” or shuffle things around behind the scenes with canonical tags and redirects like you’re rearranging furniture nobody really sees. Most web admins I know have at least one story about accidentally making things worse before getting it right. Even if it feels a bit tedious, dialing in unique content on every page is what will save you trouble down the road — much more than a quick band-aid fix.

2. Try running an exact match search on Google

You’ll also want to perform regular checks for unauthorized copies of your content elsewhere on the web. 

One way to do this is by using Google to perform what’s known as an exact match search.

Navigate to a page you’d particularly like to check. Copy a few sentences and paste them directly into Google within a set of quotation marks. 

This directs Google to return only results that contain that exact text. So if anything happens to come up, then you’ve officially got a content scraper or plagiarist on your hands.

3. Run your content through Copyscape

Copyscape is a must-know tool to have in your back pocket if you’re serious about staying on top of duplicate content issues. 

As with Google exact match searches, using Copyscape to scan a chunk of text from one of your pages will immediately reveal any copies out there on the web.

The best course of action if you do know for sure that someone has maliciously scraped or otherwise plagiarized your content is to make Google aware of the issue by filing a complaint.

However, you can also contact the site owner directly first if you’re not sure, as they may not realize they’ve published stolen content. 

If the site is high in quality or authority, you can consider allowing the site owner to leave the content up if they add a backlink to your site, as well.

And, of course, use tools like Copyscape regularly to ensure any scrapers are dealt with promptly. The sooner you can take care of a potential problem, the less of an impact it could potentially have on your SEO.

When Duplicate Content Can Be Beneficial for SEO?

Duplicate content can be beneficial for SEO in certain contexts, primarily when it helps to:

1. Target Different Keywords

If you have content that can be relevant to multiple search queries, slightly modifying the content and targeting different keywords can help attract various segments of search traffic. This approach can help you reach a broader audience.

2. Improve User Experience

Providing similar content in different formats or structures can enhance user experience. For example, having a detailed blog post and a summarized infographic on the same topic can cater to different user preferences, keeping visitors engaged on your site.

Another example is creating a video based on a blog post.

3. Distribute Content Across Multiple Platforms

Republishing your content on different platforms, such as Medium or LinkedIn, can help you reach a wider audience. While this creates duplicate content, using canonical tags ensures that search engines recognize the original source and direct SEO benefits there.

4. Manage Multiple Regional Sites

If you operate in different regions with similar content but need to cater to local SEO, having duplicate content with regional adjustments (like language, currency, contact details, and local regulations) can be beneficial. This allows each site to rank well in its respective region.

Best Practices

• Use Canonical Tags: Indicate the preferred version of a page to search engines, helping avoid penalties.
• Implement Hreflang Tags: For multilingual sites, hreflang tags help search engines understand which language and region to serve the content in.
• Syndicate Wisely: If republishing on third-party sites, ensure the syndicated content links back to the original and uses canonical tags to attribute the original source correctly.

By using these strategies, you can leverage duplicate content to enhance your SEO efforts without negatively impacting your search engine rankings.

Duplicate Content FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

What is the meaning of duplicate content?

Duplicate content refers to content that is either identical or very similar and exists in more than one location on the internet. This can occur within a single website or across multiple websites.

Can Google penalize you for duplicate content?

Yes, Google can penalize websites for duplicate content, as it may affect the quality of search results for users. While Google may not always penalize sites directly, it can impact search rankings and visibility, leading to decreased traffic and potential penalties.

What is an example of duplicate content?

An example of duplicate content is when the same article or webpage is published on multiple websites without any significant changes. This can also occur within a single website if identical or very similar content is found on multiple pages.

Wrap Up

While primary keywords, backlinks, streamlined website optimization, and so forth will always be the most critical concerns for SEO, there’s no such thing as “too thorough.”

Staying on top of potential issues with duplicate content is one terrific way to fortify your efforts, but it’s not the only one.