Imagine you are sitting down to read a magazine, book, or newspaper. The first two pages are what you will read, and the next two pages are identical to the ones that you have just read. The case we just showed is an example of duplicate content.
It would be confusing and you would try to figure out if it was real or just your feelings. It is now a fact, and you decide to go on. The same thing happens again when you open the book to another page. What’s the matter?
It creates confusion for both search engines and users browsing your business website. Although users won’t understand what’s happening, search engines will penalize duplicate content.
Tips to prevent duplicate content on your business website
Make use of robots.txt files
These files, robotics.txt tell search engines which page to ignore, thereby increasing direct traffic. They hide pages that may not be of interest to your business website so they can focus on the pages that will bring you the most traffic.
Search engines for similar content, but not duplicates should be avoided. Pages may contain content that is very similar or part of it repeated.
Search engines will first assume that the content is identical and therefore duplicated. You can notify search engines to warn them that this is not true and not penalize both pages.
Use 301 redirects
Sometimes, you may need to update a page but also change its URL. So, how to stop a page from redirecting?
To make sure that users can access the page from their browser and redirect to the new page, you need to create a 301 redirect. Users who found an outdated link will be redirected to the updated page.
You should be aware of what content you have published already
It is important to be aware of what content you have uploaded to your website in order to avoid duplicate content. This will allow you to know which content cannot be re-uploaded.
If the page is out of date, it might be worth putting the following tip to use. Make sure to update the page, change the URL, and add the 301 redirects.
Avoid repetitive web templates
Templates are the place where copyright and other copyrights are discussed. Google and other search engines might consider them duplicate content and penalize websites.
Why is having duplicate content an issue for SEO? This is a common reason websites suddenly drop in search engine rankings.
Keep an internal link structure
Internal links are the ones that take you from one web page to another without leaving the original. It’s a great way to browse the web and a powerful SEO tool.
Search engines can use internal links to navigate a website more efficiently and analyze its content better.
It may seem that it has little to do with it, it allows search engines to distinguish between duplicate and similar content, avoiding any sanction or penalty.
