I run courses in Australia, and use course material that several companies use. While I can 'rewrite' the overview, the course outlines are identical and there no getting past that. Is there a way to let Google know? Thanks in advance.
-
Consentual and necessary duplicate content
-
Hi Zoe,
Thanks for this answer. I already do rewrite the overview, course description - but the actual course outline makes up approx. 80% of the page - so that was my concern. The idea of writing descriptions for each section and including more visual aids is perfect though - and will do this!
Thanks! This has helped
Jamie
-
Thanks Shawn for your answer - but I didn't express my problem properly - my problem is that my outlines - as an example - for our Photoshop intro course - has the exact same outline for several competitor's Photoshop courses, because we use the same courseware/ same book - so it's not a case of 'duplicate content' within my website, but more 'duplicate content' over a number of websites.
Just received another suggestion, which looks like will be the best way to go. Thanks again.
-
Can one of the course pages be your main landing page for the topic? You could canonical the other URL's to this main page to inform Google that while all the pages have similar content, page A is the one that should be represented in the SERP's. This could help ensure that the other similar pages do not cannibalize each other. On page A, you can work to inform your visitors that you have the other courses.
-
Hi Jamie,
This kind of duplicate content is quite common across the internet, especially on E-commerce sites (manufacturer descriptions) and reseller websites.
Generally if you can't re-word the course outlines, I would focus on ensuring that your page, despite having the duplicate content, still provides the best possible answer to an interested visitor's questions. Re-write the overview to be as informative as possible, and maybe write your own descriptions of each section of the course outlines, if this is feasible. Include visual aids, images, diagrams, charts, any additional information you can which will help the user understand.
Usability is key, so remember the search engines' ultimate aim, to provide the best possible answer to the searcher's query, and make your pages as useful as they can be. If the courses are regulated or provided by a body, link to their website from your pages too, and see if that body has a 'providers' page, or somewhere within their website you can get a link from, if you haven't already.
Hope this helps!
Zoe
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Hi friends, I have a question. I want to know how Google detects the author of a content.
Hi friends, I have a question. I want to know how Google detects the author of a content.
Content Development | | Alopii0 -
Loads of Blog Search Results showing up in SERPs - What's the best way to remove?
Our client has a good number of results showing up in SERPs that are search results pages produced by Blog posts. Unfortunately all these results have exactly the same Title tag and it has nothing to do with the blog content which means they are unlikely to help us much. We can’t create a 301 redirect because there is no page to redirect. There is no blog page we can re=canonical to either. The content on these pages is a short list of blog posts by each author. They are not true “Author” pages that would have a URL structure like this: your company.com/author/joeblow Our plan is to use GWMT's URL removal tool to request remove of these pages. (and then try to stop new results from being created) We are doing this to get low-value content out of the SERP. Is there a better way to remove these search results? Any drawback in removing them in GWMTs? Thanks.
Content Development | | RosemaryB1 -
Does Google Dislike Slideshows?
I've noticed a recent drop in organic traffic and a slight dip in rankings. When I looked at who replaced us in the top spots, I noticed text heavy, in depth articles. We produce many articles in the slideshow format. Do you think this is the reason our rankings dropped?
Content Development | | TMI.com0 -
What is the BEST way to find guest blog? Use Google under the blog tab??
I want to post articles and get backlink. What is the best practice for finding guest blog? Thank you, BigBlaze
Content Development | | BigBlaze2050 -
What are the best widgets to use on Wordpress? And what is most useful on Wordpress for content syndication?
We are in the process of researching the best plugins and widgets for our clients' blogs. It appears that SEO by Yoast is most popular for 2013 so far. Any recommendations on which widgets we should be using or plugins for content syndication? If we use something like the Jetpack plugin, would this do the trick?
Content Development | | qlkasdjfw0 -
Can I share share my content with other sites either as a individual post or RSS or will I be encourage duplicate content on the web and upset Google
Hi, I have a new site http://www.homeforbusiness.co.uk. I want to encourage traffic to the site by sharing some of my content with other related websites which have a higher PR ranking and traffic for a link to my site. Is this going to upset Google re-duplicate content and devalue my site and stop any organic rankings in the future? Equally some high PR sites which have a good synergy with mine such as http://thewomensbusinessclubs.com/ allow me to add my RSS feed with their blog network. Is this a good thing to do or not for the same reasons as above? Or can I only do the above my creating fresh content? Thanks, Elizabeth Conley
Content Development | | econley0 -
Google Site Search
Hi, I was just wondering if anyone had used Google Site Search before and what they thought of it? http://www.google.com/sitesearch/ It seems quite expensive for just returning your own pages but would be interested to find out more. Thanks
Content Development | | ASOS0 -
Using own domain for Google blog
Is it worth the effort using your own domain for a Google blog? After adding my own domain to a blog I see a boost in ranking, maybe the url has more value without the blogspot extension, or that Google might treat the (max.10) pages you produce under your own domain as "independent" thus giving you the chance of building your own domain trust...?
Content Development | | vibelingo0