Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
My WebSite has two sections with overlapping, or redundant articles on the same topics. Google is only listing one or the other article in Search Results. What should I do to have both pages (similiar but unique content ) to be listed?
-
My Web Site has two sections with overlapping, or redundant articles on the same topics. Google is only listing one or the other article in Search Results. What should I do to have both pages (similar but unique content ) to be listed?
Example:
http://www.womenshealthcaretopics.com/pregnancy_week_12.htm
http://www.womenshealthcaretopics.com/pregnancy_12_weeks.html
-
When I suggested combining the two articles, what I meant was to sit down with both articles and merge them into one article. This wouldn't be a simple copy and paste the two articles together. Instead you would logically merge the content, excluding any duplicate information.
When you are finished, review the article and then ask others to do so as well. Each article offers a lot of content. To help you better target key terms you can split the final article up into two articles.
I know this sounds confusing so I will clarify. Lets say you have Article A and Article B. Each article covers the same topic and contains about 1500 words. Upon reviewing both articles you realize about 1000 words are the same. The goal would then to merge the 500 unique words into the first article and make a single 2000 word article.
Once that process is complete, you can then set out on your original goal of targeting more key words. To do that, you can break your 2000 word article into two (or more) articles, each targeting a couple phrases.
-
Hi Ryan
I have thought of combining the two articles into one, but was concerned about the added content as being duplicate. etc....
-
Google recognizes there are two pages with the same content. You have two options:
1. Let Google know these pages have the same content but you are choosing to keep both to provide a better user experience. This can be achieved by adding the canonical tag to your head code. Since you specifically stated you wish both pages to be listed, I'll move on to option 2.
2. You need to offer a significant variation between the two pages. Google is looking for UNIQUE content. Your header, footer and both side bars offers identical content on both pages. That is a common practice, but it also works against you in this instance. These two articles clearly are discussing the exact same subjects and Google recognizes it as such.
It is very clear you are using these two pages in an attempt to rank for more key words. Google's system is designed to prevent your efforts. Even if you were to get through, it is only a matter of time until an adjustment is made and one of the pages gets filtered out.
Look at your site from a reader's point of view. If a visitor read one of those articles, would they gain anything more by looking at the second article? Try combining the two articles into one, and then possibly further segmenting them. Some ideas:
-
pregnancy 12 weeks from a doctor's point of view
-
pregnancy 12 weeks from a mother's point of view
-
pregnancy 12 weeks from a father's point of view
You can also look at "pregnancy complications" or sub-topics such as "Signs my baby is healthy". The ultimate goal of this process for you will be to offer more opportunities to use this content to target more key word phrases.
You want to decide "What is in the best interests of my readers" then take those steps. Currently you give the clear impression you wish to get traffic on your site so you can sell the items listed.
-
-
You found the issue here with your question. They have similar content, so Google is showing only one. I would try to change the on-page SEO attributes of your articles to target different keywords.
It's not very often that Google is going to show the same site for the same search unless the articles are quite unique. They strive for diversity in their links.
You may be able to accomplish a little more uniqueness by changing the Title, H1, name of the article, subheadings, content, incoming links, etc.
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
-
Can I use expired domain content on My Blog
Hello Expert, I wanted to know, can I use expired domain content on my blog channel. I have done many searches on google but couldn't find a satisfactory answer. Please help me to find out this.
Content Development | | vijay77960 -
References for Healthcare Blog Content?
Hey everyone, We have a couple B2C medical/healthcare clients we produce content for and I was wondering what the industry stance is when it comes to giving references at the end of a blog, assuming there were no statistics or direct quotes used in the content. A lot of our content is written via research on a specific condition/treatment and doesn't really dive deep into specific medical nuances. Things like risks, recovery timelines, questions to ask, etc. are written about mostly. Still, should we be providing general references at the end of blogs to sites like WebMD, Medscape, etc. Thanks for any input!
Content Development | | danielreyes0 -
Is it ok to have two blogs for my website?
Hi Pep's The blog for my website is integrated, but does not have a URL that matches the text. The company I use for my site say that it can't be changed. Basically it displays numbers instead of text in the url. So I thought, what about starting another blog as well as the original. Would this have any effects on my SEO, negative or positive? Any advice greatly appreciated! 🙂
Content Development | | MissThumann1 -
Duplicate content between my web and Youtube
I have a web with 90 vídeos hosted in my Youtube channel and each video have an description in single url, but Youtube videos have no description. If I copy description from my web and paste to Youtube description, this is duplicate content for Google ?
Content Development | | VisualService1 -
Free Duplicate Content Checker Tools ?
Hi Moz, I am really looking for free tools which can carry my content duplication issue, as i visited http://moz.com/community/q/are-there-tools-to-discover-duplicate-content-issues-with-the-other-websites suggested copyscape which is paid. I want FREE to handle my duplication issue.' Thanks in Advance. Best,
Content Development | | Futura
Teginder1 -
How do I redirect a page that no longer exists?
I changed the name of a blog article I wrote and the original name is giving a 404 error. I am not sure why it isn't being directed like the other articles I renamed to improve SEO. Since the webpage no longer exists, I don't know how to redirect it. I use Wordpress and Thesis. Thanks!
Content Development | | dealblogger0 -
Services Page vs Page For Each Service Offered
Read an interesting article about how websites with just a "services" page suffer and they should try to create a meaningful page for each service they offer... Read so many blogs right now that I can't remember where I saw it
Content Development | | JamesFx0 -
Article submission - where can you submit articles for FREE???
Hi guys, Can anyone please help! Can anyone tell me if there are any cheap or free places where I can submit articles to help me get good rankings or improve my rankings?? Any help be much apprciated! Thanks Gareth
Content Development | | GAZ090