Does the site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different keyword variations?
-
Hi All,
In relation to this thread http://www.seomoz.org/q/what-happend-to-my-ranks-began-dec-22-detailed-info-inside I'm still getting whipped hard from Google, this week for some reason all rankings have gone for the past few days.
What I was wondering though is this, when Google says-
Does the site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different keyword variations?
I assume my site hits the nail on the head-
[removed links at request of author]
As you can see I target LG Optimus 3D Sim Free, LG Optimus 3D Contract and LG Optimus 3D Deals. Based on what Google has said, I know think there needs to be 1 page that covers it all instead of 3.
What I'm wondering is the best way to deal with the situation? I think it should be something like this but please correct me along the way
1. Pick the strongest page out of the 3
2. Merge the content from the 2 weaker pages into the strongest
3. Update the title/meta info of the strongest page to include the KW variations of all 3 eg- LG Optimus 3D Contract Deals And Sim Free Pricing
4. Then scatter contract, deals and sim free throughout the text naturally
5. Then delete the weaker 2 pages and 301 redirect to the strongest page
6. Submit URL removal via webmastertools for the 2 weaker pages
What would you do to correct this situation? Am I on the right track?
-
The answer depends on a few factors.
Step back and take a fresh look at each page. Don't think of it as the page's author or webmaster. Think about it from the view of a user who searched for a phone and landed on the page. How much information is what the user was hoping to find?
How much of each page is repeated keywords that have nothing to do with the page's content? How much of each page is duplicated information that will be found on every other page in your site? It comes down to percentages.
I do like your pages. They are clean, easy to navigate and well-presented. The only concern I have is the sidebars with the points mentioned. I do not see how Google could have any concern with your content unless you have other duplicate pages on your site of the information. I just took another look at the links you offered. While there is some duplication, it really is not much.
-
Hi Ryan,
Thanks for your continued insight.
Just spent a bit of time thinking about what you have said, and although I don't believe the sidebar is a main cause of the site wide drop I do believe that it is part of the problem.
Therefore I was thinking that on just single posts and single pages I would remove the archives and product reviews links (leaving recent comments and recent posts).
Recent comments, recent posts, archives and product review links would remain as they are on index page, category pages, tag pages, author pages etc. Category, tag and author pages are all currently set to noindex,follow.
Do you feel that solution is wise?
-
You offer a different product name on each page, different images and different content. You had me fooled into thinking they were three separate models.
Each page has unique content, but overall it is a bit shallow. My concern is that Google doesn't look at it as "well this is sidebar content while the rest is main content". They would view your page as a whole.
Do a word count of the side bar, and then a word count of the total page. Determine what percentage of your page is the sidebar. If your sidebar is 30% of your page's total content, then you know you have that much duplicated by default. Then take a look at the rest of the page. If you add further duplicate content, the overall percentage can climb too high if you are not careful.
-
Hi,
Thanks for your input.
Although the pages are for 3 seperate unique products, the only change in each page is the final word on the end. It is essentially the same product but just sold in a different way. So does Google's algorhythm see it as overlapping?
I haven't considered the sidebar as an issue before as it is setup the same way as it always has been when the site performing well but is something I will look at.
Still undecided on what to do with those potential overlaps
-
I looked at your site. Those 3 pages you refer to are for three separate, unique products. You could take the approach you suggested. Another approach would be to re-design the existing pages.
Your HTML is minified, which is a good thing for optimization, but it makes it harder for others to look through the code. I didn't look very deep but what I did take note of a few opportunities you have to improve the existing pages.
1. Each page has it's own unique content.Part of the content is contained in javascript so it may be missed by Google. If you take a look at your site code, notice below the phrase "LG Optimus 3D Contract Deals" the two blocks below are entirely contained in javascript. All your pricing information, which is content, is missed.
2. Your sidebars offer a consistent look throughout the site, but it is duplicate content. You could consider condensing it. Rather then an "Archives" heading on every page with a list of every month/yr combo, you could consider a single "Archives" link which would take users to the Archives page. This change would reduce duplicate content.
3. A similar concept can be used for Product Reviews. Having each make/model listed on every page seems rather like stuffing.
4. Recent Posts - same idea. It's duplicate content on every page. By streamlining your sidebar, your pages look less cluttered, there is definitely less stuffing, and the unique content will stand out more.
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
-
Does Duplicate Content Actually "Penalize" a Domain?
Hi all, Some co-workers and myself were in a conversation this afternoon regarding if duplicate content actually causes a penalty on your domain. Reference: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/66359?hl=en http://searchengineland.com/googles-matt-cutts-duplicate-content-wont-hurt-you-unless-it-is-spammy-167459 Both sources from Google do not say "duplicate content causes a penalty." However, they do allude to spammy content negatively affecting a website. Why it came up: We originally were talking about syndicated content (same content across multiple domains; ex: "5 explanations of bad breath") for the purpose of social media sharing. Imagine if dentists across the nation had access to this piece of content (5 explanations of bad breath) simply for engagement with their audience. They would use this to post on social media & to talk about in the office. But they would not want to rank for that piece of duplicated content. This type of duplicated content would be valuable to dentists in different cities that need engagement with their audience or simply need the content. This is all hypothetical but serious at the same time. I would love some feedback & sourced information / case studies. Is duplicated content actually penalized or will that piece of content just not rank? (feel free to reference that example article as a real world example). **When I say penalized, I mean "the domain is given a negative penalty for showing up in SERPS" - therefore, the website would not rank for "dentists in san francisco, ca". That is my definition of penalty (feel free to correct if you disagree). Thanks all & look forward to a fun, resourceful conversation on duplicate content for the other purposes outside of SEO. Cole
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | ColeLusby0 -
Why don't I outrank this site?
Hi Mozzers, I'm mystified. Why doesn't our site www.bosphorusyacht.com (ranked 15) outrank this site www.bosphorustour.com (ranked 5 and 6) for the keyword "bosphorus cruise"? Particularly for US based searches. We have far more links, shares, higher DA and PA and more related unique content on topic. Somehow they are even appearing with double listings in this search. Why is this? Am I missing something? Any ideas or suggestions appreciated.
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | emerald0 -
Bad for SEO to have two very similar websites on the same server?
Is it bad for SEO to have two very similar sites on the same server? What's the best way to set this up?
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | WebServiceConsulting.com0 -
Keyword Phrase vs. separate keywords - Title Tag best practices
Hello, What is your opinion about when to use a keyword phrase vs. 2 keywords, separated by a comma, in the title tag? For example, on this page, the title could be either: NLP Hypnosis, Language Patterns | Nlpca.com or NLP and Hypnosis Including Language Patterns | Nlpca.com Which do you guys think is best with respect to rankings, updates, and future updates?
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | BobGW0 -
How can I tell if my site was penalized from the most recent penguin update?
Hey all, I want to be able to see if my website was penalized from the most recent penguin update because we have several hundred websites built and at the bottom of each on it says something along the lines Website by, Web Design by, Hosting by and links back to our homepage. Could this possibly be penalizing us since these links have similar anchor text and on sites that have nothing to do with our services? Thanks, Ryan
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | MonsterWeb280 -
Partner Site Hit with Penguin - Links hurt me
I work for a network of international websites, the site I work on is for Canada. Our partners in Australia were hit by penguin hard because they hired a black hat SEO guy and didn't know. He was creating profiles on highly authoritative sites and keyword stuffing them. Now, they've completely dropped off the SERP. This is where the issue occurs, because we are all international partners we are all linked together on the header of every page so visitors can choose their country. Now, because they were hit hard and we have reciprocal links (not for rankings but for usability) will we be affected? It seems like we have, but I just want some opinions out there. Also, should we go ahead and stop linking our sites between countries to avoid this mess?
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | BeTheBoss0 -
Links In Blog Posts: 1 Paragraph VS. Full Article
Hey guys, I've been using an article network to post unique articles (not spun). Been posting 1 paragraph articles with 1 text link. Just wondering what the main difference would be if I were to post a full article with 2 or 3 text links vs 1 paragraph with 1 text link, besides the fact that you get more links and save more time writing only 1 paragraph. Will the full article with 3 backlinks improve keyword ranks more or not by much? Cheers!
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | upick-1623910 -
Does your website get downgraded if you link to a lower quality site?
My site has a pr of 4. My friends site has a pr of 2 but I think that he is doing some black hat seo techniques. I wanted to know whether the search engines would ding me for linking to (i.e., validating) a lower quality site.
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | jamesjd70