Does the site have duplicate, overlapping, or redundant articles on the same or similar topics with slightly different keyword variations?

[mwoody]

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?

[RyanKent]

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.

[mwoody]

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?

[RyanKent]

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.

[mwoody]

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

[RyanKent]

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.