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
-
Will SEO Blogs Divert Traffic from Main Web pages using same keywords?
Our company has drafted several SEO blogs using certain keywords. If we post these SEO blogs to our website and social media channels , and the blog keywords are also used on our main website pages, will the blogs divert or dilute traffic to our main web pages? Thank you for your expertise and insights in advance.
Content Development | | Johnenchroma0 -
Using one domain for email and another domain for your website, but redirects...
We are rebranding and our new name is fairly lengthy. We own all main domain versions of our brand name - .com, .new and .org - There is a very high search volume for the new brand name as it is a merger of 2 popular existing brands so want to take advantage of that and use our full name within our website domain name. However, since the name is a little long as mentioned - 25 characters - we also own the 3 character acronym of the new brand so we are debating on using the acronym for our new email addresses. ie name@abc.com so it is user friendly. We would obviously redirect the acronym email domain to point to the longer website domain. Are there any negative SEO effects if we do that? Use the longer domain for the website and shorter acronym for our email? Thank you
Content Development | | shpala1 -
How to get readers to engage with content
Hi everyone! Over the last year and a half, we've ramped up our content generation and have now hit our stride with a steady stream of blogs and videos. Both qualitatively and quantitatively, we are seeing great results. The problem is that the qualitative feedback is always passive. When we see clients, partners, etc. in person, they tell us that they love the content, but no one ever leaves comments or uses the call to actions to submit their info. There are some social shares, but now that LinkedIn no longer has a counter, it's hard to tell how much. I'm looking for advice on strategies to get more active engagement with our content. The ideal outcome would be active conversations and lead generation. Thanks everyone!
Content Development | | Enertiv2 -
Community Discussion: Can 10x content be short-form content?
In his (intentionally very short) post on Tuesday, Rand makes the case that long-form content isn't necessarily great content: "Rather than applying a tactic like long-form content universally or setting length as the bar (or even a metric) for greatness, we instead match our content to our audience's needs and our business/personal goals. 700 more words will not help you reach your goals any more than 7 more words. Create content that helps people. Do it efficiently. Never write an ultimate guide where a single image could more powerfully convey the same value. Trust me; your audience and your bottom line will thank you." I think this is something we all struggle with as online marketers, in one way or another. As someone who casually consumes online content on a regular basis, this also resonates with me on a personal level. I'm curious, what are your hesitations with focusing on shorter-form content that packs a wallop, and what excites you about it? Can you think of any examples of content you've come across that you consider 10x short-form content?
Content Development | | Christy-Correll7 -
Curated content on page one of google for medium competition keywords?
Has anyone here ranked curated content on page one of Google for medium competition keywords?
Content Development | | jtbaker19710 -
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 -
Someone wants to syndicate my content but I'm afraid
I GOT THE FOLLOWING EMAIL: Hi, I visited your site and would like to connect regarding nSphere syndicating your content into our search platform. We are interested in syndicating your content into our network. There’s no cost for this, we ask you to place a module on your site that reads your content and syndicates it into our network of millions of users. You only need to place a simple JavaScript code on your site. I have the code, but I would like to speak or email with you first. This module acts as search tool for your users as well. Can you email me or send me your number and a good day/time to connect? Thank you in advance.
Content Development | | UnderRugSwept
Matthew Mantyla | nSphere
Director of Media Integration I'M AFRAID OF DUPLICATE CONTENT. SHOULD I JUST IGNORE THIS; IS IT SPAM; OR COULD THIS BE AN OPPORTUNITY? I'M THINKING I SHOULD BE SUSPICIOUS OF THE FACT THAT HE DIDN'T EVEN PROVIDE A URL.0 -
Wordpress Ping List, does pinging Google Help? Could it hurt?
So I was looking at updating my ping list in WP. Some of the lists I have come across have a lot of "blogsearch.google" What does a WP site risk in pinging all of these google properties?
Content Development | | Thos0030