“Welcome to OMG Austin,” “OMG Austin is the leading company in..”

We have all noticed how some websites sound like they are copy and pasted word for word between pages. The site sounds very similar and makes you wonder whether you are on the homepage or the services page.

This is where duplicate content can make or break a website with a client and Google.

What is duplicate content?

Google states duplicate content is, “content within or across domains that either completely match other content or are appreciably similar.”

Google understands this can happen accidentally and is not intended for non-malicious reasons such as:

• Discussion forms
• Store items
• Printer - only version of web pages

If you take content, reuse it and spin it for other pages this is called copied content, and Google can take this as you trying to rank higher and faster. If Google perceives your website is duplicating content for a higher SEO ranking, then these two things could happen:

- Make adjustments to your ranking

- The website can be removed from Google.

All of your duplicate content can be fixed with a digital marketing and Austin web development team.

How it happens

A common way is through URLs. If session IDs are similar to one another then these pages can be considered as duplicate content. Furthermore, if printer-friendly only versions of content are also on these pages then it will be flagged for duplicate content as well.

If your website has different HTTP or HTTPS (HTTPS is better for Google), then you can get duplicate content. You always want your site to be consistent with  the services. This keeps content from duplicating.

When someone takes your blog and adds it to their website, duplicate content can arise. A major issue is with eCommerce blogs. Once someone takes your blog and publishes on their website, you inventory is now there which causes a problem. The problem is it is on a different HTTP or HTTPS.

How to fix duplicate content

When you find duplicate content on your website, the first thing to know is what to keep and get rid of.  This is where an expert in the austin web development field comes into focus.

You can fix your duplicate content in several ways. The first is changing the content found on these pages. Yes, you need both pages but make the content different.

The second way is with 301 redirects. This is a simple fix for an Austin web development team.

This will redirect your old website page to the newest one with the right content for clients and customers.

As a business, it is important how everything is displayed on your website. Is the blog, chat forum, products, and other pages that are related have the same content. Change it so it is all a little different.

At the end of the day, duplicate content can be an easy fix if you know what is going on. OMG Austin can easily change all duplicate content on your website to help with your SEO ranking and Google’s perception of your website. For more information, contact us today!