Elements

There are a lot of different elements to SEO, but they all center around one thing: providing a reputable, authoritative solution for the end-user. Therefore, search engine indexers have been created with complex algorithms that are capable of identifying factors that lead to that, including whether or not a website is providing original, informational, value-added content to its visitors. If you’re duplicating content, you’re doing the exact opposite of that, and search engines will notice.

A LITTLE LAZY?

More importantly, so will your human visitors. No one wants three links that have the same page of content, or even something that’s similar. People assume that if there’s a separate page, it’s for a separate and complete idea that has not already been discussed. Duplicate content is a huge turn-off for many reasons, but the biggest thing is that it looks really lazy.

BLACK HAT TACTIC

It also tends to look like a black hat tactic, because you’re creating titles with keywords to increase your search rankings, but then not offering anything of new value on the pages beyond the first result. If you have multiple “pages” with the same material, all you’re doing is wasting everyone’s time and your own efforts. Either create original content or don’t create the page at all.

NEGATIVE RANKS!

Duplicate content is one of the things that search engines take very seriously. While some mistakes in SEO will just get no attention or not give your rating a boost, duplicating content can get you negatively ranked or even banned for repeat or excess occurrences.

THE SOLUTION

The quickest way to increase your rankings is to delete that duplicate content. Even if you don’t replace it right away, you need to get rid of it as soon as possible. Most search engines and users would rather see pages with limited information or a “more to come” disclaimer than to see repeated content that doesn’t offer much.

Today’s SEO is all about giving people something of value and providing the best answer to their query. You can’t do that if you aren’t creating the best online image, both on your website and other places where your brand has a presence. Therefore, the first thing that you should do is perform a complete audit of your website and all of your online content to ensure that nothing is duplicated and everything is original and of unique value.