Google Duplicate Content Penalty & Ranking Impact [2024]

Are you worried that duplicate content might be hurting your SEO rankings? Would you like to learn how to fix it?

Minor duplication within your website may not significantly impact your SEO performance. However, if you have many identical pages or highly similar content then it can negatively affect your rankings if not managed properly.

When repeat page content is necessary, it should be managed using canonical tags. Duplicate content is not beneficial for users or for your SEO ranking.

While there is no harsh penalty for duplicate content, such as a manual action, but failing to address it can make it challenging to rank well on SERPs.

Taking the impact of duplicate content on SEO seriously is crucial for maintaining high-quality SEO.

Let’s learn in detail about different aspects of duplicate content and its impact on SEO performance.

Table of contents:

What is duplicate content?
Why is duplicate content bad for SEO?
1. Google duplicate content SEO penalty
Understanding duplicate content issues in simple terms
Internal duplicate content SEO Impact
External (cross-domain) duplicate content penalty
1. What to do if someone copies your content?
  1. Identify the duplicate content
  2. Contact the site owner
Subdomain duplicate content
FAQs

What is duplicate content?

Duplicate content is when the same copy or content appears on multiple pages or sites across the internet. It can either be on your website or on some other website you don’t control. When this happens, Google finds it difficult to find the best one and just ranks only one, making other pages rank less.

Usually, there are two types of duplicate content:

Internal duplicate content: It occurs when there are multiple URLs with the same or similar content on the same website.
External duplicate content: It occurs when your content appears on different websites across different domains and is indexed by Google.

In both cases, there are chances of it being identical or near-duplicate content.

Let’s understand both of these types much further.

Why is duplicate content bad for SEO?

It is fair to say that duplicate content is detrimental to SEO, while minor duplication may not impact the performance it is almost certain that you will struggle to rank pages or websites with a high degree of duplicate content.

Firstly, duplicate content impacts Google crawling and indexing which we have discussed below.

If you come across a sudden or gradual SEO ranking drop then poor or duplicate content is one of the possiblity our several others.

Google duplicate content SEO penalty

As mentioned on top, there is no harsh penalty by Google for duplicate content within the site. Read Google’s official guide about duplicate content and how it handles it.

Google simply carries out a web deduplication process where it clusters all the duplicate URLs into one group. It then consolidates the URLs based on different properties like link popularity to the representative URL and as such ranks up the best content.

Google is smart enough to recognise other websites that deliberately copy and publish your content excessively to manipulate their rankings. In such cases, it has the full authority to penalise those sites.

Understanding duplicate content issues in simple terms

Let’s say that you have 2 pages A and B on a website and both are almost identical except few minor changes. Now, the duplicate page may not add any value to the user and Google will struggle to prioritise just one and rank.

Example: Let’s say there is an online retailer selling selling shoes. On the website, there is a category called Runners (example.com/runners) and the website has another category called Best Runners (example.com/best-runners) and the content is almost the same. It is a form of cannibalisation.

When Google encounters duplicate content, it must decide which version to rank, you may notice mixed ranking and failing to achieve the optimum possible ranking. This can dilute the visibility of your content, leading to lower traffic and potentially lost revenue.

Internal duplicate content SEO Impact

Internal content duplication means that the same or similar content is being duplicated on multiple pages of the same website.

It can be either intentional or unintentional. Sometimes, the site owner may use the same content across multiple pages to make their value proposition stand out. At other times, the site owner may use an automated template (like the inherent design of CMS they use) that creates the same copy over multiple pages.

In either situation, internal duplicate content can be a major issue for search engines which can affect the SEO ranking.

Website pages indexing and duplicate content relation

The very first issue that you will encounter with duplicate content is indexing. Crawling and indexing are directly linked to the quality of the content.

If you are wondering why Google may not be indexing your pages if the page is not blocked for indexing then this is the first thing to be assessed.

Indexing is a very expensive exercise for Google considering millions of pages are added with speed regularly and a good percentage are spam or poor content hence Google system is designed in a smart manner with priorities indexing quality pages first that are trustworthy

When you are adding duplicate content you are not adding value to users or making any good impression for indexing.

The best way to get rid of this issue is to just change the content of the duplicate page, delete the page altogether, or apply a canonical tag in the duplicate page to point to the primary page as the main content.

How to deal with internal duplicate content issues?

There are a number of steps you can take to deal with internal duplicate content issues.

Delete/merge duplicate content pages

The best and most simple way to get rid of duplicate content is to simply delete the duplicate pages. This removes any confusion for the search engines about which page to rank and can improve your rankings.

Just make a list of duplicate pages, either delete them or merge them with primary relevant pages.

Make sure that you properly redirect any deleted pages to maintain the integrity of your site and avoid 404 errors.

Use canonical tag

Sometimes, you may not be able to delete pages on your site because keeping duplicates may still add value to users. If you are in that situation then use canonical tag.

Canonical tags signal to search engines which version of the page is the preferred one. This helps consolidate the ranking signals and prevents the less important duplicates from competing with the main content.

For example, if you have two similar pages, add a canonical tag to the duplicate page pointing to the primary page.

Assess overall website architecture

Your website architecture also plays a role in crawling and indexing your website on Google.

The selective approach to either delete or use canonical works fine but if you have a high volume of content then you need to assess the overall website architecture.

A poor website architecture can lead to duplicate content.

Strict policy not to produce duplicate content: This process will ensure your website pages will have mostly healthy content. Clear navigation and website architecture help users not to create duplicate content unintentionally.
CMS & duplicate content: Some content management systems (CMS) are not desired best to manage duplicate content, this is very common for eCommerce systems.

Keyword cannibalisation and SEO impact?

Keyword cannibalisation happens when multiple pages of your website target the same keyword and compete against each other (often the content is also similar), which makes ranking much harder and dilutes the flow of traffic to your pages.

For example, Imagine you run an online store for running shoes with multiple pages targeting “best running shoes.” You have a product page titled “Best Running Shoes for Men” a blog post “Top 10 Best Running Shoes of 2024”, and a category page “Best Running Shoes”.

This leads to keyword cannibalisation, causing search engines to struggle to rank the right page, potentially lowering visibility for all.

How to find keyword cannibalisation?

To find keyword cannibalisation, use the following methods:

Manual Audit: Review your website manually to identify pages with similar content or themes that may be competing for the same keywords.
Google Search: Use Google search with the query site:your-site.com “keywords related to cannibalisation” to find potentially cannibalising pages.
Third-Party Tools: Utilize tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to identify keyword cannibalisation issues by analysing page rankings and traffic data.

Methods to Fix Keyword Cannibalisation

Method 1: Merging Similar Pages

Identify Cannibalising Pages: Use tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush to identify pages targeting the same keywords. These tools can show you which pages are competing against each other in search rankings.
Consolidate Content: Combine the content from similar pages into one comprehensive, authoritative page. This new page should cover the topic in greater detail than any of the individual pages.
Implement 301 Redirects: Redirect the URLs of the old pages to the new consolidated page. This ensures that all link equity is transferred to the main page, improving its chances of ranking higher.

Example:

Old URLs:
- example.com/blog-writing
- example.com/benefits-of-blog-writing
- example.com/generate-traffic-using-blog
Keeping one main URL:
- example.com/blog-writing (containing merged content from all three pages)

Method 2: Using Canonical Tags

Identify Duplicate or Similar Content: Use SEO tools to find pages with overlapping content that cannot be merged for various reasons (e.g., distinct target audiences or specific use cases).
Add Canonical Tags: On the less important pages, add a canonical tag pointing to the main page. This tells search engines that the main page is the preferred version, ensuring it gets the primary focus in search rankings.

Example:

Add the following canonical tag to

example.com/benefits-of-blog-writing
example.com/generate-traffic-using-blog

<link rel=”canonical” href=”https://example.com/blog-writing” />

External (cross-domain) duplicate content penalty

When the content of a page is copied and published on a different domain in an identical manner or even particle copied is treated as cross-domain duplicate content.

There are several reasons why external content duplication occurs:

Scraped Content: When another website copies your content to manipulate traffic, it is considered scraped content. You can request the offending site to remove the content. If they don’t comply, file a DMCA notice to remove the copied pages from search engine indexes. Learn more about DMCA here.
Syndication: Syndication involves third-party sites republishing your content with permission. To avoid duplicate content issues, link syndicated content back to the original site and ensure syndication partner URLs don’t contain parameters to maintain your traffic.
Content Aggregators: Websites that collect content from various sources may duplicate your content. While this can increase visibility, it may also cause SEO conflicts if not properly managed.
Reposted Guest Posts: When guest posts are published on multiple sites without proper canonical tags, it can lead to duplicate content issues. You must ensure that each guest post is unique or add canonical tags to redirect to the main source.
Mirror Sites: Some companies create mirror sites for different regions or languages without altering the content significantly, leading to duplication.

What to do if someone copies your content or how to deal with external duplicate content?

Google’s search engines are designed in such a way as to find the best page relating to a search query and display that on top of the search results to satisfy the user experience.

When someone copies your content, it can create confusion for search engines about which version is the original. This can dilute your content’s authority and potentially allow the copied version to outrank your original page, especially if the offending site has higher domain authority.

So if you find duplicate content on other sites, here’s what you can do:

Identify the duplicate content

You can either manually search for duplicate content by looking at the SERPs for your keywords to find if someone may have copied your content.

Contact the site owner

When you have found the duplicate content, politely ask the site owner to take it down. You must provide evidence that you are the original creator and ask them to take down the content.

You can also try asking them to give credit and add the source link for search engines to know its duplicate.

If the site owner does not comply with your request, file a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) takedown notice with their hosting provider or directly with search engines like Google to have the copied content removed from search results.

If necessary, seek legal counsel to understand your options for addressing more severe or persistent cases of content theft.

Subdomain duplicate content

Subdomain duplicate content occurs when similar or identical content is published on both the main domain and its subdomains.

This duplication can confuse search engines, leading to difficulty in determining which page to rank for specific queries and can potentially harm the overall SEO performance of both the main domain and subdomains.

Example:

Imagine you run a website for a technology blog, and you have the following pages:

Main domain (A): https://example.com/new-iphone-features
Subdomain (B): https://blog.example.com/new-iphone-features

The recommendation is to publish unique content in only one place, if you still need to duplicate for better user experience then add the necessary canonical page from the duplicate to the main source.

In this example, let’s say B is the main source and A is the duplicate content then on page A, canonical can be added to point to the main source (B) in the following manner:

<link rel=”canonical” href=”https://blog.example.com/new-iphone-features” />

FAQs

Is having duplicate content an issue for SEO?

Yes, having duplicate content is an issue for SEO. If multiple pages or sites have the same or similar content, it confuses the search engines in choosing the right content to rank. This makes your page rank less and affects traffic.

How do you handle duplicate content in SEO?

The best way to fix duplicate content in SEO is to delete the duplicate page and implement 301 redirects from the duplicate page to the main page. If deleting may be an issue then you can use the canonical tag as discussed above.

You can also try merging pages with similar content into one if there isn’t any issue with linking. If you find your content is being copied elsewhere, you can take action by requesting removal or using the DMCA takedown process.

Does Google punish duplicate content?

Google doesn’t actually punish duplicate content. You won’t find an error in the Google Search Console about “duplicate content penalty”. This doesn’t mean that your content won’t be affected in the search rankings when there are multiple pages with the same content.

Does having multiple websites or pages with similar content hurt SEO?

Having multiple websites or pages doesn’t necessarily hurt your SEO efforts if done correctly. But if you randomly create different pages with similar content on one website or cross-domain then it can hurt your SEO ranking.

How much duplicate content is acceptable?

There is no real limit on how much duplicate content is acceptable. Most content on Google has at least 20 to 30% of duplicate content. But, try to focus on creating unique and quality content to make it rank well in Google.

How do I delete duplicate content?

You must identify duplicate content using tools like Copyscape or SEMrush. Once identified, remove redundant pages, use 301 redirects, or apply canonical tags to consolidate content and signal the preferred version to search engines

How does Google identify duplicate content?

Google identifies duplicate content by crawling and indexing web pages and comparing content blocks across different URLs. It uses algorithms to detect similarities and determine the most relevant page to display in search results.

How do I report duplicate content?

To report duplicate content, use Google’s DMCA takedown request form. Provide evidence of the original content and the duplicate URL. You can also contact the hosting provider of the duplicating site for faster resolution

Are duplicate images bad for SEO?

Duplicate images are just as bad as duplicate content for SEO. Duplicate images can affect SEO by consuming the crawl budget and causing confusion about which image to rank. Use unique images for each image and add proper alt text and image sitemaps for better rankings.

I need expert help

Whether you have internal or external duplicate content issues, our content SEO experts can help you streamline the content and build powerful content marketing strategies to rank better.

Google duplicate content penalty & SEO ranking impact [2024]