Best way to avoid duplicate content

mrsmcy · May 24, 2013

We've got a website that sells lots of the same product but with different designs. The designs can be printed on different materials so on each page we describe each of the materials. Will we get stung for duplicate content on our product pages and will this be bad for our SEO?

We have thought about having a seperate page about the materials with a link on each product to it but I'm not keen on taking people away from the product page. Also concerned people won't bother to read the page from an page linked. Any tips on the best way to handle this?

SBOnline · May 24, 2013

I would try to keep the content as unique as possible, but if each material is different then surely the content would be different too anyway?

Even if the descriptions are short, try to change the way it is written each time.

SetupaCompany · May 24, 2013

Add in a paragraph of text each time to describe how the person could use the item or how it will look, etc just to give a bit more than plain facts and to help you keep things unique.

Alternatively you could look at getting the materials description to appear as a hover-over on mouseover or something like that - although I'm not sure that would solve the issue as I guess most of the rest of the page is virtually identical to the other listings?

fisicx · May 24, 2013

Don't worry about it. Write your descriptions for the potential client. As long as the words make sense google isn't going to get too fussed over using the same material blurb on multiple pages.

What can help is adding supporting info. If you have a testimonial or a review or something then put it on the page. If you have some info about the green credentials of the supplier then put it on the page. Add stuff about product packages and similar products. Build up the page so that it really looks like you care about the products and your potential clients.

SetupaCompany · May 24, 2013

fisicx said:
Don't worry about it. Write your descriptions for the potential client. As long as the words make sense google isn't going to get too fussed over using the same material blurb on multiple pages.

That's what Google would say..... but we all know what Google say and what Google do are often completely different things.

Ideally though you should be able to add extra unique content to each page that adds value to the customers experience - thus killing two birds with one stone.

Shelly Watson · May 24, 2013

Creating unique content for each product, Google likes unique and original content.

mrsmcy · May 24, 2013

Thanks for the replies. We do add a paragraph about each design but they can choose the design on 3 different types of paper. We like to explain the qualities of each paper eg the finish, thickness etc. As the 3 papers are used in every design the bullet point descriptions are the same. This was my concern about the duplicate content. The description about the design is always different.

fisicx · May 24, 2013

Don't worry about it. I've tested this and everything was fine. Just write your descriptions for your customers and let Google do its thing.

RubixEvolution · May 28, 2013

mrsmcy said:
We've got a website that sells lots of the same product but with different designs. The designs can be printed on different materials so on each page we describe each of the materials. Will we get stung for duplicate content on our product pages and will this be bad for our SEO?

We have thought about having a seperate page about the materials with a link on each product to it but I'm not keen on taking people away from the product page. Also concerned people won't bother to read the page from an page linked. Any tips on the best way to handle this?

This was a common issue on eCommerce websites and Google came with a tag called ''Canonical'' tag. Please check below videos from Matt, they should give you idea and if you are using Magento, it is very easy to activate the tag.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm9onOGTgeM
http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/rel-canonical-html-head/

I hope that helps

stefanss · May 28, 2013

If you have many pages that are similar, the best for you is to consider expanding each page or consolidating the pages into one.

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Best way to avoid duplicate content

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