Duplicate Content - Product Specifications

[SEO Lady]

Hi guys n dolls

I'm working with a client that resells niche utility tools, specifically drain cameras. They have bagged a new supplier and are loading their products on site to sell.

If they copy and paste the technical specifications then legally aren't they supposed to credit the original source? Additionally, won't Google frown on them for dupe content?

Looking elsewhere online there are many other websites that have copied and pasted the specs and not credited the source page.

In my eyes we should link back to the product but then there's the issue of pointing potential customers over to the manufacturer and they can buy direct from them instead of client.

Thoughts/advice?

Big thanks

 

[fisicx]

Rework the specs. Do things like change the order or tweak the words and suddenly it’s no longer duplicate content.

Or maybe link to a pdf with the full specs.

 

[Anderz]

You have to read into the actual source and understand the dublicate policy right.

It means no 2 pages on a website must have the same content!

I got 1500 + product pages for my Shop and Google has no problem doing index for those even if I got the same info as my supplier where I get the product feed from.

 

[SEO Lady]

Rework the specs. Do things like change the order or tweak the words and suddenly it’s no longer duplicate content.

Or maybe link to a pdf with the full specs.

Yeah there's like 1,500 words per product, it's not like specs for an Argos bed or anything,

So you agree with the legalities of it all that we can't steal someones content and publish it without credit?

 

[fisicx]

Unless the supplier agreement includes the specs you can’t use them. Pay a copywriter to do the rework and everything will be all rosy.

 

[MaureenP]

Hi guys n dolls

I'm working with a client that resells niche utility tools, specifically drain cameras. They have bagged a new supplier and are loading their products on site to sell.

If they copy and paste the technical specifications then legally aren't they supposed to credit the original source? Additionally, won't Google frown on them for dupe content?

Looking elsewhere online there are many other websites that have copied and pasted the specs and not credited the source page.

In my eyes we should link back to the product but then there's the issue of pointing potential customers over to the manufacturer and they can buy direct from them instead of client.

Thoughts/advice?

Big thanks

Technical specifications remains the same but you should rewrite them using your tone in the specification but the meaning for the specification should not be changed, so you should be careful for it.

 

[Calvin Crane]

It depends! Duplicate content is no longer such a problem as it once was as google understands that duplicated content is not necessarily bad! I liken the issue to having train-times on a long platform at each end and in the middle. It's life.
You should absolutely do some AB testing for this and there should be other content that means the page itself is not a rip off. Common sense should mean that in your website terms and conditions you allow retailers to use specs. It isn't practical to edit 20k product lines. So you should get the ok to use the spec if you want to be fully nice but in my testing and experience it won't be a problem.

 

[AMSUSER]

Duplicate content means search engines have to waste time crawling all the different duplicate versions of a page, and you’re relying on them to do it in the way you want them to. The end result is Google is forced to choose from multiple pieces of content with different levels authority. If you happen to syndicate to a 3rd party with higher authority, it's possible Google could filter your content in favor of the more authoritative piece.

 

[xoxoseo]

Rewrite spec and if possible encourage clients to leave reviews to increase the overall originality of a webpage and refresh it

 

[HostXNow]

Yeah there's like 1,500 words per product, it's not like specs for an Argos bed or anything,

So you agree with the legalities of it all that we can't steal someones content and publish it without credit?

I think it depends on his budget. If he doesn't have the budget for around 1,500 words for each product to be written for SEO benefits then he has no choice and will have to make do with product descriptions from original manufacturers.

But sure, having unique content should definitely help with SERPs and the like if done correctly. as fisicx mentioned a copywriter would be needed to rewrite everything, but again, only if he has the budget for this.

 

[justinaldridge]

There is no problem in them having duplicated content on their site, they just won't get the benefit of it as it's already been indexed and ranked somewhere else.

You can't rewrite all products and there is really no need to, at least initially, as the majority of sales will come from the main/top products.

Initially focus on creating unique and better descriptions for the top products and gradually work through the others. There is no point in just rewriting, Google is very clever at detecting when content is similar. That technique does not work so well now.

Add value, don't just rewrite!

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Are you talking about specs or description, its really the description that sells the items with the specs following. make sure the descriptions are different in some way as a starter and as time permits add to the specs to make them slightly different in parts

You should get written notice from the supplier to use their documents and images to help you resell there products which is nearly always given

 

[StephenSumner]

If you want to rank ahead of the pages using the same content you are using, you are either going need to use brute force with domain authority or, re-write them. It's probably best to re-write them anyway, you can make a better experience for your users.

 

[Matt1966]

The specs on a product cannot change, so there isn't much you can do about this.

But, if you're talking about descriptions - that's different. You'd be doing your client wrong if you didn't insist on getting unique descriptions written.

If the descriptions and specs are identical then yes... you should credit the original source. This shouldn't be done by a link though, it should be canonicalised.

 

[Matt1966]

Additionally, won't Google frown on them for dupe content?

This is the basics of the basics. Personally, I don't think you should be charging for the service if you don't know the answer to this.

But to answer your question; Google will basically put an invisible canonical onto your page. Meaning, the source page will always be the boss. Watch Matt Cutts talk about your problem

 

[StevePoster]

Most of the time specs are usually the same when it comes to products but when it comes to descriptions its a different story. Because this will determine your strategy in sales pitch in which showcasing your unique benefits and usage from the product.

 

[iDigLocal]

You should work on the description of the products and try to provide information that helps the buyer to make a decision. Its best to try and rewrite the description so that it differs from the manufacturers description as most other resellers are just going to copy and paste this, you want yours to stand out from the crowd. This also gives you the opportunity to target different search queries that are perhaps not utilised in the original manufacturer’s copy.

As to usage, generally a manufacturer is happy for their resellers to use images and product specifications from their marketing material (including the web) as they want you to sell more of their products. This material is generally produced with this end goal in mind. A quick email to their account manager will check this but it seems very unlikely that they would object.

 

[Calvin Crane]

Google is a lot better now and also people have got the message it doesn't work so it won't hurt your site you just won't get credit for words indexed elsewhere.