One of the common practices in developing content for search engines is the building of similar pages, each optimised around a different key word or key phrase. Here you can read extracts of the Google editorial guidelines for content (May 2009).
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Duplicate content
Duplicate content generally refers to substantive blocks of content within or across domains that either completely match other content or are appreciably similar. Mostly, this is not deceptive in origin. Examples of non-malicious duplicate content could include:
- Discussion forums that can generate both regular and stripped-down pages targeted at mobile devices
- Store items shown or linked via multiple distinct URLs
- Printer-only versions of web pages
If your site contains multiple pages with largely identical content, there are a number of ways you can indicate your preferred URL to Google. (This is called "canonicalization".) More information about canonicalization.
However, in some cases, content is deliberately duplicated across domains in an attempt to manipulate search engine rankings or win more traffic. Deceptive practices like this can result in a poor user experience, when a visitor sees substantially the same content repeated within a set of search results.
Google tries hard to index and show pages with distinct information. This filtering means, for instance, that if your site has a "regular" and "printer" version of each article, and neither of these is blocked in robots.txt or with a noindex meta tag, we'll choose one of them to list. In the rare cases in which Google perceives that duplicate content may be shown with intent to manipulate our rankings and deceive our users, we'll also make appropriate adjustments in the indexing and ranking of the sites involved. As a result, the ranking of the site may suffer, or the site might be removed entirely from the Google index, in which case it will no longer appear in search results.
There are some steps you can take to proactively address duplicate content issues, and ensure that visitors see the content you want them to.
- Consider blocking pages from indexing: Rather than letting Google's algorithms determine the "best" version of a document, you may wish to help guide us to your preferred version. For instance, if you don't want us to index the printer versions of your site's articles, disallow those directories or make use of regular expressions in your robots.txt file.
- Use 301s: If you've restructured your site, use 301 redirects ("RedirectPermanent") in your .htaccess file to smartly redirect users, Googlebot, and other spiders. (In Apache, you can do this with an .htaccess file; in IIS, you can do this through the administrative console.)
- Be consistent: Try to keep your internal linking consistent. For example, don't link to http://www.example.com/page/ and http://www.example.com/page and http://www.example.com/page/index.htm.
- Use top-level domains: To help us serve the most appropriate version of a document, use top-level domains whenever possible to handle country-specific content. We're more likely to know that www.example.de contains Germany-focused content, for instance, than www.example.com/de or de.example.com.
- Syndicate carefully: If you syndicate your content on other sites, Google will always show the version we think is most appropriate for users in each given search, which may or may not be the version you'd prefer. However, it is helpful to ensure that each site on which your content is syndicated includes a link back to your original article. You can also ask those who use your syndicated material to block the version on their sites with robots.txt.
- Use Webmaster Tools to tell us how you prefer your site to be indexed: You can tell Google your preferred domain (for example, www.example.com or http://example.com).
- Minimize boilerplate repetition: For instance, instead of including lengthy copyright text on the bottom of every page, include a very brief summary and then link to a page with more details.
- Avoid publishing stubs: Users don't like seeing "empty" pages, so avoid placeholders where possible. For example, don't publish pages for which you don't yet have real content. If you do create placeholder pages, use robots.txt to block these from being crawled.
- Understand your content management system: Make sure you're familiar with how content is displayed on your web site. Blogs, forums, and related systems often show the same content in multiple formats. For example, a blog entry may appear on the home page of a blog, in an archive page, and in a page of other entries with the same label.
- Minimize similar content: If you have many pages that are similar, consider expanding each page or consolidating the pages into one. For instance, if you have a travel site with separate pages for two cities, but the same information on both pages, you could either merge the pages into one page about both cities or you could expand each page to contain unique content about each city.
Duplicate content on a site is not grounds for action on that site unless it appears that the intent of the duplicate content is to be deceptive and manipulate search engine results. If your site suffers from duplicate content issues, and you don't follow the advice listed above, we do a good job of choosing a version of the content to show in our search results.
However, if our review indicated that you engaged in deceptive practices and your site has been removed from our search results, review your site carefully. If your site has been removed from our search results, review our webmaster guidelines for more information. Once you've made your changes and are confident that your site no longer violates our guidelines, submit your site for reconsideration.
If you find that another site is duplicating your content by scraping (misappropriating and republishing) it, it's unlikely that this will negatively impact your site's ranking in Google search results pages. If you do spot a case that's particularly frustrating, you are welcome to file a DMCA request to claim ownership of the content and request removal of the other site from Google's index.
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Getting your products found online can be like asking your customers to find the proverbial needle in the haystack. Search engines are key to your business and our one day orientation gives you all the basics you need to get started in effective search engine advertising and marketing. You'll get to grips with the mechanics of search, pay-per-click advertising and the basics of search engine optimization. It's your fast track to being able to make informed decisions about when, where, and how, to harness the power of search engine advertising. It concentrates on the essential knowledge you need, gives you a framework for the future, and delivers practical tips your company can use straight away.
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Here is the place you can discuss issues with your tutor and other Academy participants
A few years ago search marketers started approaching us, frustrated by the fact that their campaigns were not working. Whether they were in search agencies or within client companies, they were doing some great work themselves, but it simply wasn't translating into business results. We dug deeper and started to audit search marketing projects to look at the elements and the breaking points. And that's how we built our 10 Steps to Successful Search Marketing.]]>
The grounding is simply good classic marketing practice, but what's key is to track the search project long before the campaign begins and long after the customer clicks onto the client's site. By seeing search as a more extensive project you can spot weaknesses in the model and barriers to getting the real success it needs. The big conclusion we drew? This is a chain, and a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If one element has a significant weakness then the chain breaks. The simplest way to illustrate this is to remember that the most brilliant keyphrases, compelling advertising copy and smart bidding strategies will all amount to nothing if the landing page doesn't convert. But a weakness at any point will knock out the effectiveness of the campaign.
Getting your brand discovered in search engines demands paying constant attention to best practice. Writing for the web demands translating the language consumers use into language that fits into the key elements of the visible page content on your site. By using headlines you can tell Google and other search engines what is most important and help boost your rankings in natural search results for the terms that matter.
Getting your brand discovered in search engines demands paying constant attention to best practice. Writing for the web demands translating the language consumers use into language that fits into the key elements of the visible page content on your site. By using headlines you can tell Google and other search engines what is most Important and help boost your rankings in natural search results for the terms that matter.
Here you can see AdSense running on one of our web pages. In your training we can go behind the scenes and look at how the AdSense account works for the publisher and how the AdWords account works for the brand. In our training sessions we can explore the bidding processes and understand what marketers need to do to optimise the returns they get. Remember it’s not about being number 1, but about getting the best return on your investment.