Samel Shrestha – SEO Expert in Nepal

dulplicate content causes and how to fix it

Have you ever wondered why your website isn’t appearing in search results as often as you’d like? One common reason could be duplicate content. This happens when similar or identical content appears in multiple places on the internet, making it hard for search engines to know which version to show. 

It’s a problem that can hurt your website’s performance without you even realizing it. In this blog, I’ll explain why duplicate content happens and share simple ways to fix it so your website can get the attention it deserves.

What is Duplicate Content in SEO?

Duplicate content in SEO is when the same or similar content appears on multiple pages on your website or across different websites. It can confuse search engines, making it hard for them to decide which page to show in search results, hurting your rankings.

Common causes include having multiple pages with the same text, using similar descriptions for different products, or having multiple URLs pointing to the same content.

To fix it, you can combine similar pages, use redirects to point to the original content or mark duplicate pages with tags to tell search engines which one to prioritize.

Why is Duplicate Content Bad for SEO?

1. Lower Search Engine Rankings

When search engines like Google crawl your site, they try to figure out which page is the best one to show for a particular search. Search engines can’t decide which one should rank if there are multiple pages with the same or very similar content. 

As a result, they may only show one of those pages in the search results or, in the worst case, none at all. Your content could get buried, and you’ll lose potential visitors.

2. Crawling and Indexing Issues

Search engines send out “bots” to explore websites and decide which pages to show in search results. If those bots find duplicate content on multiple pages, they spend time crawling those pages instead of discovering new ones. This means some of your fresh, original content might get ignored or not indexed at all. 

As a result, those pages won’t show up in search results, even though they contain great content.

3. Negative User Experience

When visitors come to your site, they expect to find fresh, unique content. If they end up on multiple pages with the same or very similar content, it can confuse them and make your site feel unorganized or poorly designed. This can drive people away and increase your bounce rate (when visitors leave your site quickly without browsing other pages). 

A bad user experience can harm your reputation and, ultimately, your rankings in search engines.

4. Wasted Resources

Search engines have limited resources when crawling and indexing your site. If they spend too much time processing duplicate pages, they might miss important content. 

This can delay the indexing of newer content or important updates, meaning your fresh content won’t get ranked or displayed as quickly.

Is there a Duplicate Conent Penalty by Google?

One of the biggest misconceptions in SEO is that Google imposes a strict penalty for duplicate content. The truth is that having duplicate content can hurt your website’s performance, but there’s no such thing as a duplicate content penalty. 

Google does not penalize websites simply for having duplicate content, but it does filter out similar versions of a page to determine the most relevant one to show in search results.

If Google detects an intent to deceive users or manipulate rankings, your site might receive a manual action, which can cause a significant drop in traffic.

Google penalty on Duplicate content
Image screenshot taken from Google search central blog.

Common Causes of Duplicate Content in SEO

causes of duplicate content in SEO.

Non-www vs www and HTTP vs HTTPs

Duplicate content can happen when your website is accessible in different versions, like with and without “www” or using “HTTP” and “HTTPS.” Even though all these versions show the same content, search engines see them as separate pages. This creates confusion, as search engines don’t know which version to rank, and your website’s performance can get hurt.

Let’s say your website is called example.com. Visitors can access it in these ways:

  1. http://example.com
  2. http://www.example.com
  3. https://example.com
  4. https://www.example.com
While all these links take people to the same site, search engines treat them as different pages with the same content.

Taxonomies

Taxonomies on a website refer to how content is grouped or categorized, such as by tags, categories, or topics. While they help organize information, they can accidentally create duplicate content when the same article or page shows up under multiple categories or tags.

For example, imagine you have a blog about travel, and you write a post about “Top 10 Things to Do in Nepal.” You assign this post to both the Nepal category and the Adventure Travel category. If your website creates a separate URL for each category, the same post might appear at:

  • www.example.com/nepal/top-10-things-to-do-in-kathmandu
  • www.example.com/adventure-travel/top-10-things-to-do-in-kathmandu

Now, search engines see two different links with the exact same content, and they may struggle to decide which one to rank. This can split your visibility and harm your website’s performance.

Print-Friendly Pages

Some websites provide a print-friendly version of the articles. These pages typically have separate URLs.

URLs may contain keywords like “print,” “printable,” or “pdf” in the web addresses, and they are often similar to the original URL but with added parameters or subdirectories. 

Imagine you have a recipe website and publish a recipe for “Chocolate Cake.” The normal webpage URL might look like this:

 

www.myrecipes.com/chocolate-cake

 

But you also have a print-friendly version of the same recipe with a different URL:

 

www.myrecipes.com/chocolate-cake/print

 

Since the content within the web pages is the same, search engines treat them as duplicate content. This means they could compete against each other in search rankings, reducing the visibility of your website.

Localization and hreflang

Localization is about creating different versions of your website for specific countries or languages. At the same time, “hreflang” is a way to tell search engines which version of your content is meant for which audience. Although it’s a great way to serve users in their preferred language or region, it can unintentionally lead to duplicate content issues if not handled carefully.

Imagine you have a website that sells sunglasses, and you’ve created two versions of your site—one for users in Nepal (in English) and another for the UK (in English). Both versions of your homepage have the same content, such as:

 

  • Title: “Shop the Best Sunglasses for Every Style and Season”
  • Description: “Discover our collection of sunglasses designed for comfort and style, available with free shipping!”

 

Even though the content is intended for different regions, search engines might see it as duplicate content because there’s no difference between the two versions apart from their URLs, such as:

 

  • Nepal version: www.example.com/np
  • UK version: www.example.com/uk
 

With the proper use of hreflang tags, search engines might be able to understand that these pages are meant for different audiences. This confusion can result in one version being ignored or both being ranked lower, which affects your visibility.

Scraped or Stolen Content

When someone copies content from your website and publishes it on their site without making any changes, it’s called scraped or stolen content. This creates duplicate content because the exact text now exists on two or more websites. Search engines confuse which version to prioritize in search results, which can harm your site’s rankings, even if you’re the original creator.

Imagine you’ve written a detailed blog about “The Benefits of Healthy Eating” and published it on your website. A different website copies your entire article and posts it on their site. When someone searches for information on healthy eating, the search engine may not know whether to show your page or the copied version. Sometimes, the copied page might even rank higher if that site has better authority or more visitors, which means your hard work goes unnoticed.

Pagination

Pagination can lead to duplicate SEO content issues when multiple series pages contain similar or repeated content. For example, imagine you have an online store selling books. You list 100 books in one category but split them across 10 pages, with 10 books per page.

Now, the category description at the top of each page remains the same. Search engines see this repeated description across all 10 pages and may consider it as duplicate content. They might struggle to figure out which page to prioritize in search results, weakening the visibility of all your pages.

Additionally, if the pagination links (like “Page 1,” “Page 2”) are not handled correctly, search engines might think the individual pages are separate but identical, further confusing them and affecting your rankings.

How to Fix Duplicate Content?

Use Canonical Tags to Point to the Original Page (REL = Canonical)

One of the easiest ways to fix duplicate content is using canonical tags. A canonical tag is like a “thumbs up” from you to Google, saying, “Hey, this page is the original one, and all other pages like it should point to this.” It helps Google know which version of the content is the most important.

For example, if your product page is accessible from multiple URLs (e.g., example.com/product1 and example.com/shop/category/product1), you can add a canonical tag to one of the pages pointing to the other. This tells search engines that the second URL is just a duplicate and should be treated as the same as the original.

To specify a canonical URL, simply insert a canonical tag in the HTML <head> of the page,

<link rel=”canonical” href=”https://example.com/your-preferred-page” />.

Check what Google says about canonical tags.

Redirect Duplicate Pages Using 301 Redirects

301 redirect for duplicate content issues in SEO

Another quick fix is to set up 301 redirects. A 301 redirect is like giving a map to search engines, directing them to the original page. If you have duplicate content that doesn’t add value, you can use a 301 redirect to send visitors and search engines straight to the original, ensuring all the link authority goes to the right place.

For example, if you have two pages with the same content—maybe one was created by mistake or is outdated—you can redirect it to the most crucial page. This way, users won’t hit a dead end, and search engines won’t treat your content as redundant.

Merge Similar Content

Sometimes, duplicate content happens because you’ve written similar posts or pages on the same topic. Instead of keeping multiple pages with almost identical content, consider merging them into one comprehensive, well-rounded page. This will solve the duplicate issue and give your users more valuable information in one place.

For example, if you’ve written two blog posts about “SEO Tips” and “SEO Best Practices,” combining them into one long, detailed article will give your readers more value, and Google will reward you. Plus, all the backlinks and SEO power from both articles will be concentrated in one place.

Avoid Using the Same Content Across Multiple Pages

You might have a blog, product descriptions, or even landing pages that use the same content across different areas of your website. If this is the case, it’s time to create unique content for each page. Even slight variations can make a big difference.

For instance, you run an e-commerce site with nearly identical product descriptions. Try changing up the text to make it more specific to each product. This makes your content stand out, reduces duplication, and provides a better experience for users.

Noindex Duplicate Pages

Sometimes, some pages on your website might not need to be indexed, like filter pages or archive pages. If these pages have similar content to other pages, you can add a noindex tag. This tells search engines, “Don’t show this page in search results.” It’s a simple fix that prevents duplicate content from negatively impacting your SEO.

You can add a noindex tag on any page by adding a noindex directive in a robots meta tag – simply add the following code to the <head> section of the HTML: <meta name=”robots” content=”noindex”>

For example, you might have multiple pages that list products by category. Rather than indexing all these, you can set a no index tag to prevent the search engines from considering them duplicate content.

How to Find Duplicate Content?

Finding Duplicate Content Within Your Own Website

Using Screaming From SEO Spider, you can easily find duplicate content by checking whether your pages have unique titles, meta descriptions, and H1 headings.

duplicate content check using screaming frog.

Run a site audit using SEO tools like Ahrefs to detect duplicate content and issues with canonicalization.

site audit with Ahrefs to identify duplicate content issue

Finding Duplicate Content Outside Your Website

Use Copyscape to check if your content is duplicated externally on other websites. Just put your website in the box, and Copyscape displays all the similar content from external websites.

duplicate content checker using copyscape

Conclusion

Duplicate content is a common issue, but it doesn’t have to hurt your website. By understanding why it happens and taking simple steps like using canonical tags, 301 redirects, and creating unique content, you can keep your site in good shape.

The goal is to make it easy for search engines to understand your pages and give users a great experience. Focus on creating original, valuable content, and watch for unintentional duplicates.