What is duplicate content in SEO?

Duplicate content is content that’s identical or nearly identical and is found in different URLs. If a page contains the exact same copy as another page, it’s considered duplicate content. Duplicate content can be found within the same website or on pages from different websites.

Does Google penalize duplicate content?

Expert Insights From Google logo “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.” (Source) GOOGLE Google doesn’t penalize duplicate content — at least when it’s unintentional. However, deliberately scraping content from another website and republishing it as your own is discouraged in Google’s Search Essentials’ Spam Policies. Scraping may result in the site ranking lower in search engine results pages (SERPs) or not appearing in SERPs.

How does duplicate content happen?

Most duplicate content published is unintentional. In fact, some site owners may not be aware that they’ve created duplicate content on their site! Here are four ways duplicate content happens within your site: 1. URL variations Your site may inadvertently create new URLs when it uses session IDs or click tracking, so what was supposed to be one URL can have multiple ones. Having a printer-friendly version of a page can also result in duplicate content when other versions of a URL get indexed. 2. Site versions Does your website have HTTP and HTTPS versions? If you do, you have created duplicates of your site or pages. A website that has versions with and without “www” at the beginning may have also made copies of their pages and website. 3. Scraped content Scraping content is copying content from one page to another. Sometimes, this is done without malice. For example, two different distributors of the same brand may have product pages with similar copies. 4. Coincidental duplication Different websites can create and publish similar content. News websites cover the same events. Multiple distributors of the same brand and products may have almost identical category pages.

What is the impact of duplicate content on SEO?

While Google doesn’t penalize unintentionally created duplicate content, having identical content or pages may adversely affect your SEO efforts. For one, the alternate version of your page may get more backlinks than the version you’ve been optimizing. As a result, the alternate page may also show up in SERPs. Having multiple versions of a page also dilutes link juice — instead of a single page receiving all the backlinks, it shares it with the duplicate pages on your site. Duplicate content may also prevent your newly published pages from getting indexed. Each website has a crawl budget. Instead of crawling and indexing your new pages, search engine bots may spend more time and resources on crawling your duplicate pages instead.

What Are Keywords in SEO and Why Are They Important?

Written by WebFX

Last Updated June 4, 2024

Keywords

Keywords are specific words or phrases that summarize the content of a webpage and are used in SEO to help search engines understand and rank the page appropriately.

Written by WebFX

Last Updated June 4, 2024

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Every day, Google processes around 8.5 million search queries from people trying to meet a need. Search queries are the words we type into Google’s search bar, and they’re made up of keywords. Keywords form the foundation of every search engine optimization (SEO) strategy, as they help get content to people actively searching for it.

If you’re looking to dive into the world of SEO to improve your website, keywords are one of the first concepts you should understand. Learn more about keywords, the different types, and why they’re so important in this guide. When you’re done, check out even more SEO tips in our blog!

What are keywords in SEO?

A keyword can be called multiple things — such as a search query, SEO keyword, or focus keyword — but they’re essentially just words and phrases users type into search bars to find what they’re looking for. An example of a keyword is “Google,” which, interestingly enough, was the most searched word on Google in 2023.

Keywords can be a single word or a string of words — also known as a key phrase. Regardless, keywords have a few categorization options that make them easier to understand and group, which we’ll discuss in the following two sections.

What are the types of keywords?

One way to classify keywords is according to their length. Depending on how long they are, we can put all keywords into one of two main categories:

Short-tail keywords: These keywords are only one or two words long. Our previous example of “Google” is a short-tail keyword, but “denim shorts” would be another example.

Long-tail keywords: A long-tail keyword contains three or more words and is sometimes a full sentence. They are naturally more specific due to their length. For example, someone may search for “best Italian restaurants in New York,” which is more detailed than “best restaurants.”

So, which one is better? Long-tail keywords are much easier to rank for than short-tail keywords. This is because they’re specific, so they have clearer search intent and are easier to target.

What is keyword search intent?

When you search for something on Google, you already have some idea of what you need, whether that’s information, a specific website, or a product. The reasoning or goal behind your search query is called search intent or user intent.

A user’s search intent will guide their keyword choice, so we can analyze keywords to determine search intent. There are four main types of keyword search intent:

Navigational: The user is looking for a specific website, such as “Facebook.”
Informational: The user needs more information and may search “how to bake a cake.”
Commercial: The user is searching for specific information to make a purchase, like “gyms near me.”
Transactional: The user is looking to make a purchase and may search for “couches for sale.”

Why do keywords matter in SEO?

Now you know what keywords are, the different types, and how search intent helps us understand the goal behind them. But why do you need keywords?

Keywords are the most important part of SEO. Learn why and how they will help your website below.

1. Improve search engine rankings

When search engines receive a search query, they use the keywords in it to find relevant content that matches both the user’s search intent and the topic. It then creates a list of links for the searcher to choose from. With SEO, the main goal is to get your website high up on those search engine results pages (SERPs).

By studying keywords and finding ones that match your business offerings and expertise, you can incorporate them into relevant existing pages and new content. These pages will have a better chance of ranking higher on SERPs because they match the search keywords and are helpful to the searcher.

2. Increase website traffic

Over 68% of all website traffic comes from search engines, as this is where people go to help them make decisions or find more information. Your site may look amazing and have great content, but without keyword integration, Google won’t show it high up on SERPs.

When you optimize your website by incorporating keywords throughout, you’ll start to see your SERP rankings go up. This pushes your website higher on the list of links, and more people will see it. Higher rankings increase your chances of people clicking on your website, and with more people visiting, your website traffic will grow.

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3. Inform content strategies

You can create a website or blog full of content and get very little traffic if you don’t consider keywords. Keywords help us understand what people are looking for, and when you create content to satisfy their search query, Google and other search engines will show your website to more people.

Use keywords as a guide to inform the content you create for your website, and modify existing pages to match up with keywords you want them to rank for. Remember that relevance is key — if your site ranks well for a keyword but doesn’t meet the searcher’s intent or need, they’ll click off quickly to find something better.

Need help finding keywords?

A keyword-focused SEO strategy is one of the best things you can have to get more website traffic and increase sales. However, it requires extensive keyword research and keyword optimization.

At SEO.com, we have all the resources you need to grow your knowledge of SEO topics, such as keywords. Check out our ultimate keyword research guide today to learn how to find the right keywords for your website. Also, take a look at our beginner’s SEO guide to discover more about SEO in general.

Ready to take your SEO to the next level? Discover keyword opportunities, track competitors, audit your website and more with SEO.com. Try SEO.com for free today to get immediate insights!

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If you’d like to leave all the keyword work up to the professionals, view our SEO services and contact us to get a free SEO proposal! WebFX — the company behind SEO.com — has helped thousands of businesses get real results through SEO, and we’d love to do the same for you.