Duplicate content has long been an issue for businesses marketing online, and as search engines update their algorithms and use increasingly sophisticated processes, it is important for your web design to feature fresh, unique content.
Google and other search engines are constantly refining the way they identify sites that have low value duplicate content, in an effort to remove such sites from their results. For business websites, getting a poor search engine ranking can be a site-killer, as lower rankings result in less traffic.
Tips For Avoiding Duplicate Content
Listed below are a number of tips business owners can take to keep their websites on the right side of the search engine ranking.
– Make sure that any quoted or cited content included in your site is used sparingly. Quotes or excerpts should not trigger search ranking downgrades if used economically, but judicious use is key to avoiding an adverse result.
– Make use of 301 redirects where necessary. If you have to change file names or move pages around, employing a 301 redirect is the safest option. The code “301” is interpreted as “moved permanently”. It’s simple to implement and it should preserve your search engine rankings for that particular page.
– If you syndicate content, ensure that is not the same as content your main website (have rewrites done if necessary).
– Avoid having junk pages on your site that offer little or no useful content to readers.
– If you have pages on your site that are similar, consider consolidating them or adding new content to make them more unique.
– Regularly update your website with new pages, articles, blog posts or product information. Help it to grow in a natural way.
Web Design Companies Can Help
Building a business website is tough enough without having to constantly update and tweak it to keep it ahead of search engine trends. A professional web designer that specialises in online marketing can help optimise your site, making it more likely to get good levels of visitor traffic.
Professional SEO services are delivered by the highest level web design consultants, who keep track of changes to Google and other search engines, such as the rolling Google Panda updates, first implemented in 2011, and continuing. Google Panda updates are intended to weed out low quality sites and have impacted about 12 percent of all search engine results since its initial rollout.
While most businesses can handle the basics of keeping their site fresh, the more advanced aspects of web design and search engine optimisation that can transform a website into a business are best left to a professional service.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Panda
http://dejanseo.com.au/avoiding-duplicate-content-issues/