Answer
Apr 30, 2024 - 02:49 PM
The first thing we need to do in order to address this question is clarify how Google defines "Duplicate Content" and also reiterate and show where Google has made clear that there is no "Duplicate Content Penalty"....which Google has made abundantly clear. This is a common SEO myth that we run into often which people seem to fear, so let's see what Google has to say about both of these things to start.
What has Google said about Duplicate Content?
Google wrote an article titled "Demystifying the "duplicate content penalty" they clearly say that there is no "Duplicate Content Penalty" where they say this:
"Let's put this to bed once and for all, folks: There's no such thing as a "duplicate content penalty." At least, not in the way most people mean when they say that. There are some penalties that are related to the idea of having the same content as another site—for example, if you're scraping content from other sites and republishing it, or if you republish content without adding any additional value."
So.....don't worry about having some similar content across your own site, it's if you are trying to copy and take credit for other people's content by scraping/publishing, you may have some problems. But, that isn't what most people are doing and what most people are worried about....so many people can stop worrying because they're not doing that.
Even on your own site with original content that you've created but just haven't kept up with your 301 redirects well, etc....if you the the same page that is published on multiple URLs Google specifically says "Don't Fret" about it. In their "Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter Guide" they specifically clarify there as well that you really shouldn't be worried about that.
"If you have some content that's accessible under multiple URLs, it's fine; don't fret about it. It's inefficient, but it's not something that will cause a manual action. Copying others' content, however, is a different story."
Again, they mostly just wanting to make sure websites aren't doing anything malicious by copying others content. So, most people can just relax about "Duplicate Content" if you're not acting maliciously and stealing other people's content.
What about similar Q&A content on multiple pages?
As a general rule, you should be asking yourself the following question when it comes to adding content on any of your pages:
"Will this content be useful and helpful to the visitor on the page?"
Google does have some site wide signals, but when it comes to helpful content Google made it clear in their Helpful Content System FAQ that their core ranking systems are primarily designed to work on the page level when they said this:
"Our core ranking systems are primarily designed to work on the page level, using a variety of signals and systems to understand the helpfulness of individual pages. We do have some site-wide signals that are also considered."
Since Google's search results send visitors to individual pages, they're looking to see if the content on the page satisfies the intent of the searches and give the user a "satisfying experience". They said this in their original Helpful Content Update, that was the purpose of the update was to reward content that creates that satisfying experience.
"The helpful content update aims to better reward content where visitors feel they've had a satisfying experience, while content that doesn't meet a visitor's expectations won't perform as well."
So, what you should be doing is asking yourself that questions per page. If you have a Q&A thread that would be helpful for visitors for all products within a specific category, then it's fine to have that content displaying on each of those pages. Just put yourself in the mind of a visitor to your page and ask yourself honestly, would the customer find this useful? For example, if you sell basketballs and somebody is viewing an "Outdoor Basketball"....you may have the question and answer pair that answers the question "Can outdoor basketballs also be used indoor?". Well, that's useful information to know and perhaps the answer will detail what you may be sacrificing by doing so. Well, that Q&A pair us not only useful for that one Outdoor Basketball...it is useful for any Outdoor Basketball on your site. So, if it's legitimately a useful piece of content for a visitor to your page, you should be fine with posting it. It doesn't make Google give you any "Duplicate Content Penalty" (which as noted above, Google says there is no such penalty) and Googlies goal is to ensure that visitors to any specific page get the most satisfactory experience. If your content achieves that, visitors and Google should love your page.
Can Answerbase help me distribute relevant Q&A content on relevant pages?
Answerbase supports not only product-specific Q&A but also product category Q&A, so the example for "Outdoor Basketballs" does pop up. Sometimes customers run into this when they're viewing our AI-Enhanced Helpful Content recommendations where they may come across a question that could be relevant for many different products or even a whole category of products. Because of this, Answerbase has tools to ensure that you're associating each Q&A pair to the most appropriate product(s) or product category(ies).
For example, when we show you the questions regularly being asked on Google for each product or product category, you'll notice an option that you can associate with a different product or product category as seen here:
So, in the "Outdoor Basketballs" example you would be able to move that Q&A pair to the category level and then through our "Relevance" list option....when the Q&A displays on your product page it will show relevant product-specific Q&A content when it's available but if there isn't any relevant product-specific content it will show relevant product category Q&A which is still helpful for that product and to visitors.
You'll also see that when you're viewing a specific Q&A thread in your administration site, you can edit the product association as seen here:
When you edit, you can associate a specific Q&A pair to multiple products and product categories as shown here:
So, Answerbase gives you the ability to associate each specific Q&A thread to as many pages/products/categories as it is relevant to. This ensures that you can effeciently create and review content and also effectively distribute it to all relevant pages throughout your site. Again, site owners should be putting themselves in the mind of the user and legitimately feel that the content is going to be useful to the visitors of each of the pages it is associated with, but if it passes that test you should be serving your customers best and simultaneously optimizing your pages for SEO.
What has Google said about Duplicate Content?
Google wrote an article titled "Demystifying the "duplicate content penalty" they clearly say that there is no "Duplicate Content Penalty" where they say this:
"Let's put this to bed once and for all, folks: There's no such thing as a "duplicate content penalty." At least, not in the way most people mean when they say that. There are some penalties that are related to the idea of having the same content as another site—for example, if you're scraping content from other sites and republishing it, or if you republish content without adding any additional value."
So.....don't worry about having some similar content across your own site, it's if you are trying to copy and take credit for other people's content by scraping/publishing, you may have some problems. But, that isn't what most people are doing and what most people are worried about....so many people can stop worrying because they're not doing that.
Even on your own site with original content that you've created but just haven't kept up with your 301 redirects well, etc....if you the the same page that is published on multiple URLs Google specifically says "Don't Fret" about it. In their "Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Starter Guide" they specifically clarify there as well that you really shouldn't be worried about that.
"If you have some content that's accessible under multiple URLs, it's fine; don't fret about it. It's inefficient, but it's not something that will cause a manual action. Copying others' content, however, is a different story."
Again, they mostly just wanting to make sure websites aren't doing anything malicious by copying others content. So, most people can just relax about "Duplicate Content" if you're not acting maliciously and stealing other people's content.
What about similar Q&A content on multiple pages?
As a general rule, you should be asking yourself the following question when it comes to adding content on any of your pages:
"Will this content be useful and helpful to the visitor on the page?"
Google does have some site wide signals, but when it comes to helpful content Google made it clear in their Helpful Content System FAQ that their core ranking systems are primarily designed to work on the page level when they said this:
"Our core ranking systems are primarily designed to work on the page level, using a variety of signals and systems to understand the helpfulness of individual pages. We do have some site-wide signals that are also considered."
Since Google's search results send visitors to individual pages, they're looking to see if the content on the page satisfies the intent of the searches and give the user a "satisfying experience". They said this in their original Helpful Content Update, that was the purpose of the update was to reward content that creates that satisfying experience.
"The helpful content update aims to better reward content where visitors feel they've had a satisfying experience, while content that doesn't meet a visitor's expectations won't perform as well."
So, what you should be doing is asking yourself that questions per page. If you have a Q&A thread that would be helpful for visitors for all products within a specific category, then it's fine to have that content displaying on each of those pages. Just put yourself in the mind of a visitor to your page and ask yourself honestly, would the customer find this useful? For example, if you sell basketballs and somebody is viewing an "Outdoor Basketball"....you may have the question and answer pair that answers the question "Can outdoor basketballs also be used indoor?". Well, that's useful information to know and perhaps the answer will detail what you may be sacrificing by doing so. Well, that Q&A pair us not only useful for that one Outdoor Basketball...it is useful for any Outdoor Basketball on your site. So, if it's legitimately a useful piece of content for a visitor to your page, you should be fine with posting it. It doesn't make Google give you any "Duplicate Content Penalty" (which as noted above, Google says there is no such penalty) and Googlies goal is to ensure that visitors to any specific page get the most satisfactory experience. If your content achieves that, visitors and Google should love your page.
Can Answerbase help me distribute relevant Q&A content on relevant pages?
Answerbase supports not only product-specific Q&A but also product category Q&A, so the example for "Outdoor Basketballs" does pop up. Sometimes customers run into this when they're viewing our AI-Enhanced Helpful Content recommendations where they may come across a question that could be relevant for many different products or even a whole category of products. Because of this, Answerbase has tools to ensure that you're associating each Q&A pair to the most appropriate product(s) or product category(ies).
For example, when we show you the questions regularly being asked on Google for each product or product category, you'll notice an option that you can associate with a different product or product category as seen here:
So, in the "Outdoor Basketballs" example you would be able to move that Q&A pair to the category level and then through our "Relevance" list option....when the Q&A displays on your product page it will show relevant product-specific Q&A content when it's available but if there isn't any relevant product-specific content it will show relevant product category Q&A which is still helpful for that product and to visitors.
You'll also see that when you're viewing a specific Q&A thread in your administration site, you can edit the product association as seen here:
When you edit, you can associate a specific Q&A pair to multiple products and product categories as shown here:
So, Answerbase gives you the ability to associate each specific Q&A thread to as many pages/products/categories as it is relevant to. This ensures that you can effeciently create and review content and also effectively distribute it to all relevant pages throughout your site. Again, site owners should be putting themselves in the mind of the user and legitimately feel that the content is going to be useful to the visitors of each of the pages it is associated with, but if it passes that test you should be serving your customers best and simultaneously optimizing your pages for SEO.
