As a content marketing professional, it can be challenging to provide your clients with completely unique content. That’s not only because of the vast amount of content online, but also because certain industries and websites require very similar content. For example, printer-friendly or mobile versions of webpages or store items that are listed online in several different ways can appear to search engines as duplicate content. Here are three tips for marketers about how to identify and remedy a duplicate content issue.

1: Structure Domain Names Correctly

Google makes it easier for your client’s potential customers to find the content they need when your domain names are all structured in the same way with consistent linking and formatting. For example, content that is on https://www.example.com/ and also appears on http://www.example.com/index.htm will appear to Google and other search engines like it is duplicate content. Also, using top-level domains can help distinguish similar content as unique, particularly when working with international websites.

2: Use Caution With Syndication

While syndicated content is a great way to spread the word about your client’s products and services, it can also cause confusion if these syndicated pages are not indexed correctly. To remedy this issue, make sure that other sites syndicating your content not only link back to the original article, but also use the noindex tag in the metadata to keep the duplicate content from being picked up by search engines.

3: Streamline the Structure of Your Site

Avoid using the same boilerplate content, such as a mission statement or contact details, on more than one page. Don’t set up “placeholder” web pages without real content. If you need to do so, make sure to use the noindex metadata tag to keep irrelevant content from getting picked up by search engines. Instead of publishing two pages with similar content, consider restructuring your client’s site so that shorter pages with similar content are grouped together as one page.

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