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SEO Library Technical SEO 1 min read

Duplicate Content

In short

Duplicate content is identical or very similar content that appears at more than one URL, on the same site or across different sites. It isn't usually penalised, but it splits signals and makes Google choose which version to show.

Last reviewed · Iftikhar Qureshi

On this page

Is there a duplicate content penalty?#

For normal websites, no. Google has said repeatedly that duplicate content isn’t a penalty unless it’s deliberately deceptive (for example, scraping other sites at scale). The real problems are practical: links and other signals get split between URLs, Google may rank the version you don’t want, and crawl effort is wasted.

Common causes#

  • URL variations: http vs https, www vs non-www, trailing slashes, uppercase letters.
  • Tracking and sorting parameters: ?utm_source=, ?sort=price, session IDs.
  • Products in multiple categories with different paths.
  • Printer-friendly pages, AMP versions, paginated comments.
  • Location pages that only swap the city name.
  • Content syndicated to other sites or copied by scrapers.

How to fix it#

Situation Fix
Same page at several URLs 301-redirect to one version, or add a canonical tag
Near-identical articles Merge into one stronger page and redirect the rest
Thin city/variant pages Add genuinely unique content or consolidate
Syndicated content Ask partners to add a canonical pointing to your original
Low-value archives Add noindex

Use Search Console’s Pages report (“Duplicate, Google chose different canonical”) to find problems. Related: duplicate content in WordPress, keyword cannibalization.

Share this term
SEO Library Technical SEO 1 min read

Duplicate Content

In short

Duplicate content is identical or very similar content that appears at more than one URL, on the same site or across different sites. It isn't usually penalised, but it splits signals and makes Google choose which version to show.

Last reviewed · Iftikhar Qureshi

On this page

Is there a duplicate content penalty?#

For normal websites, no. Google has said repeatedly that duplicate content isn’t a penalty unless it’s deliberately deceptive (for example, scraping other sites at scale). The real problems are practical: links and other signals get split between URLs, Google may rank the version you don’t want, and crawl effort is wasted.

Common causes#

  • URL variations: http vs https, www vs non-www, trailing slashes, uppercase letters.
  • Tracking and sorting parameters: ?utm_source=, ?sort=price, session IDs.
  • Products in multiple categories with different paths.
  • Printer-friendly pages, AMP versions, paginated comments.
  • Location pages that only swap the city name.
  • Content syndicated to other sites or copied by scrapers.

How to fix it#

Situation Fix
Same page at several URLs 301-redirect to one version, or add a canonical tag
Near-identical articles Merge into one stronger page and redirect the rest
Thin city/variant pages Add genuinely unique content or consolidate
Syndicated content Ask partners to add a canonical pointing to your original
Low-value archives Add noindex

Use Search Console’s Pages report (“Duplicate, Google chose different canonical”) to find problems. Related: duplicate content in WordPress, keyword cannibalization.

Share this term