Duplicate content across similar computer "models" and how to properly handle it.
-
I run a website that revolves around a niche rugged computer market. There are several "main" models for each computer that also has several (300-400) "sub" models that only vary by specifications for each model. My problem is I can't really consolidate each model to one product page to avoid duplicate content. To have something like a drop down list would be massive and confusing to the customer when they could just search the model they needed. Also I would say 80-90% of the market searches for a specific model when they go to purchase or in Google. A lot of our customers are city government, fire departments, police departments etc. they get a list of approved models and purchase off that they don't really search by specs or "configure" a model so each model number having a chance to rank is important. Currently we have all models in each sub category rel=canonical back to the main category page for that model. Is there a better way to go about this? Example page you can see how there are several models all product descriptions are the same they only vary by model writing a unique description for each one is an unrealistic possibility for us. Any suggestions on this would be appreciated I keep going back on forth on what the correct solution would be.
-
Do people tend to search for "CF-19" in the Toshiba example, or do they tend to search for "CF-1956Y6XLM"?
If it's CF-19 then I would add more value to the example pages, and not worry about the subpages as much. But, I'm guessing that it's the specific model numbers, in which case the ideal situation is to be able to index an exact page for that model number. If you take a look at the "CF-1956Y6XLM" example, PC World is ranking #1 pretty much on all spec content, meaning they're coasting on domain authority to rank those pages. Meanwhile I see you guys at #4. Typically I would suggest that it's a bad plan to go with really thin content, but if everyone else is doing it, you may not need 200-300 words to move up in the rankings. Try producing 50-75 custom words on 100 of these pages where you're ranking Top 5. Do it for models that are newer so you can monitor ranking improvement over time. If the ranking and traffic improvements happen, and they convert, then figure out if you can scale that process up for every new incoming product.
Other SERP benefits can beat rankings here, too. If you can get legitimate product ratings and generate some rich snippets for the products, that will help maximize your CTR. Try to write better meta descriptions, too - right now they're all pretty drab on that SERP example.
Martijn's suggestion of reviews is a good start but will probably only help on 10-20% of pages that you're able to get reviews on. Nevertheless, probably worth the effort.
Some e-commerce platforms will allow you to save a single product with variations, which helps with this problem. If 10 models can share a page, and be selected with a product sub menu (like the t-shirt size or color selector on a fashion ecommerce site) then that is a good way to cut down on total URLs by 50-90%. But, I'd try the unique content route first and see if the numbers add up.
-
I was afraid of this answer. If it was a static product I would be happy to do this but since it is technology in 6-8 months the next "generation" will be out with new models numbers needing descriptions for each one to be re-written which is incredibly difficult to keep up with.
Is there a middle of the road option? is rel=canonical my best choice if I can't do unique content for every single model?
If so is there a way to maximize the benefit of rel=canonical in this situation?
-
Reviews can work perfectly for user generated content to make sure that the content is a bit more unique. It's an easy one and I'm probably hitting an open door here but depending on how much products you sell for a specific version it might help you to extend both the content and make it more unique.
-
It's a very tough question and one that is common with a lot of e-commerce.
The only really complete solution I have for you that addresses each of your needs is to not base the page "content" on the specs.
Make specs a table on the page but put in enough unique content about each model and variation that it has its own truly unique content.
I know this solution means writing at least say 200-300 words of unique content for every model but 100k words solves the whole issue. It just depends if it is worth them all ranking. But this solution gives you:
a) unique content
b) chance for every page to rank & no canonicals back to one page
c) much more long tail search volume
d) specific searches for every one of your potential customers.
That's really the best I can do ... it takes the duplicate content issue away and solves every problem except the one of having to create this much content in the first place.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Duplicate Content Dilemma for Category and Brand Pages
Hi, I have a online shop with categories such as: Trousers Shirts Shoes etc. But now I'm having a problem with further development.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | soralsokal
I'd like to introduce brand pages. In this case I would create new categories for Brand 1, Brand 2, etc... The text on categories and brand pages would be unique. But there will be an overlap in products. How do I deal with this from a duplicate content perspective? I'm appreciate your suggestions. Best, Robin0 -
Pages with rel "next"/"prev" still crawling as duplicate?
Howdy! I have a site that is crawling as "duplicate content pages" that is really just pagination. The rel next/prev is in place and done correctly but Roger Bot and Google are both showing duplicated content + duplicate page titles & meta's respectively. The only thing I can think of is we have a canonical pointing back at the URL you are on - we do not have a view all option right now and would not feel comfortable recommending it given the speed implications and size of their catalog. Any experience, recommendations here? Something to be worried about? /collections/all?page=15"/>
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | paul-bold0 -
Ticket Industry E-commerce Duplicate Content Question
Hey everyone, How goes it? I've got a bunch of duplicate content issues flagged in my Moz report and I can't figure out why. We're a ticketing site and the pages that are causing the duplicate content are for events that we no longer offer tickets to, but that we will eventually offer tickets to again. Check these examples out: http://www.charged.fm/mlb-all-star-game-tickets http://www.charged.fm/fiba-world-championship-tickets I realize the content is thin and that these pages basically the same, but I understood that since the Title tags are different that they shouldn't appear to the Goog as duplicate content. Could anyone offer me some insight or solutions to this? Should they be noindexed while the events aren't active? Thanks
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | keL.A.xT.o1 -
How do you reduce duplicate content for tags and categories in Wordpress?
Is it possible to avoid a duplicate content error without limiting a post to only one category or tag?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Mivito0 -
What is the difference between link rel="canonical" and meta name="canonical"?
Hi mozzers, I would like to know What is the difference between link rel="canonical" and meta name="canonical"? and is it dangerous to have both of these elements combined together? One of my client's page has the these two elements and kind of bothers me because I only know link rel="canonical" to be relevant to remove duplicates. Thanks!
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Ideas-Money-Art0 -
I have search result pages that are completely different showing up as duplicate content.
I have numerous instances of this same issue in our Crawl Report. We have pages showing up on the report as duplicate content - they are product search result pages for completely different cruise products showing up as duplicate content. Here's an example of 2 pages that appear as duplicate : http://www.shopforcruises.com/carnival+cruise+lines/carnival+glory/2013-09-01/2013-09-30 http://www.shopforcruises.com/royal+caribbean+international/liberty+of+the+seas We've used Html 5 semantic markup to properly identify our Navigation <nav>, our search widget as an <aside>(it has a large amount of page code associated with it). We're using different meta descriptions, different title tags, even microformatting is done on these pages so our rich data shows up in google search. (rich snippet example - http://www.google.com/#hl=en&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=http:%2F%2Fwww.shopforcruises.com%2Froyal%2Bcaribbean%2Binternational%2Fliberty%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bseas&oq=http:%2F%2Fwww.shopforcruises.com%2Froyal%2Bcaribbean%2Binternational%2Fliberty%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bseas&gs_l=hp.3...1102.1102.0.1601.1.1.0.0.0.0.142.142.0j1.1.0...0.0...1c.1.7.psy-ab.gvI6vhnx8fk&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.44442042,d.eWU&fp=a03ba540ff93b9f5&biw=1680&bih=925 ) How is this distinctly different content showing as duplicate? Is SeoMoz's site crawl flawed (or just limited) and it's not understanding that my pages are not dupe? Copyscape does not identify these pages as dupe. Should we take these crawl results more seriously than copyscape? What action do you suggest we take? </aside> </nav>
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | JMFieldMarketing0 -
Copying my Facebook content to website considered duplicate content?
I write career advice on Facebook on a daily basis. On my homepage users can see the most recent 4-5 feeds (using FB social media plugin). I am thinking to create a page on my website where visitors can see all my previous FB feeds. Would this be considered duplicate content if I copy paste the info, but if I use a Facebook social media plugin then it is not considered duplicate content? I am working on increasing content on my website and feel incorporating FB feeds would make sense. thank you
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | knielsen0 -
RSS "fresh" content with static page
Hi SEOmoz members, Currently I am researching my competitor and noticed something what i dont really understand. They have hundreds of static pages that dont change, the content is already the same for over 6 months. Every time a customer orders a product they use their rss feed to publish: "Customer A just bought product 4" When i search in Google for product 4 in the last 24 hours, its always their with a new publishing date but the same old content. Is this a good SEO tactic to implant in my own site?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | MennoO0