Why Duplicate Content Is a Problem (& How to Fix It)

 In this article, I’ll review what we covered in the training and go into a little more detail so make sure your website isn’t suffering in the search results due to duplicate content issues.

Why Is Duplicate Content a Problem?

First, let’s address the question why is duplicate content a problem with SEO? Once you understand the problem from Google’s perspective, then I promise this will all make a whole heck of a lot more sense.

I’ll use an example that I’m sure we all can relate to.  Let’s say you just finished a book and you want to find a new one to read.  You send a quick email to your friends (or post to Facebook) asking them for suggestions and then you anxiously await their replies.

In this example, the best possible outcome is to get several different book titles that you can review and decide which one to read.  The worst possible outcome would be to get the same exact book title from all of your friends and upon reviewing that title decide it’s not for you.  In other words, you want to get a variety of different options in order to maximize the chances that you’ll find a book that fits your criteria.

This is similar to Google’s approach to their search results page.  Google knows if they give their searchers 10 webpages that are nearly identical, then that severely hurts their chances of providing the searcher with the information that fits her criteria.  How frustrating would it be to click on all 10 webpages in the search results only to find the same information?

To combat this problem, Google’s algorithm prevents duplicate pages from showing up for the same search phrases.  That means, if your page is nearly identical to another webpage online (either on your site or on another website), then only one of those pages will rank in Google.

How to Check for Duplicate Content

There are a lot of tools out there to check for duplicate content.

The two I recommend are:

1. Siteliner.com (free)
2. Copyscape.com (paid)

In both tools, you copy/paste your website URL into the search bar and click “Go” to run a duplicate content check.  In many cases, you will find some duplicate content so now let’s talk about how to fix it.

How to Fix Duplicate Content

At this point I know you’re hoping I’m going to give you the one, quick-and-easy, push-button solution. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy and the correct solution depends on your situation.  Here are some possible solutions to help you make the best choice:

1. 301 Redirect.  A 301 redirect would automatically forward people from one duplicate page to the other.  By 301 redirecting, you effectively eliminate the duplicate content because now there is only 1 page that can be accessed online. 
2. No Index.  You can add <meta name=”robots” content=”noindex” /> to one of the duplicate pages to tell all search engines you do not want the page included in their index.  In this case, you’re not redirecting the traffic; You’re simply removing one of the pages from being considered in the search results. 
3. Rel=canonical. Finally, a third option is to use the rel=canonical tag on your duplicate pages.  This tag tells search engines which URL of your duplicate pages should be included in the search results.  The code to add is <link rel=”canonical” href=”http://www.yourdomain.com/the-url-you-want-to-rank-in-Google.html” />.

As you can see, all 3 options are fairly technical so I recommend talking with your web developer to see which one makes the most sense for your website.

Are There Other Issues Preventing You From Ranking In Google?

Duplicate content is just one of many issues that could be hurting your rankings in Google.  If you think there may be other problems with your website, then you need to conduct an SEO audit.

Are YouTube Video Ads Better Than TV Ads?

About 2 years ago, I started testing YouTube ads and I quickly discovered that one ad format, In-Stream ads, performed very well.  The other two options, In-Search and In-Display, are great if all you care about are increasing your YouTube video view count.  But if you want to drive leads and sales for your business, then you’ll want to stick to In-Stream ads.

An In-Stream ad is just like a TV ad that you probably see every day, but instead of streaming on your TV, the ad is displayed before someone watches a video online.  If you’ve ever watched a YouTube video and noticed an ad played right before the video you wanted to watch, then you experienced a YouTube In-Stream ad.

There are obviously a lot of similarities between YouTube video ads and TV, but there are also some important differences that in my opinion make YouTube video ads a far better option for many small businesses.  Let’s take a closer look at 7 of these differences.

#1: Pay Per (Actual) View Of Your Ad

Imagine advertising on TV and you only had to pay when a prospect actually watched the entire ad.  If anyone fast forwarded (skipped) your ad, then you wouldn’t pay a penny.

Sounds too good to be true when you’re thinking about buying TV ad spots.  However, this is exactly how YouTube In-Stream ads work.  You only pay for actual views of your ad! 

 After 5 seconds, your prospects have the option to click “Skip This Ad” and when that happens the advertiser is not charged for the ad spot.  We’re talking about literally only paying for views of your ad.

Clearly, that reduces a lot of the risk to give this a try.  But it gets even better…

#2: No Minimum Investment To Start

In addition to only paying for views of your ad, there’s also no minimum investment.  With traditional TV advertising and media buying, you’ll have to invest thousands upfront to lock in your air time.  Unless you have a proven ad campaign, there’s a ton of risk to test TV ads.

But again, with YouTube video ads, there’s no minimum to get started.

   

There also isn’t too much competition (yet) for these ad spots so the costs are still pretty low. In the markets we’ve tested, for about 10 cents you can get a real view of your ad, which means a couple hundred bucks will allow you to reach 2,000 prospects.  I’m not saying $200 is necessarily enough for a real test, but you get the idea.  Compared to TV, YouTube video ads are going to be much less expensive to get started.

#3: Precision Targeting Options

One of my favorite things about online advertising is all the different targeting options. 

 You’ve got the basics like demographics, geography, and time of day. Then you’ve got contextual targeting so you’re showing your ads before relevant YouTube videos.  And finally, you can layer on more advanced targeting options like retargeting and interest targeting, based on your prospects’ historical browsing behavior.

If you know exactly who your ideal customer is, then chances are very good that you can target them with YouTube video ads.

#4: More Ad Reach

This one may come as a surprise.  According to a Nielson report, YouTube reaches more US adults (18 – 34 years old) than ANY cable network. Therefore, advertising in YouTube may actually give you more ad reach than a TV commercial.

Plus, think about user behavior on this media.  My wife and I have a few TV shows we like to watch throughout the year, but we rarely watch them during their regularly scheduled airing.  We record them. Then when our kids, Violet and Emmett, are in bed and we have some free time, we watch the show. We rarely watch the commercials because we can fast forward through them.

With YouTube video ads, your prospects can still skip your ads, but only after watching 5 seconds of your ad.  That means you could have a better shot at capturing your prospects’ attention with a YouTube video ad than with TV.

#5: Easier for Your Prospects to Take Action

This is a huge difference.  When you see a TV ad for a product or service you need right now, then what are your options to take action?  You have to go find your phone and call the business if the time of day is appropriate.  Or you can go find your tablet, computer, or mobile device to load up the company website.  Or you can get off your couch and go to the actual store or office.

All 3 of those options require a fairly big step.  Let’s compare that to YouTube video ads…

For your prospect to take action on a video ad, she has to muster up the strength to move her mouse over the video ad (if it’s not already there) and then click.   After clicking on the ad, your prospect will visit your ad’s landing page where you can further explain your offer and ideally collect contact information or generate a sale.  Since video ads are online, it’s just a whole lot easier to get your prospects to take action.

#6: Easier for You to Track Your ROI

Again, since video ads are online and your prospect can take action online, it’s easier for you to track your return on investment (ROI).  Within your YouTube ad dashboard, you’ll see how many people saw your ad, how many clicked through to your landing page, and if you have conversion tracking installed, then you’ll see how many completed your webform or placed an online order.

With TV ads, it’s obviously not that simple.

#7: Free Organic Ad Impressions

Finally, with video advertising on YouTube, you get the additional benefit of free organic ad impressions.  Since the ad is hosted on YouTube like any other video, then it has a chance to rank in YouTube’s search results (by the way YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine so this can be significant free traffic).  Also, your video has a chance to be displayed and clicked on for free as a related video along the right column when prospects are watching other videos.

And the last, but not least, video ads can be easily shared with friends online by posting to social media or via email.  All of these examples give your advertisement even more exposure at absolutely no additional cost.  Who doesn’t love free exposure? :)

3 Reasons Why We Invest In Social Media & You Should Too

I'll admit, when social media sprinted on to the digital marketing scene, I was extremely skeptical.  Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and all the other social media sites reminded me of MySpace and my first instinct was to wait until they all followed the same path to destruction.  I was very cautious to avoid investing time and money into a marketing fad.

But I was wrong.  Social media marketing is not going anywhere.  In fact, all signs are pointing to social media being an integral component in the future of digital marketing. That's because every day the lines get more and more blurry between social media and other core digital marketing tactics like SEO, advertising, and email marketing.  The days of focusing on just one isolated tactic are over.  To have long-term success with digital marketing, we need to take a more holistic approach.


In case you're like me and you're skeptical about the value of investing in social media marketing, I'm going to walk through 3 reasons that may change your mindset. 

Reason 1: Boost Your Other Channels

Chances are good you're already investing in other channels like SEO and digital advertising.  But as I mentioned above, the lines are getting blurry between those tactics and social media marketing.  That's because social media now impacts those channels either positively or negatively.

Let's take SEO as an example.  A successful SEO campaign relies on content marketing (for example. publishing high-quality articles and then sharing them online).  What do you think is one of the best ways to share content online?  That's right, social media!  Sites like Facebook and Twitter are perfect for maximizing the exposure of your content and, in turn, increasing the number of links from other websites.

On the advertising side, the social media giant, Facebook, should not be ignored.  As the Facebook ad platform continues to mature, it's now possible for businesses to laser-target their ideal customers to drive more leads and sales.  Plus, social media (such as the number of Likes you have) can be great social proof on your advertising landing pages to increase your conversion rates.

Reason 2: Control Your Reputation

What is likely the first thing a prospective customer will do when she first learns about your business? I'll do this before or sometimes after I've already contacted the business and it always impacts my decision to purchase.

The answer is that prospective customers will "Google" your business name as a way to run a quick background check.  It takes just a few minutes to search and see what pops up about the company.  In some cases there won't be much info, which can be concerning because it indicates the business may not be legit.  In other cases, there will be lots of info that is either positive or negative.

Here's a quick tip to help you with your search engine reputation management: If you set up social media profiles for your business name, then those pages are highly likely to rank at the top of Google for brand searches.  In other words, you can use your social media profiles as a way to control what prospective customers will see when they search for your business.

And don't forget about how this could impact your hiring process.  Potential employees will certainly "Google" your business name to do their homework as well.

Finally, in addition to setting up social profiles, it's important to stay engaged in order to establish and protect your reputation. Specifically, I'm talking about cultivating positive reviews and responding to any comments or complaints you may receive.

Reason 3: Keep Your Audience Engaged

The final reason to invest in social media is to keep your audience engaged.  This may not sound like much, but I would argue that engaging your audience is one of the most important jobs of your digital marketing.  Think about that for a minute.  In order to make a sale you must first have an engaged prospect.  Then, in order to generated repeat purchases and encourage more referrals you must keep your customers engaged.  If you lose mindshare and attention, then you lose sales.

The key to engagement is to actually reach your audience. Businesses that rely solely on direct mail, phone and/or email marketing are missing out on a segment of their market that could be reached via social media.  I'm not suggesting one tactic is better than the other.  I'm simply highlighting the fact that social media allows businesses to get in front of more of their audience to engage and maximize sales, repeat purchases, and referrals.