Today, John Mueller, a Google Webmaster Trends Analyst, issued a clarification and guidance via Twitter about the confusion surrounding duplicate content. He also detailed what does not qualify as duplicate content.
Google’s John Mueller issues a warning about duplicate content and clarifies what is not duplicate content.
Trailing Slash on Root/Hostname
Trailing slashes on root/hostnames don’t matter; it makes no difference if there is a forward slash at the end of your domain name or not. Both versions are treated the same. This means that linking the homepage as both www.example.com/ and www.example.com will not be seen as a duplicate content issue by Google.
Forward Slash at End of Files are Seen as Duplicate
File names with and without a forward slash are seen as duplicate content. For instance, if a webpage can be accessed via example.com/fish and example.com/fish/, this constitutes a duplicate content issue. The server should redirect example.com/fish to example.com/fish/.
Different Protocols DO Matter
Duplicate content becomes an issue when the same URL is written with a different protocol. For example, https://www.example.com and http://www.example.com are seen as different pages by Google. Implementing 301 redirects can handle this; without them, it could become a problem.
How a Competitor Can Confuse Google
Some servers will serve a web page as HTTPS even without a security certificate, causing Google to view it as a duplicate web page. A competitor could link to your site using HTTPS, leading Google to index a duplicate web page.
This is a timeout error generated by following an HTTPS URL to a non-secure website.
If a non-SSL site does not have redirects for HTTPS requests, the server may return a “site can’t be reached” error, which Google might then index as a separate page.
Illustration of what constitutes duplicate content posted by John Mueller on Twitter.
According to John Mueller’s illustration:
“Different protocols & hostnames do matter…”
For example:
http://www.example.com/ is not the same as https://www.example.com/
Other examples:
https://www.example.com/ is not the same as https://example.com/
https://example.com/fish is not the same as https://example.com/fish/
These examples illustrate how a competitor can link to your site and create duplicate content issues. While this duplicate content likely won’t hurt your rankings significantly, it’s advisable not to confuse search bots.
How to Protect Yourself from Duplicate Content Issues?
- Canonical Tag
Define a canonical page for each URL to indicate to Google which version is correct. - Test Server Responses to Secure and Insecure URLs
Add 301 redirects to resolve duplicate URL or site-down errors. - Audit Your URLs
Use tools like Screaming Frog or XENU Link Sleuth to check for duplicates or errors. - Investigate 404 Errors
Check server logs, traffic analytics, or Google Search Console to identify 404 errors, which should always be investigated.
John Mueller’s clarification on what is and isn’t considered duplicate content by Google provides valuable insight. It’s important to address any issues, though Google is usually capable of identifying the correct page. SEO involves many small details, and this is one of them.
Image Credits
Featured Image: Anastasia_B/Shutterstock.com
Altered beyond recognition by Roger Montti
