Duplicate Content for SEO; What’s the Deal?
You’re an established entrepreneur who just wants your content to do your marketing FOR you without accidentally fucking up your SEO...
So you’ve probably already thought about repurposing some of what you’re doing to work smarter but not harder, and allllllll that. But what about that pesky voice in the back of your mind calling you out for being a little too copy-paste-happy?
I’ve asked my online business friend, SEO Consultant & Educator, Mariah Magazine to dive into the real deal with duplicate content for SEO so you know EXACTLY how to navigate this moving forward.
WTF is Duplicate Content?
Duplicate content is when the same content shows up in more than one place online in a way that feels identical.
The easiest beginner way to think about it is if you copied something, pasted it somewhere else, and didn’t really change anything? That’s duplicate content.
Feels pretty cut and dry, doesn’t it?
But what about when you're repurposing content?
Like when you’re taking a blog post and remixing it around the web for different platforms. Is that the SAME as “duplicate content”????
How to Think About Duplicate Content from a Repurposing Perspective
The best way I can think to explain it is with a pasta recipe lol.
Imagine you have the BEST pasta recipe. It's your great great grandma Jan's. And you're ready to share this shit with the world because you know once you do, everyone is gonna love you.
So you post the pasta recipe to your blog.
Then you film yourself making it for your YouTube channel.
You use the audio from the YouTube channel & put it on your podcast (kinda weird for a recipe lmao but stick with me!)
You take clips from that YouTube video and turn it into a TikTok & IG Reel.
YOU ARE BASICALLY A REPURPOSING PASTA QUEEN.
But isn't all of that *technically* duplicate content?!?!?!
I mean, technically, in the VERY literal sense of the word, yes.
But for SEO and how the internet works; NOPE 🔥
All of those examples are DIFFERENT MEDIA FORMATS that serve different people who want to consume content in different ways. Annnnnnnd they each have their own separate algorithms too.
Different Formats Does Not Equal Duplicate Content
Utilizing different formats, even if it's the *same* content = DELICIOUS SEO JUICE.
Why?
If you embed a YouTube video or a podcast episode INSIDE of a blog post about the same topic, it'll actually help the blog post rank BETTER because now you've got a more well-rounded, useful resource that serves multiple kinds of learners.
Your SAME content (in different formats) can show up in different sections of the SAME search results(YouTube video results + written blog post + short form video), which CLEARLY positions YOU as the expert.
I did a LESS intense pasta repurposing situation with a previous YouTube video of mine; how to use Semrush's free plan. Repurposed it into a blog post on my website, and embedded the video. The YouTube video has 3.4k views since publishing. And the blog post ALONE has gotten 230 clicks *just* from Google since publishing.
ONE content idea + repurposed intentionally = pulling in traffic from two completely separate places.
*chef's kiss*
When *DOES* Duplicate Content Become a Problem?
When you're taking the exact same written content & publishing it word for word IN THE SAME FORMAT on multiple platforms. (Like copy-pasting your blog post onto Medium, Substack, or LinkedIn articles).
Because it's ALL written content, on separate domains, saying the exact same thing.
Google & AI tools operate like a buffet. They like to show variety and OPTIONS of some sort.
Not the same exact thing over and over.
So it's likely only going to pick ONE of those written options, and usually it's the option with the higher domain authority; which is prob NOT your website.
Which means you did all the work and sent the traffic AWAY from your website. Not ideal lol.
I don't wanna say it's a completely trash strategy lmao there ARE nuances, and this can be worth it in the short-term. But if you ARE gonna use the credibility & authority of a bigger platform (like Medium, Substack, LinkedIn, etc), you HAVE TO BE INTENTIONAL about linking people back to your website from within that article AND make your profile on that platform SO DAMN CLEAR about what you do/who you help, etc.
Because we don't want you relying on these platforms for visibility forever.
WE WANT YOUR WEBSITE TO BE YOUR FOUNDATIONAL AUTHORITATIVE ONLINE HOME FOR YOUR BRAND.
How to Avoid Duplicate Content Mistakes (and What to Do Instead)
This one depends on where you're at right now, so pick the one that applies to you...
📝 If you're currently cross-posting written content to Medium, Substack, LinkedIn articles, or anywhere else:
Go check that article right meow.
Is there a clear link inside sending people back to your website? A freebie, a related blog post, a service page — anything that gives people a reason to come find you on your OWN WEBSITE.
If not, add one. Now.
And if you wanna go a step further, look into whether that platform has a canonical tag option. I'm 99% sure Medium does, idk about the other ones tho.
It's a lil' piece of code that tells Google your website is the original source. Google "[platform name] canonical tag" and you should find instructions pretty quickly.
🤠 If you're repurposing content across different formats (YouTube, podcast, blog, social):
You're good.
Keep doing that. But if you're NOT already embedding your YouTube videos or podcast episodes into your related blog posts, that can totalllllly be your easy win this week.
Pick one blog post, find the related video or episode, and embed that bad boyyyyyy.
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Wanna connect more with Mariah?
Hi! I’m Mariah, an SEO consultant & educator helping business owners & marketing teams take SEO into their own hands, and I wrote this blog post!
Want access to free SEO tutorials? Check out my YouTube channel with over 25k subscribers here!
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(Yes, this IS the exact same Mariah that I, Brittany, am always telling you about with the SEO Data Dashboard!!)
Just remember, creating an SEO foundation that actually supports your business long-term IS possible, and you CAN get results by just implementing the foundations & doing one thing at a time.
And that’s actually the cool thing about SEO & AI search visibility, it starts to build momentum and before you know it, it’s workin’ like *magic*
