Constantly creating quality content can feel like a challenging task. It’s at this point that AI content creators become highly beneficial.

Businesses are moving away from inefficient content processes and opting instead for a smoother, more methodical approach made possible through AI-powered tools. Some experts predict that more than 90% of online content in 2025 will be generated by AI.

In this article, I’ll discuss the top benefits of using AI content creators in a way that won’t compromise your SEO strategy.

• 6 Benefits of AI Content Creators
  1. Streamlined Content Creation
  2. Content Output and Efficiency
  3. Improved Quality
  4. Brand Consistency
  5. Creative Help
  6. Content Diversification
• Navigating Potential Challenges in AI Content Creation
  • Impact on Search Engines
  • Concerns About AI Content Originality
• Choosing AI Content Tools
• How PreWriter Can Help
• Final Thoughts
• FAQ: How can I ensure AI content creators improve efficiency without sacrificing brand consistency or originality?

6 Benefits of AI Content Creators

1. Streamlined Content Creation

AI content creators often include features that automate research, curate relevant data and generate outlines and drafts for different content types.

For example, AI tools can scan various resources for topic ideas. Behind the scenes, they gather info and distill it into blog article topics and webpage inspiration.

This process helps move SEO projects forward faster so websites can begin to compete in the search results sooner.

2. Content Output and Efficiency

A huge benefit of using AI writing is its impact on efficiency. Per PWC, adding AI tools into the mix can result in a 40% productivity boost.

Tasks like performing initial research, brainstorming keyword ideas and creating outlines can become time-consuming.

With AI tools doing the grunt work, marketers can work on the big-picture thinking that propels their projects forward.

These benefits can be even more apparent for marketers and businesses that don’t have sufficient writing resources in-house or aren’t naturally adept at content creation.

Marketers can use text-generating AI solutions to develop first drafts for editing, infusing the content with their expertise.

Check out these related articles on AI content:

• Why AI-Powered Content Creation Is a Game-Changer for Marketers Everywhere
• Using AI to Supercharge Your SEO Content Initiatives

3. Improved Quality

The integration of advanced features into these AI tools has introduced a new way to improve the quality of content.

For instance, AI tools like PreWriter.ai can help edit and refine content and suggest ways to improve its quality so that the content creator can add finishing touches.

4. Brand Consistency

It’s not uncommon for businesses to have many teams working on content at once without much collaboration or a single point of contact for editing.

Bring AI into the mix, and teams can scale content creation without sacrificing consistency. AI tools can be trained on brand elements, including tone of voice, knowledge base and more.

AI can also improve brand consistency through image generation. Text-to-image platforms allow content creators to craft engaging materials quickly while keeping brand guidelines in mind.

If time is limited or in-house design resources are scarce, AI-powered platforms offer a solution for achieving great results.

5. Creative Help

Let’s discuss writer’s block. AI tools can spark new ideas and bring a fresh perspective to your projects.

AI comes to the rescue when brainstorming, translating ideas or keywords into engaging outlines and offering unique angles not previously considered. It’s the perfect tool to help streamline your content creation process.

6. Content Diversification

Another benefit of using AI content creators is content diversification for multi-channel promotion.

A well-structured piece from an AI content generator might act as a solid foundation. Writers can then repurpose it across numerous platforms such as email campaigns, audio-visual versions or more — all with the help of AI.

According to Forbes research, 35% of businesses actively use AI in content production.

Navigating Potential Challenges in AI Content Creation

AI content creation is evolving but currently has its challenges.

Impact on Search Engines

First is the impact of AI content on search engines. What if our increased dependence on AI means that Google and other search engines increasingly surface generic content?

Content spat out by AI tools without human intervention often lacks the expertise and brand thought leadership that ensures high quality.

AI tools can often fail when it comes to creating content that requires highly specialized expertise. This can lead to factually incorrect outputs or just generic content that further fuels search engine devaluation.

This is something that Google is preparing for as it unleashed its massive updates in early 2024 and updated spam policies on AI content at scale.

Concerns About AI Content Originality

Content that’s generated solely by an AI tool risks resembling existing work on the web too closely, causing concerns about plagiarism and how it can impact rankings.

An often-overlooked step toward avoiding this is ensuring AI-generated content goes through proper vetting and refinement by a human.

Think of it as quality control — editors can easily double-check content to ensure that all factual claims are accurate.

They can also identify areas that need a refresh to infuse expertise.

Though popular grammar platforms offer tools to review content for plagiarism and address grammatical errors, the bottom line is that AI content generators should not bypass the human role in ensuring quality content.

I’ve written more about this on Search Engine Land. Check out these articles:

Choosing AI Content Tools

When you’re ready to assess AI content creators, ensure the tool aligns with your content goals and SEO strategy. Here are some considerations:

1. Content quality and relevance: AI-generated content isn’t always accurate, but you want to make sure it’s as good as possible, so you spend less time editing than necessary. Ensure the tool can help you produce content that resonates with your target audience while maintaining relevance to your industry.
2. SEO capabilities: Does the tool help with basic SEO tasks like keywords, meta descriptions and links?
3. Plagiarism and AI detection: No matter which tool you use, check the content for plagiarism and AI before hitting “publish.” To do this, use your tool’s built-in functionalities or choose a different tool.
4. Customization and flexibility: It’s critical to tailor your content to your specific needs, tone and style. Ensure that your AI software has customization options and doesn’t just spit out generic, templated text.
5. Scalability: For businesses with heavy content needs, assess the tool’s capacity to assist with a high volume of content.
6. Compliance with guidelines: Ensure that any content you use with AI assistance does not violate Google’s guidelines and spam policies on content.

How PreWriter Can Help

We launched PreWriter.ai, our AI-powered writing assistant, to help businesses accelerate their SEO and marketing projects.

We’ve found that PreWriter commonly reduces a four-hour writing task by 60%, resulting in serious efficiency and positive cost impacts.

Here are some ways PreWriter can help businesses as an AI content creator:

• Time-saving features: One primary advantage of PreWriter is the time-saving features it offers. This tool can auto-generate content outlines, research relevant information, suggest keyword variations and even create content drafts.
• Keyword optimization: PreWriter helps optimize content by suggesting relevant keywords and analyzing their search volume and competitiveness. This ensures that your content is well-positioned to attract the right audience and generate organic traffic.
• Incorporation of buyer intent search terms: To fully address buyer intent, PreWriter employs advanced algorithms to identify and understand the search terms used by potential customers. By using these buyer intent search terms throughout your content, you can boost your likelihood of reaching your target audience and converting them.
• Provides writing tips: With PreWriter, it’s not just about saving time; it’s also about generating quality content. The tool helps content creators incorporate unique and insightful tips into their work. This enhances the overall value and appeal of the content while demonstrating expertise and building trust with readers.

Final Thoughts

Although AI content creators offer big benefits such as efficiency, scalability and creative assistance, they come with challenges that can’t be overlooked.

The key to success lies in striking a balance — using AI to streamline your content processes without sacrificing the human touch.

Marketers must stay vigilant, ensuring human oversight is always part of the content creation process to maintain authenticity and relevance.

Ready to take your content strategy to the next level? Sign up for PreWriter.ai today and start your free trial.

Don’t have the time or resources to scale up your content output? Our experts offer AI content services that can help you double or triple production.

Schedule a Free Consultation

FAQ: How can I ensure AI content creators improve efficiency without sacrificing brand consistency or originality?

In today’s digital landscape, ensuring AI content creators enhance efficiency while maintaining brand consistency and creativity is pivotal. AI content tools promise unparalleled productivity.

However, without proper guidance, they can dilute the essence of brand identity. It’s imperative for businesses to blend technology with their unique voice seamlessly.

By leveraging AI capabilities, companies can expedite content creation, but maintaining originality requires meticulous strategy and oversight. The dual challenge is to adeptly manage efficiency while fostering original expression.

One significant consideration is the calibration of AI-driven tools. Algorithms must be fine-tuned to understand the brand’s tone and style comprehensively. This alignment ensures content resonates with the target audience in an authentic way.

Operating with AI should also involve consistent human interaction; regular input and feedback from human experts are crucial. This collaboration guarantees that the generated content remains relevant and personalized, capturing the nuanced ethos of the brand.

Monitoring is another critical aspect of leveraging AI for content creation. Real-time assessments and analytics can provide insights into how content performs across various channels.

Such data-driven approaches help identify trends and areas of improvement, guiding brands to refine their strategies and remain consistent in their messaging. Regular evaluations help sustain quality and originality throughout the content development process.

Choosing the right AI tools plays a decisive role. With a multitude of platforms available, selecting one that offers customization and scalability is essential.

These features enable businesses to adapt quickly, accommodating the evolving needs of their audience without compromising on originality. Investing in adaptable AI solutions ensures a seamless alignment with brand goals and values.

AI innovation should not overshadow creativity. Encouraging a healthy balance between automated content production and human creativity fosters a more diverse content landscape. This dual mechanism enables brands to leverage AI’s speed while preserving their distinctive voice and originality.

By valuing both AI efficiency and human creativity, businesses can create content that is both compelling and consistent.

Educating teams about AI functions and limitations also supports brand consistency. Training staff to utilize AI tools effectively, while understanding the potential pitfalls, is instrumental.

Ensuring personnel are well-versed in both technology and brand ethos helps maintain consistency and originality over time. Communication and collaboration are key to a successful AI content strategy.

Addressing common pitfalls is necessary. Many businesses face issues with AI content that seems artificial or overly generic. To overcome this, brands need to set clear guidelines and standards for AI-generated content.

By instituting strong quality controls and review processes, businesses can ensure their content remains impactful and true to its origins.

The challenge often lies in late-stage edits. Even with AI, intricate editorial tasks may arise, requiring a human touch. Final reviews by skilled editors perfect the balance between the efficiency AI provides and the nuanced creativity only humans bring. A refined editing process bridges this gap, ensuring high-quality, unique content.

When brands face the problem of maintaining their identity amidst increasing efficiency, it’s pivotal to implement checks and balances.

Crafting a robust content framework that incorporates both AI and human input ensures stable output quality. This strategic approach helps businesses navigate toward improved efficiency without losing sight of their core identity.

Step-By-Step Procedure

1. Identify and evaluate your brand’s AI content needs.
2. Research and select AI tools that align with your brand’s tone and goals.
3. Customize AI algorithms to reflect stylistic nuances of your brand identity.
4. Develop a content strategy that highlights both AI advantages and human creativity.
5. Establish a content workflow involving both AI-generated and human-curated content.
6. Implement a review system that provides regular feedback on AI content quality.
7. Educate your team on AI capabilities and limitations through bespoke training.
8. Introduce analytic tools to measure content effectiveness and audience engagement.
9. Collaborate with marketing and editorial teams to ensure synergy in content creation.
10. Set editorial standards for AI content to adhere to brand guidelines.
11. Regularly update AI algorithms to incorporate new brand strategies and market changes.
12. Monitor AI-generated content for adherence to consistency and originality goals.
13. Establish checkpoints for human intervention in the content creation process.
14. Document all adjustments made to AI systems to maintain transparency and understanding.
15. Share insights across teams to facilitate better understanding of AI content strategies.
16. Cultivate an organizational culture that values AI-human collaboration equally.
17. Allocate resources to boost both AI technology and creative talent development.
18. Innovate continuously to integrate the latest AI trends in content strategy.
19. Balance AI speed with editorial precision to enhance content quality.
20. Address any discrepancies in content through robust quality control practices.
21. Foster a creative environment that encourages critical thinking and innovation.
22. Set realistic performance metrics to track AI content’s impact on brand measures.
23. Invest in technology infrastructures that facilitate AI content scalability.
24. Conduct periodic reviews to assess the success of AI integration in content strategy.

Ultimately, enhancing AI efficiency while preserving brand originality involves an intricate blend of technology and human ingenuity. By being attentive to these dual needs, you ensure a harmonious technological partnership.

Remember, the key is in crafting a strategy allowing AI to complement, rather than replace, the unique touch that defines your brand.

The post Top Benefits and Drawbacks of Using AI Content Creators appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

Your e-commerce site is both complex and dynamic. This is precisely why keeping up with duplicate content issues can be an ongoing challenge.

Want to find out how to go about eliminating duplicate content on e-commerce websites? Read on. I’ll dive into the main culprits of duplicate content on ecom websites, honing in on the why, the how and what to do about it.

In this article:

• Understanding Duplicate Content on Websites
• How To Eliminate Duplicate Content on E-commerce Websites
  • Duplicate Content From Product Descriptions
  • Duplicate Content From URL Issues
  • Faceted Navigation Issues
• E-Commerce Duplicate Content Case Study
• Final Thoughts
• FAQ: How does duplicate content affect search engine rankings for e-commerce websites?

The insights I’ll share with you below can stave off the unintended consequences of duplicate content, boosting your site’s visibility in the SERPs and ultimately driving more sales.

Understanding Duplicate Content on Websites

An e-commerce site can inadvertently generate duplicate content issues in several ways; I will discuss those in depth later. But the first thing you should know is that there are two major types of duplicate content for any website:

1. Duplicate content involving webpages within your site.
2. Duplicate content involving webpages on your site and other sites.

Most e-commerce sites will deal with duplicate content within their own websites unless their webpages are largely similar to other e-commerce sites.

In most cases, there isn’t a duplicate content “penalty” from Google unless it seems like the site is being deceptive in some way by scraping other websites.

Issues with duplicate content include:

• If some of your pages resemble those found elsewhere on an e-commerce website, their chances of ranking on search engines decrease considerably.
• Duplicate content can lead to an unpleasant user and search engine experience.
• Off-site content can be scraped from your site and duplicated on another domain name entirely.

So how does Google handle duplicate content within a site? Google chooses the best page to rank and filters all others from the search results.

For example, an e-commerce site might have several URLs for “girls winter jackets” — perhaps a category page for girl’s outerwear like “jackets – winter,” another for “winter clothes – jackets – girls,” and so on.

If a site has faceted search options (like a filter menu), different pages can result in the same content.

When all of these pages look the same, only one will be chosen to rank. The others will be filtered from search results.

How should you go about handling duplicate content that’s on another website? It’s simpler than you might be thinking.

Submit a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) takedown request with the offender’s web host. Tell them that your content was stolen and that the webmaster should be mandated to comply with applicable copyright laws.

Usually, the web host will take the duplicate content down and give the webmaster an official warning. But in some cases, they may remove their account. It all depends on the host’s policies.

How To Eliminate Duplicate Content on E-commerce Websites

Duplicate content on e-commerce sites can be complicated — but it’s very common. E-commerce websites often struggle with it due to their large product inventory and dynamic nature.

Let’s look closer at the most common culprits of duplicate content on e-commerce websites.

Duplicate Content From Product Descriptions

Lots of e-commerce sites use the manufacturer’s product descriptions for efficiency. But, this has been an area of concern when it comes to duplicate content across many websites on the web.

I always recommend creating original, helpful product descriptions, as every little bit can help in the competitive search results.

In terms of ranking, Google’s John Mueller offered a little more clarity around this potential duplicate content issue in 2021.

He explained how generic manufacturer descriptions might impact a website:

From that video, here are the relevant highlights:

“With duplicate content, we have essentially two roughly different things that we look at.

On the one hand is, we check if the whole page is the same, including everything like the header, the footer, and the address of the store, and things like that—which in your cases, would not be the case.

And so that’s the basic kind of duplicate content.

The other kind is with regards to things like the description. That plays a role when we show a snippet in the Search Results. So essentially, what we try to avoid is to create Search Results pages where the snippet is exactly the same as other websites.

If someone is searching for something generic which is only in the description of that product and the snippet that we would show for your website for the manufacturer were exactly the same, then we would try to pick one of those pages and show only that one.

That’s kind of the other part of the duplicate content story … it’s a little bit simplified.

But that also means that if someone is searching for … something generic that is in the description and we can tell that they want to buy it and maybe you’re the best source or the local source of that product or you have it in stock or whatever, then we will show your pages and not the other one.

And all of that is independent of you marking up like where you took the description from. It’s essentially, we have this description, we want to show it in search and we’ll pick the best page that we can show for this description.

So from that point of view I think it’s always a good practice to have unique descriptions on your pages.

But if you have a lot of products it’s not always possible. And it’s also the case that we would not penalize a website for having duplicate descriptions in their products.”

Mueller is saying some key things here:

1. You don’t get a duplicate content manual action or penalty from Google unless you’re scraping entire sites. When determining if a site is truly duplicating another site, Google looks at other elements on a page, such as the header, the footer, the address, etc., not just the product description.
2. If you and another e-commerce site have mostly the same content on a page in terms of the manufacturer’s product description, Google is going to determine which page is the best. So, Google looks at other factors on the site to determine which is the best source. Are you local? Do you have it in stock? There are likely many other factors, too.

What to Do

If your product is your bread and butter, you need to sell it. And let’s face it, the manufacturer’s product descriptions aren’t usually very compelling. They read more like a smartphone user manual.

via GIPHY

I recognize that for some sites, this would be a massive undertaking. The use of AI tools like PreWriter.ai can help. At the very least, you should focus on putting effort into your best-selling products and go from there.

Here are some tips for creating great SEO product descriptions:

• Write original text for the product. Ditch the boring manufacturer’s description and infuse it with some copywriting magic. Focus on the features and the benefits.
• Write a short and long version. Some people like to skim, and some people want more details. Having both caters to your audience’s needs.
• Use tactics to break up the text. Headings tags like H1, H2, etc., break up long walls of text and guide people through the content. You can also use bullet points to call out important features in an easy-to-read format.
• Include FAQs. Everyone has at least one question about a product before they buy. Figure out what those FAQs are by talking to key departments in your organization and doing some online sleuthing using SEO tools.

If resources are an issue, manufacturer product descriptions could suffice as an effective substitute.

Just be sure that the content on your page stands out enough from its competition, including things such as meta information and heading tags.

Please note, though, that I do not recommend this except as an extreme last-ditch effort if there is no way you can do it on your own. Keep in mind that the risk is much higher.

If you want a better chance of ranking (and conversions), put time into your product descriptions.

For more guidance on this topic, check out: How to Create an E-Commerce Webpage That Drives Organic Traffic and Conversions.

Duplicate Content From URL Issues

Let’s look at another common culprit of duplicate content on e-commerce sites: URLs. URL issues can happen for all sorts of reasons and cause duplicate content on any site.

For e-commerce sites, duplicate content often arises when:

• Shoppers sort products based on criteria, such as best-selling products or price, where the content remains largely the same but the URLs differ.
• You have products with many attributes, where each different attribute has a separate URL but the content is the same.
• Shoppers filter product attributes by differing factors, for example, size, color, brand, price range, category, etc., and those filters create new URLs with the same content.

Let’s look closer at faceted navigation issues.

Faceted Navigation Issues

Faceted navigation enables users to refine their search results by applying multiple filters based on attributes (facets) of items they’re researching or browsing through.

As any e-commerce store owner knows, customers searching online typically start by filtering results by gender and clothing type (for instance jackets), followed by size, color and brand preferences.

Each choice automatically updates the list of products displayed to more accurately reflect user needs and desires.

Under an SEO perspective, faceted navigation must be implemented carefully as its implementation may lead to issues like duplicate content creation and duplication of effort.

As soon as a user selects one variation of a product, their browser appends a filter parameter into its URL address for that product page.

Here’s an example: On HomeDepot.com, here’s what happens when you are looking at a mattress and choose a queen or a king size – two separate URLs with near-identical content:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lucid-Comfort-Collection-SureCool-14in-Medium-Gel-Memory-Foam-Tight-Top-Queen-Mattress-LUCC14QQ45MF/309998471

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Lucid-Comfort-Collection-SureCool-14in-Medium-Gel-Memory-Foam-Tight-Top-King-Mattress-LUCC14KK45MF/309998468

This situation can dilute link equity among your pages and waste crawl budget on low-value URLs, which could have been spent indexing more important content.

Here’s what Google has to say about faceted navigation:

“Faceted navigation, such as filtering by color or price range, can be helpful for your visitors, but it’s often not search-friendly since it creates many combinations of URLs with duplicative content. With duplicative URLs, search engines may not crawl new or updated unique content as quickly, and/or they may not index a page accurately because indexing signals are diluted between the duplicate versions.”

In that help file, Google talks about some of the best and worst practices for faceted navigation; it’s worth a read.

What To Do

The goal is to balance providing visitors with shopping tools while ensuring the website remains friendly to search engine crawlers.

While Google has become better at understanding which URLs matter the most, there are still ways to combat URL issues, such as faceted navigation.

Implementing canonical tags is your best first defense. Canonical tags help search engines understand which version of similar or near-duplicate pages should be considered as “the” original page for indexing purposes.

The advantage here is twofold: It consolidates link signals (such as ranking power) to one preferred URL, enhancing its potential to rank better while also preventing search engines from spreading their crawl budget too thin across too many low-value-added variations.

Consider an online clothing store where you have three URLs showing essentially the same t-shirt available in black:

• https://example.com/product/black-tshirt
• https://example.com/product/black-tshirt?size=M
• https://example.com/all-products/?product=black-tshirt

To indicate that Google should consider all these variations as one single item, you’d add a canonical tag like this within the <head> section of each variant’s HTML code:

<link rel=”canonical” href=”https://example.com/product/black-tshirt”/>

This tells search engines that https://example.com/product/black-tshirt is the master copy you prefer indexed/ranked out of all its variants listed above — thus handling potential duplicate content issues on your e-commerce platform.

Google has an extensive help file on specifying a canonical here.

E-Commerce Duplicate Content Case Study

We once had a situation with a client where they had the following problems:

1. The content was duplicated in product descriptions all throughout their e-commerce store.
2. There were hundreds of variations of the exact same page, all tailored to different shades of color, shape, size, etc., of certain products. (Imagine the scale of duplication involved here on that many pages — we’re talking at least 30,000 pages of content, likely more, all duplicates of each other).
3. Not only that, the CMS they were on was causing trailing slash issues by way of canonical tags that were erroring out as a result. Plus, the CMS they were on was also not tailored properly to their site design, resulting in both www and non-www versions of pages.

These are the things we did in order to help alleviate the problems and enhance crawling for Google:

• We first had to write all original product descriptions.
• We had to decide exactly which pages were important above all others and make sure that they were canonicalized properly using a self-canonical, and that all other duplicated pages pointed to this proper canonical version of the loaded page.
• We had to update internal links pointing to all of these other pages, and it wasn’t as simple as a 301 redirect. We had to update all those links manually.
• The trailing slash ended up being a typo in a script. Once we fixed that, we could move forward with the www and non-www versions of these pages.
• We had to make sure that we were choosing the version of these pages that made the most sense for our client’s site, which ended up being the non-www version of that page. So then, we also had to redirect all of the www versions.

By the time we were done with all of these mental (and digital) gymnastics, we saw significant increases in organic traffic results from Google for this site.

Final Thoughts

All websites have to balance performance for search engines and their users. Knowing how to eliminate duplicate content on e-commerce websites will set you up for better performance in the search results and potentially more conversions.

Our SEO experts can help you remove duplicate content and optimize your e-commerce site for peak performance.

Schedule a free SEO consultation now

FAQ: How does duplicate content affect search engine rankings for e-commerce websites?

In the e-commerce world, duplicate content poses an enormous risk to your SERP rankings. Whenever big search engines like Google come across duplicate content, they have trouble determining which page should be ranked higher. This not only generates confusion, but it also results in a dilution of page authority.

Duplicate content stems from a myriad of issues, like copying manufacturer product descriptions or having identical content on different URLs.

E-commerce sites often suffer the consequences of duplicate content because of the many product listings and descriptions they have. Such consequences might be drops in rankings or penalties. Penalties are most likely in cases where search engines determine that the content was intentionally copied for ranking manipulation purposes.

The goal of any given search engine is to display relevant, unique content to provide the best possible user experience. When a search engine detects duplicate content, all versions of said content may see reduced visibility and, consequently, reduced click-through rates and lower traffic.

But that’s not all – duplicate content can also cannibalize your existing rankings, with more than one page vying for a single search query. Total potential visibility will decrease as a result.

As you might be able to imagine, tackling this duplicate content issue is essential for any ecommerce website. To do so, you’ll need to conduct in-depth content audits to uncover problems and implement canonical tags or redirect duplicate pages to a primary one.

All of this work helps to consolidate the authority and concentrate ranking power into one single URL. Creating top-quality, unique content for each product is what you need to do to boost your site’s search performance.

Among the most vital tools in managing duplicate content is canonicalization. Webmasters can use canonical tags to inform search engines which version of a page to prioritize in search results. Doing this will help to consolidate link equity and prevent loss of SEO value.

301 redirects can also be used to direct users and search engines away from duplicate pages and toward the original page. Ecom sites should keep an eye on every aspect of technical SEO and do away with duplicate content to protect and boost their search engine rankings.

You can mitigate the risks of duplicate content by implementing effective keyword management. It entails conducting in-depth keyword research, writing unique meta descriptions, and creating unique content for every single product page. All of which can enhance your SEO performance.

In addition to that, you need a heavy-duty internal linking strategy to help distribute page authority throughout your website. And consider using structured data markup to further assist search engines in understanding and indexing your content.

The success of any e-commerce website hinges on user-generated content and product reviews. Because they are fresh and unique, you can utilize both of them to reduce duplicate content. Consistently putting out interactive, sharable content, and product descriptions can help to keep duplicate content at bay. Your CMS should also be configured to guard against accidental duplication – this can be helpful in the long term.

Never underestimate the influence of SEO best practices; they are central to countering the effects of duplicate content. The main facets to keep in mind include making your site mobile-friendly, taking steps to speed up your site’s page load time, and keeping a streamlined URL structure. Accurately implementing hreflang tags is another great way to stave off multi-language-related duplicate content problems.

At every turn, it’s essential to stay up to date on the latest SEO best practices to ensure success in your ecommerce strategy.

Step-By-Step Procedure

1. Pinpoint duplicate content: Utilize SEMrush, Screaming Frog, or other tools that crawl sites and identify duplicate content.
2. Do a content audit: Comb through all of the pages flagged during the previous step. The goal is to determine the extent and context of the duplication.
3. Write unique product descriptions: Write or rewrite your product descriptions so that every page contains unique content that holds value for your website visitors.
4. Use canonical tags: Whenever you’ve got several pages that must contain similar content, point search engines to the preferred page with canonical tags.
5. Use 301 redirects: Implement 301 redirects between duplicate pages and the main page. This helps to maintain SEO equity.
6. Optimize your meta tags: Make sure that all meta and descriptions for every product page are unique and properly labeled.
7. Roll out structured data: Apply schema markup so search engines can understand and properly index your content.
8. Leverage user-generated content: Keep content evergreen by effectively tying in customer product reviews and feedback.
9. Analyze URL parameters: Inspect your URL configurations for redundancies. The goal is to have clean, search engine-friendly URLs.
10. Monitor your Google Search Console metrics: Check your site’s metrics on Google Search Console now and again to locate and fix duplicate content issues.
11. Inspect pagination issues: Use rel=prev/next tags to handle pagination and prevent content duplication.
12. Examine language tags: If your website supports multiple languages, use hreflang tags to avoid duplicate content.
13. Use Google Analytics: Determine how well your content is performing and pivot as needed based on insights from that Google Analytics data.
14. Optimize your images: Use filenames and alt text for your images to steer clear of duplicate content.
15. Develop a strategy for your content: Craft a solid content strategy to make it easier to produce great content on a routine basis.
16. Prioritize internal linking: Use internal linking to effectively distribute page authority.
17. Keep your content updated: Update your content on a regular basis to maintain its originality and search value.
18. Use noindex tags strategically: Whenever a page shouldn’t be indexed, use noindex tags. This will help to mitigate the risks of duplication.
19. Fine-tune your CMS settings: For the best possible results, your settings should be set to avoid accidental page duplication.
20. Look at competing websites: Analyze competitors’ strategies to give your site an edge and prevent potential content issues.
21. Assess your backlinks: Ensure that your backlinks aren’t pointing to duplicate content pages. Doing so will help to maintain the value of your links.
22. Prepare your team: Conduct ongoing content team training, keeping the entire team abreast of the best practices surrounding duplicate content.
23. Remain informed: Keep up with the most recent SEO trends and search engine guidelines.
24. Do periodic evaluations: Schedule routine website evaluations to catch and resolve new duplicate content issues.

When you follow the above procedures and implement SEO best practices, you can effectively solve duplicate content issues, opening the door to better search engine rankings.

If you’ve been dealing with uncertainty around how duplicate content affects search engine rankings for e-commerce websites, we trust you’ve got a better idea now. On the whole, it negatively affects page visibility, user experience, and the overall performance of your site. But with well-informed strategies and a sustained effort, you can turn this potential pitfall into an opportunity for enhanced SEO and better rankings.

The post How To Eliminate Duplicate Content on E-Commerce Sites appeared first on Bruce Clay, Inc..

If you want to avoid duplicate content issues, using the canonical link tag can help. This technical SEO best practice is fairly straightforward, and in this article, I’ll talk about why and when you should use it, and tips on how to get started.

• What Is a Canonical URL?
• When to Use a Canonical URL
• How to Use the Canonical Link Element
• Canonicalization FAQs
• FAQ: How can I effectively use canonical URLs to prevent duplicate content issues and improve my SEO?

What Is a Canonical URL?

A canonical URL is a webpage that is the best representative of a group of duplicate or near-duplicate webpages.

The canonical link element helps solve duplicate content issues by signaling to search engines like Google which webpage is the original or best pick out of a group of pages that are duplicate or near duplicate.

Google defines canonical URL as:

“A canonical URL is the URL of the best representative page from a group of duplicate pages, according to Google. For example, if you have two URLs for the same page (for example: example.com?dress=1234 and example.com/dresses/1234), Google chooses one as canonical. Similarly, if you have multiple pages that are nearly identical, Google can group them together (for example, pages that differ only by the sorting or filtering of the contents, such as by price or item color). (You might hear the term “canonical page” used occasionally, but that is technically incorrect, as it is a specific URL that is actually canonical.)
The canonical can be in a different domain than a duplicate (such as en.example.com and fr.example.com).”

The hope is that the canonical URL is the webpage that receives the SEO benefit. And while you can indicate a canonical URL, Google states that none of them are required:

“While we encourage you to use these methods, none of them are required; your site will likely do just fine without specifying a canonical preference. That’s because if you don’t specify a canonical URL, Google will identify which version of the URL is objectively the best version to show to users in Search.”

Google goes into more detail on how it chooses the canonical URL in this video:

In the video, Google’s John Mueller states that Google picks the canonical URL by following two general guidelines:

1. Which URL does it look like the site wants Google to use?
2. Which URL would be more useful for the user?

When in doubt, you can use the URL Inspection tool in Google Search Console to find out which page Google considers the canonical.

When to Use a Canonical URL

A canonical URL is for solving duplicate content issues. These duplicate content issues could be on your site or they could be shared with other websites.

Duplicate content is an SEO no-no, and you can learn more about that in: Is Duplicate Content Bad for Search Engine Rankings?

Some reasons to use the canonical link element:

• Specify which webpage you want in the search results.
• Consolidate link signals for similar or duplicate webpages.
• Simplify tracking methods for a product or topic.
• Preserve crawl budget.

It used to be that the canonical link element was used often if you were to syndicate content across third-party publishers.

Today, Google says:

“The canonical link element is not recommended for those who wish to avoid duplication by syndication partners, because the pages are often very different.

The most effective solution is for partners to block indexing of your content.

For more, see Avoid article duplication in Google News, which also has advice about blocking syndicated content from Google Search.”

Google gives a list of do’s and don’ts when it comes to canonicalization in its help file:

• Don’t use the robots.txt file for canonicalization purposes.
• Don’t use the URL removal tool for canonicalization. It hides all versions of a URL from Search.
• Don’t specify different URLs as canonical for the same page using different canonicalization techniques (for example, don’t specify one URL in a sitemap, but a different URL for that same page using rel=”canonical”).
• We don’t recommend using noindex to prevent selection of a canonical page within a single site, because it will completely block the page from Search. rel=”canonical” link annotations are the preferred solution.
• If you’re using hreflang elements, make sure to specify a canonical page in the same language, or the best possible substitute language if a canonical page doesn’t exist for the same language.
• When linking within your site, link to the canonical URL rather than a duplicate URL. Linking consistently to the URL that you consider to be canonical helps Google understand your preference.
• Specify a canonical page when using hreflang tags. Specify a canonical page in same language, or the best possible substitute language if a canonical doesn’t exist for the same language.
• When linking within your site, link to the canonical URL rather than a duplicate URL. Linking consistently to the URL that you consider to be canonical helps Google understand your preference.

Also note that “Google prefers HTTPS pages over equivalent HTTP pages as canonical, except when there are issues or conflicting signals.”

For even more on canonicalization and when to use it, Google myth-busts some common beliefs about canonicalization in the following video:

In that video, they cover:

• Canonicalization is not a topical grouping (0:00)
• The most common canonicalization myths (1:29)
• Is canonicalization a directive or a signal for Google Search? (2:01)
• Should canonicalization be used as a redirect? (3:08)
• What are the actual factors for duplication and deduplication? (4:25)
• Site’s preference for the canonical URL vs user’s preference (7:33)
• Canonicalization vs unique content on pages with a canonical tag (08:59)

How to Use the Canonical Link Element

You can specify a canonical URL with rel=”canonical” in two ways:

1. Add a rel=”canonical” link element to the <head> section of the duplicate (non-canonical version) of each webpage.
2. Indicate the canonical version of a URL by using a rel=”canonical” HTTP header.

Google gives a list of pros and cons for each execution type here.

Although Google gives multiple recommendations, they explain that you should choose one type of canonicalization method and stick with that.

Using more than one type of canonicalization method will be more prone to errors than using a single type of canonicalization method.

1. Adding a rel=”canonical” Link to the <head> Section of the Duplicate (Non-Canonical Version) of Each Webpage

To tell the search engines when a page is a duplicate of another page, you can use the rel=”canonical” link tag on all the duplicate pages, indicating which page is the canonical URL.

Let’s look at an example. To specify a canonical link to the fictional URL: http://www.example.com/product.php?item=swedish-fish, you’d create a <link> element as follows:

<link rel=”canonical” href=“http://www.example.com/product.php?item=swedish-fish”/>

You’d then copy this link into the <head> section of all non-canonical versions of the page, such as http://www.example.com/product.php?item=swedish-fish&sort=price.

If you publish content on both http and https, such as the following example:

http://www.example.com/product.php?item=swedish-fish and https://www.example.com/product.php?item=swedish-fish, you’d specify the canonical version of the page as well.

Create the <link> element as follows:

<link rel=”canonical” href=”http://www.example.com/product.php?item=swedish-fish”/>

Add this link to the <head> section of https://www.example.com/product.php?item=swedish-fish.

2. Indicating the Canonical Version of a URL by Using a rel=”canonical” HTTP Header

Adding rel=”canonical” to the head section of a page is useful for HTML content, but it can’t be used for PDFs and other file types indexed by Google.

In these cases, you can indicate a canonical URL by responding with the link rel=”canonical” HTTP header, like this (note that to use this option, you’ll need to be able to configure your server):

Link: <http://www.example.com/downloads/white-paper.pdf>; rel=”canonical”

Canonicalization FAQs

Here are a few common questions we get about canonicalization and their answers:

Is rel=”canonical” a suggestion or a directive?

The rel=”canonical” attribute is a hint or suggestion, not a directive.

The rel=”canonical” lets site owners suggest the version of a page that Google should treat as canonical. However, rel=”canonical” is a strong signal that the specified URL should become canonical.

Google will take this into account with other signals when determining which URL sets have identical content, and when calculating the most relevant of these pages to display in search results.

The rel=”canonical” attribute should be used only to specify the preferred version of pages with identical content (although minor differences such as sort order are OK).

For instance, if a site has a set of pages for the same model of dance shoe, each varying only by the color of the shoe pictured, it may make sense to set the page highlighting the most popular color as the canonical version so that Google may be more likely to show that page in search results.

Can Google follow a chain of rel=”canonical” designations?

Yes, to some extent, but to ensure optimal canonicalization, our recommendation is to update links to point to a single canonical page.

What’s the difference between applying a 301 redirect and using a canonical link element to avoid duplicate content?

301 redirects and canonical tags are both used to tell search engines about multiple versions of a web page.

301 redirects are used when a page has moved permanently, while canonical tags are used when there are multiple versions of a page.

Here are some differences between 301 redirects and canonical tags:

• 301 redirects are a status code that tells search engines and users that a page has moved permanently.
• 301 redirects remove the page from the index and pass any SEO credit to the new page.
• 301 redirects send users to the new location of a page.
• The canonical tag tells search engines which page to show in search results.
• Canonical tags are used to prevent problems caused by duplicate content appearing on multiple URLs.

Google gives some examples of when you’d use 301 redirects, here.

Can we use relative URLs in the canonical link element?

Google suggests using absolute URLs rather than relative URLs with the rel=”canonical” link element.

Even though relative paths are supported by Google, they can cause problems in the long run (for example, if you unintentionally allow your testing site to be crawled) and thus are not recommended).

(Read more on relative vs. absolute URLs.)

Does rel=”canonical” work if the URLs are different?

No, the canonical link element is only effective if the pages are duplicates or near duplicates.

If the pages are different, Google will disregard the canonical link element and consider the URLs as two different pages

To sum up, it’s worth taking the time to implement a canonical URL if you think you might run into duplicate content issues. Your SEO program will thank you.

Duplicate content issues affecting your SEO? Our SEO experts can help. Schedule a free 1:1 consultation with us today.

FAQ: How can I effectively use canonical URLs to prevent duplicate content issues and improve my SEO?

Canonical URLs play a crucial role in website optimization, enabling you to address duplicate content problems and enhance your SEO efforts. Understanding their purpose and implementing them correctly can make a significant difference in your search engine rankings.

So, let’s discuss the best practices for their effective usage.

Defining canonical URLs
Canonical URLs are HTML tags that inform search engines about the preferred version of a webpage when there are multiple versions with similar content. By specifying the canonical URL, you steer search engines in the right direction, ensuring they attribute the desired SEO value to the chosen URL.

Why are canonical URLs important?
When search engines encounter duplicate content, they can become confused about which version to rank in search results. As a result, your website’s SEO may suffer, and traffic may be divided among different pages. Canonical URLs address this issue by consolidating authority and ensuring that only one version is considered for ranking.

Implementing canonical URLs correctly
To effectively use canonical URLs, follow these steps:

• Identify duplicate content: Analyze your website to find duplicate content pages that may cause confusion among search engines. Tools like Google Search Console and third-party SEO platforms can help with this task.
• Choose the preferred version:Determine the primary version of the page that you want search engines to rank.
• Add the canonical tag: Insert the canonical tag in the head section of the duplicate content pages, specifying the preferred version’s URL.

Best practices for canonical tags
To make the most of canonical URLs, consider these tips:

• Consistency is key: Maintain consistency by using canonical tags uniformly throughout your website. Ensure all canonical URLs point to the same page when different versions exist.
• Use appropriate directives: Utilize the rel=canonical attribute to specify the canonical URL.
• Include self-referencing canonical tags: Even if a page has no duplicate versions currently, it’s good practice to include a self-referencing canonical tag to ensure consistency in case duplicates arise in the future.

Buyer intent search terms
When optimizing your content, keep in mind the buyer intent search terms related to canonical URLs. Some examples include “best practices for canonical URLs,” “canonical tags implementation,” and “how to prevent duplicate content using canonical URLs.”

Benefit of canonical URLs for SEO
By using canonical URLs correctly, you can consolidate the SEO value of duplicate content pages into one preferred version. This helps search engines understand your site structure better and keeps your rankings focused on the desired URL.

Regularly monitor duplicate content
Keep an eye on your website’s duplicate content by using SEO tools that send alerts when new instances are detected. This proactive approach ensures you maintain control over your site’s SEO performance.

Canonical URLs are an essential tool in preventing duplicate content issues and enhancing your SEO strategy. By correctly implementing canonical tags, you guide search engines toward the preferred version and consolidate SEO value. Stay vigilant, monitor duplicate content regularly and optimize your website for improved search engine rankings.

Step-by-Step Procedure:

1. Identify duplicate content pages on your website.
2. Choose the preferred version of the page.
3. Insert the canonical tag in the head section of duplicate content pages.
4. Specify the preferred version’s URL in the canonical tag.
5. Ensure consistency by using canonical tags uniformly on your website.
6. Use the rel=canonical attribute to specify canonical URLs.
7. Include self-referencing canonical tags on pages with no duplicates.
8. Optimize your content for buyer intent search terms related to canonical URLs.
9. Consolidate the SEO value of duplicate content pages into the preferred version.
10. Maintain a clear site structure for search engine understanding.
11. Regularly monitor duplicate content using SEO tools.
12. Receive alerts for new instances of duplicate content.
13. Take proactive actions to resolve and prevent duplicate content issues.
14. Stay updated with the latest best practices for canonical URLs.
15. Continuously optimize your website for improved search engine rankings.
16. Implement changes to canonical URLs whenever necessary.
17. Regularly review and refine your SEO strategy.
18. Stay knowledgeable about search engine algorithm updates.
19. Attend SEO conferences and join industry forums for expert insights.
20. Collaborate with SEO professionals to improve your website’s performance.

Implement the steps outlined in this article to prevent duplicate content issues, optimize your website and improve search engine rankings.

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