How do you optimize a page with Syndicated Content?
-
Content is syndicated legally (licensed). My questions are:
- What is the best way to approach this situation?
- Is there any a change to compete with the original site/page for the same keywords?
- Is it okay to do so? Will there be any negative SEO impact on my site?
-
It's tricky, honestly - even if the content is legitimately/legally syndicated and provides user value, it's still possible for Google to consider it "thin", low-value content. There are a lot of caveats, though:
(1) It's possible for two or more sites to both rank for a piece of content, but the winner usually depends on a mix of signals, ranging from Google's best guess as to the source to the authority of the domain. In some cases, it's possible for a strong syndicator to outrank the source.
(2) It really depends a lot on your content balance. If you use partially-syndicated content in pages with some unique content, you're usually a lot safer. If you use a small percentage of syndicated content across your site, you're also usually pretty safe - worst case, that content may just not rank or get filtered out. The problem is when you rely heavily on syndicated content - it can make your entire site look low-value and trigger issues with Panda.
(3) It depends a lot on the type of content. Many resellers use OEM product descriptions, for example. These pages often don't rank well (as they're plastered across the internet), but it's unusual to see them harm the entire site. If you have a blog that's just re-posts from other blogs (even completely legit ones), though, Google is just going to see your site as a copy and low-value.
If the content is solely for users and doesn't have SEO value for you, you can always NOINDEX it or rel-canonical to the source (cross-domain). That will prevent an risk. Usually, though, it does have some SEO value, so you don't want to block it entirely. In that case, I would just say proceed with caution. Content syndication is perfectly valid, but you don't want to over-use it.
-
Hi,
There is no negative effects affects your site, you can compete with original site with same keyword but your SEO must be powerful. you have to implement strong SEO campaign so you can beat your competitor. Syndicate does not matter but the way you optimize your webpage that is matter more.
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
-
Posting same content multiple blogs or multiple website - 2018
Submitting same content on multiple site or blog using original source Links. Its good or bad in term on Ranking and SEO. Can we post same content on multiple website with orginal post reference same like Press release site technique.
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | HuptechWebseo0 -
Can I Point Multiple Exact Match Domains to a Primary Domain? (Avoiding Duplicate Content)
For example, lets say I have these 3 domains: product1.com product2.com product.com The first 2 domains will have very similar text content, with different products. The product.com domain will be similar content, with all of the products in one place. Transactions would be handled through the Primary domain (product.com) The purpose of this would be to capitalize on the Exact match domain opportunities. I found this seemingly old article: http://www.thesitewizard.com/domain/point-multiple-domains-one-website.shtml The article states that you can avoid duplicate content issues, and have all links attributed to the Primary domain. What do you guys think about this? Is it possible? Is there a better way of approaching this while still taking advantage of the EMD?
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | ClearVisionDesign0 -
Local Doorway Pages
Based on what I've read, setting up localized landing pages ie: /web-design-atlanta, web-design-nyc, /web-design-chicago, etc especially with duplicate content is a big no-no. Remarkably, 2 of our competitors are doing it, (they are just swapping out the locations), and it's working. They don't even have office addresses or local phone numbers listed. They are on the first page for multiple location based searches ("web design nyc", "web design atlanta", etc.). I thought Google penalized for this, or at least didn't index the content. What gives? Am I misinterpreting Google's AUP? Can I report them? If it's legal, we should be doing it as well.
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | CsmBill0 -
Content ideas?
We run a printing company and we are struggling to come up with unique content people will actually want to know, is there any way of getting the ball rolling? We were thinking of ideas such as exhibition guide but this seems to have been overdone. Any help would be appreciated.
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | BobAnderson0 -
Tricky Decision to make regarding duplicate content (that seems to be working!)
I have a really tricky decision to make concerning one of our clients. Their site to date was developed by someone else. They have a successful eCommerce website, and the strength of their Search Engine performance lies in their product category pages. In their case, a product category is an audience niche: their gender and age. In this hypothetical example my client sells lawnmowers: http://www.example.com/lawnmowers/men/age-34 http://www.example.com/lawnmowers/men/age-33 http://www.example.com/lawnmowers/women/age-25 http://www.example.com/lawnmowers/women/age-3 For all searches pertaining to lawnmowers, the gender of the buyer and their age (for which there are a lot for the 'real' store), these results come up number one for every combination they have a page for. The issue is the specific product pages, which take the form of the following: http://www.example.com/lawnmowers/men/age-34/fancy-blue-lawnmower This same product, with the same content (save a reference to the gender and age on the page) can also be found at a few other gender / age combinations the product is targeted at. For instance: http://www.example.com/lawnmowers/women/age-34/fancy-blue-lawnmower http://www.example.com/lawnmowers/men/age-33/fancy-blue-lawnmower http://www.example.com/lawnmowers/women/age-32/fancy-blue-lawnmower So, duplicate content. As they are currently doing so well I am agonising over this - I dislike viewing the same content on multiple URLs, and though it wasn't a malicious effort on the previous developers part, think it a little dangerous in terms of SEO. On the other hand, if I change it I'll reduce the website size, and severely reduce the number of pages that are contextually relevant to the gender/age category pages. In short, I don't want to sabotage the performance of the category pages, by cutting off all their on-site relevant content. My options as I see them are: Stick with the duplicate content model, but add some unique content to each gender/age page. This will differentiate the product category page content a little. Move products to single distinct URLs. Whilst this could boost individual product SEO performance, this isn't an objective, and it carries the risks I perceive above. What are your thoughts? Many thanks, Tom
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | SoundinTheory0 -
Landing Page or Doorway ?- that is the question!
Hi Guys, So, I'm looking at a project to build a series of landing pages that cross map cities with Suname. E.g. Sydney + Smyth, New York + Fitzpatrick. On those pages I'll pull in from our directory relevant name based listings and try and display some other tailored / information. The page itself is the end goal - it is definitely not a doorway in the classic sense of encouraging someone to then go on the main site. I want the user to fill out a form on this page because they realise they've landed on a valuable service. I'm looking at potentially 500 names against 2000 locations, creating 1,000,000 landing pages. Although some of the content will be repetitive I genuinely believe someone doing the appropriate search and finding our page will derive value from our page as our whole business is designed to answer their needs. However I'm worried that Google may classify these pages as doorway pages. Could anyone please shine the light of experience on this for me? Thanks!
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | flow_seo0 -
User comments with page content or as a separate page?
With the latest Google updates in both cracking down on useless pages and concentrating on high quality content, would it be beneficial to include user posted comments on the same page as the content or a separate page? Having a separate page with enough comments on it would he worth warranting, especially as extra pages add extra pagerank but would it be better to include them with the original article/post? Your ideas and suggestions are greatly appreciated.
White Hat / Black Hat SEO | | Peter2640