Online Marketing Blog

Did you realize that search engines have gone full circle on URLs in variables? It used to be considered something to avoid, now search engines are saying variables in URLs are good, as long as you use the canonical meta tag. Google is pushing them with FeedBurner and if webmasters aren’t careful, they could fall victim to a new onslaught of duplicate content issues.

One of the biggest issues with SEO is duplicate content. If search engines can’t tell which version of a document is the original or canonical version, then there can be consequences involving less than ideal search visibility. For example, the following URLs might all point to the same web page, creating the illusion that they are copies of the same thing. But in reality, it’s just one web page.

On day one of SES London I was able to catch up with Google Search Evangelist Adam Lasnik to do a short (10 min) video on several topics important to web masters looking for better results on Google. Adam starts with a descrption of his responsibilities at Google and then answers questions about Google compliant Flash and JavaScript, duplicate content – especially with press releases and suggested uses of internal site nofollow other than for “PageRank sculpting”.

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This session was moderated by Chris Sherman and included the following speakers: Mikkel deMib Svendsen, Shari Thurow, Adam Lasnik (Google), Tim Converse (Yahoo) and Jon Glick (Become.com) who is filling in for Anne Kennedy whose husband unfortunatley passed away over the weekend.

Duplicate content has resurfaced as an issue due to the increased use of syndication.

First up is Jon Glick.

What is duplicate content? Multiple domains with same home page. Duplicate content is a problem because while search engines want your content, they want unique content. Search engine webmaster guidelines offer specifics.

Example problems:
- Dynamic urls where different urls can access the same content.
- Multiple domains and one web site