If you are new to WordPress, you will notice that your post content will be displayed or I should say, duplicated on your front page, on your single post page, on your category page and also on your archive page.
The way WP organises its contents by default is such that it is vulnerable to issue of duplicate content which will affect badly your position in search engine ranking, Google in particular. The cause for duplicate internal content is usually your archives page, which is normally used for categories and monthly archives.
In Google terms
Duplicate content generally refers to substantive blocks of content within or across domains that either completely match other content or are appreciably similar.
…..in which Google perceives that duplicate content may be shown with intent to manipulate our rankings and deceive our users, we’ll also make appropriate adjustments in the indexing and ranking of the sites involved. As a result, the ranking of the site may suffer, or the site might be removed entirely from the Google index, in which case it will no longer appear in search results.
The solution?
One of the thing you can do is make a little change in your theme’s template to display full content on a single post page only and everything else just a short excerpt of the full post.
To do that you need to edit your theme’s index.php and find the following code
<? php the_content(__('Read the rest of this entry »')); ?>
replace it with
<? php the_excerpt(__('Read the rest of this entry »')); ?>
When you are done, repeat the same to your archive.php and search.php.
Apart from avoiding duplicate content, another benefit of using an excerpt is that it will increase your Page Views as your readers will have to navigate to the next page to read the full content post.
Let me know what you think. What other methods do you practice to prevent duplicate content on your blog?
PS: I assume you already know how to edit your theme’s template, if not, you can ask me via the comment section. I’ll be glad to help.
Update: If there is one plugin that does the task of eliminating duplicate content is Duplicate Content Cure Plugin. It is a simple, yet effective SEO plugin that prevents search engines from indexing WordPress pages that contain duplicate content, like archives and category pages.
Thanks, Bill
About This Blogger
I wrote a post a little while ago about using the Duplicate Content Cure plugin for WordPress -
http://www.killerincome.net/optimizing-your-wordpress-blog-for-the-search-engines-part-5-duplicate-content-cure/
I think the plugin may be a more universal solution than the one you proposed (I am kind of new at this stuff) only because with your simple PHP fix, you may not only need to add the code to your archive and search pages, you may also need to add it to your Category Pages, Tags Pages etc. Any page in which the same content is produced multiple times would need this mod, wouldn’t it?
Then when you upgrade to the new version you’ll need to go back in and add these fixes again I think. Anyway, just my two cents.
Hi Bill
You are right. Using plugin is always the best option to simplify the complexity of WordPress. The one you mention is definitely worth a look. I should update my post accordingly.
Thanks for the 2 cents. Do you have a dollar?
If you want to know if I have a dollar, you’ll have to come by tomorrow to read my first ever Income Report :). Thanks for stopping by my site before. Keep up the good work and I’ll be back to see what’s new around here.
I have been wanting to ask this question for a long time now. I am venturing into group blogging now and would like to know something..
Well, will it be taken as a duplicate content if an already published article in any of the people’s blogs are published in another blog?Will the pr be reduced?Awaiting your response.
@rampantheart
When you copy the article word for word and publish it elsewhere, Google will recognize it as duplicate content will eventually affect your PR. Writing a different version of the article and still keeping the gist of the story is much recommended by the SEO guys.
Off my mind, if you find the urge to copy everything, then I would suggest using ‘noindex’ to prevent Google to index it. Frankly, I haven’t done this before so I can’t advise you further.
Oh I like the idea of group blogging…
Oh, ok!thanks!Got the central idea. But i don’t think i will use this no index. Why cheat Google?hmm..
The idea of group blogging has always fascinated me and somehow i managed to book the domain and make necessary arrangements.. Well, i would very much be honored if you would write for me but the thing is this is not a technology blog. I might launch one on technology and SEO depending on the success of this The Voices Within.
If you would like to write on something else or feel you have particluar forte , please feel free to mail me.
Did i forget to tell you the fact that your template looks awesome?I love it!
It’s an honor for me to be able to contribute. Thanks for the invite.
Drop me a line when The Voices Within starts whispering, will you?
And thanks for the compliment too. The credit should go to Speckyboy with his great minimalist design. I just tweaked it to my own preference.
Sure.it would actually be my privilege.
Does the usage of the <more> tag accomplish the same goal as this plugin? I use this tag so that only the entry introduction appears on the homepage and category pages. The full entry is only available on one page - the posted entry itself.
Technology For Non Techies’s last blog post..What the Heck Is “YouTube” Anyways?
Colin,
What you have done is perfectly fine. I choose not use the method because I tend to forget to add the <code>more</code> tag.
BTW, the plugin is recommended by one of the readers but I do not use here on my blog.