Duplicate Content Solutions: Fix the #1 Ranking Killer

1WWW vs Non-WWW Duplication

Problem: Both example.com and www.example.com resolve to the same content. Google sees these as two separate sites.

# .htaccess (Apache)
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^example\.com [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.example.com/$1 [L,R=301]
# OR choose non-www version:
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www\.example\.com [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://example.com/$1 [L,R=301]

Result: All link equity flows to one canonical version. Pick www or non-www and stick with it.

2HTTP vs HTTPS Duplication

Problem: After SSL migration, both HTTP and HTTPS versions are accessible, creating complete site duplication.

# .htaccess (Apache)
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]
# Nginx
server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com www.example.com;
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

3URL Parameter Duplication

Problem: Tracking parameters, session IDs, and filters create infinite duplicate URLs.

<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/product/shoes" />

4Trailing Slash Inconsistency

Problem: Google treats /page and /page/ as different URLs (same content, two URLs).

# Force trailing slash (Apache)
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !(.*)/$
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://example.com/$1/ [L,R=301]
# Remove trailing slash (if you prefer)
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} (.*)/$
RewriteRule ^(.*)/$ https://example.com/$1 [L,R=301]

5Product Variant Duplication (Ecommerce)

Problem: Each size/color creates a separate URL with nearly identical content.

<!-- On variant pages -->
<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/shoes/nike-air-max" />

6Pagination Duplication

Problem: Blog archives and category pages with pagination create thin, duplicate content.

<!-- Page 1 -->
<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/blog/" />
<link rel="next" href="https://example.com/blog/page/2/" />
<!-- Page 2 -->
<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/blog/page/2/" />
<link rel="prev" href="https://example.com/blog/" />
<link rel="next" href="https://example.com/blog/page/3/" />
<!-- Page 3 -->
<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/blog/page/3/" />
<link rel="prev" href="https://example.com/blog/page/2/" />

<!-- All paginated pages point to "view all" version -->
<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/blog/all/" />

7Printer-Friendly & Mobile Versions

Problem: Separate URLs for print versions (/article?print=1) or old mobile sites (m.example.com).

<!-- On print version (/article?print=1) -->
<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/article" />
<!-- If using mobile subdomain (legacy) -->
<!-- Desktop version: -->
<link rel="alternate" media="only screen and (max-width: 640px)"
      href="https://m.example.com/article" />
<!-- Mobile version: -->
<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/article" />

Method 1: Google Search Console

Best for: Finding pages Google has already identified as duplicates

1. 1. Go to Coverage report → "Excluded" tab
2. 2. Look for "Duplicate without user-selected canonical"
3. 3. Click to see affected URLs
4. 4. Compare to see which version Google chose as canonical

Method 2: Site Crawl with Screaming Frog

Best for: Finding all duplicate content issues before Google does

1. 1. Crawl your site with Screaming Frog SEO Spider
2. 2. Go to Content → Duplicate tab
3. 3. Check "Duplicate Titles", "Duplicate Descriptions", "Duplicate Content"
4. 4. Export list of duplicate URL pairs
5. 5. Decide: 301 redirect, canonical tag, or consolidate content

Method 3: Google "site:" Search

Best for: Quick manual checks

# Find all indexed versions of a specific page:
site:example.com "exact title of page"
# Find parameter variations:
site:example.com inurl:?
# Find www vs non-www indexation:
site:www.example.com
site:example.com
# Find HTTP versions still indexed:
site:http://example.com

Method 4: Copyscape / Siteliner

Best for: Finding near-duplicate content (not exact matches)

• • Siteliner.com: Free tool that finds internal duplicate content percentages
• • Copyscape: Paid tool that finds external content theft
• • Shows which pages have 80%+ similarity
• • Highlights duplicate text blocks across pages

1. Scraped Content / Content Theft

Someone copies your content and publishes it on their site (sometimes outranking you for your own content).

Fix:

• • File DMCA takedown request with Google
• • Contact webmaster requesting removal or canonical tag to your site
• • Add internal links with dates to establish originality
• • Use Copyscape Plagiarism Checker to find scrapers

2. Syndicated Content

You publish an article on Medium, LinkedIn, or industry publications--Google sees multiple identical copies.

Fix:

• • Wait 1-2 weeks after publishing on your site before syndicating
• • Request canonical tag from syndication partner pointing to your original
• • Add unique intro/outro to syndicated versions
• • Include "Originally published at [your site]" with link

3. Boilerplate Content

Repeated sidebar, footer, or header content makes pages seem more similar than they are (especially on thin pages).

Fix:

• • Increase unique content ratio (more main content, less boilerplate)
• • Use different sidebar widgets on different page types
• • Remove duplicate footer text across all pages
• • Vary related posts / recommendations by category

4. Category / Tag Page Duplication

Blog posts appear in multiple category and tag archives, creating thin duplicate archives.

Fix:

• • Noindex tag archives (keep categories indexable)
• • Add unique descriptions to each category page
• • Use canonical tags from tags to main category
• • Limit number of categories/tags per post

5. Search Results / Filter Pages

Internal search and faceted navigation create infinite combinations of filter pages.

Fix:

• • Noindex search results pages
• • Use robots.txt to block filter parameter crawling
• • Add canonical tags to filtered pages pointing to main category
• • Allow only SEO-valuable filter combinations (e.g., "red shoes" indexable, "red shoes size 9.5 under $50" noindex)