The issue: If you spot the ‘URLs with duplicate content’ issue in your audit, it means that multiple URLs on your site have identical HTML content.
Why This Is a Problem
The bottom line is, duplicate content is a red flag for Google’s algorithms.
To them, duplicate content signals a site that’s low effort, potentially spammy, and generally not valuable to user.
This also impacts the user experience.
So even if Google didn’t penalise it (spoiler: they do), having duplicate content can harm your brand;
- you give off a “we don’t care” vibe;
- prospects CAN and WILL relate that same vibe to the products/services you offer.
If you’re dependent on organic traffic, unresolved duplicate content could crush your revenue stream since it can negatvilty impact indexing across ALL URLs, not just the ones with the duplicate content.
How Does This Happen?
Duplicate content can crop up for various reasons—often inadvertently, like through technical errors in the CMS, accidental duplications during content creation, or page variations that weren’t unique enough.
Fixing URLs With Duplicate Content Issue
To fix this: focus on creating unique pages with well-optimised content and keywords.
When Google sees unique, value-driven pages, it views each as a standalone, quality addition to its index.
Run an Ecommrece Site? Read This
Sometimes, duplicate content across URLs isn’t due to a user error or an outright mistake—it’s actually intentional.
For instance, let’s say you sell dog collars on your site.
A specific collar might be accessible under different categories like Collars, Training Gear, and Accessories.
This setup serves your visitors well by making it easy to find the product through various paths, but Google sees these as duplicate pages.
The solution? Pick one of these pages as the main or “canonical” version (say the Collars page), then add canonical tags to the Training Gear and Accessories versions.
This lets Google know which one to prioritise without disrupting your user experience.
Canonical tags are designed for exactly this sort of situation, keeping search engines happy while letting you present products in multiple relevant categories.