Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Franchise-Like Duplicate Sites
-
I know that ideally businesses that operate as franchises should have 1 site with separate location pages. However, I have a slightly different issue.
Each location is owned by a different parent company, and named accordingly. For example, there is "Location by XYZ Company" and "Location by ABC Company." In addition, each location, while carrying similar products, does not carry the same exact products and brands.
So my question is how would you go about writing the content for each of these sites, keeping the same tone but avoiding duplicate content?
-
When it comes to duplicate content, Google typically compares one web page versus another web page. So, if the site does have a different company name (franchise name) and carries a different set of products or a some similar products, then it sounds as if the pages on the site won't be considered duplicates. They may be similar, but not necessarily duplicates. It would be best to make sure that each site doesn't use the same exact web design template, as well.
You can run the site through Copyscape.com and Siteliner.com to identify duplicate content issues with the sites. Most good writers will be able to write the content in a way that talks about the same products or services but doesn't include the same text as other sites.
-
As Donald says you can rewrite content for each location and give it a location specific flavor.
One thing I would also recommend when working on something like this is spend the time trying to get some user generated content such a reviews and testimonials. This will give it a more unique local feel.
If each location has similar products but not exactly the same could you slightly vary product focus and weight of content accordingly.
I don't know you setup or budget but you could even look to get different writers for different locations. You may even look to get different business owners/franchise managers to have input on the content for their site. In some situations you may even have some keen to write some content that you can proof/edit.
Hope this helps
-
Avoiding duplicate content is easy, do not copy the content written for one site and paste to another site. The key here will be creativity. Writing uniquely different content that is specific to each location is a challenge but it will pay off in the long run.
Say the service is doggy day care, the content can be uniquely different from each location while promoting the services located at each location. Just write it differently. Use terms common to each location while being specific to services. Maybe one service in the scenario is outside playtime. One location may have a Nancy who runs the dogs out side and has unique qualifications then Bob who does the same thing at another location. Same service different content.
Is the site an online store that sells products online?
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
-
Does Google consider breadcrumbs to be duplicate titles?
Moz has been flagging a lot of our articles for duplicate titles. I noticed that the website was automatically generating the same words that were used for the titles above the articles and main images. But those are bread crumbs. Does anyone know if Google also considers those duplicate titles? I'm not sure if the screenshot I'm uploading will appear, but this is one of the blog posts the extra wording was showing up on: https://hometowneautorepairandtireofwoodbridge.com/blog/when-why-replace-spark-plugs/
Content Development | | ifixcars1 -
Images & Duplicate Content Issues
Here's a scenario for you: The site is running WordPress and the images are uploaded to the media section. You can set image attributes there such as the Description & Alt Tag. Let's say you'd like to reuse the same image in two different blog posts. The image keeps the same Description & Alt Tag associated with it in the media section. Would this be considered duplicate content? What would be the best practice in this case to reuse the same image in multiple posts?
Content Development | | VicMarcusNWI0 -
Can We Publish Duplicate Content on Multi Regional Website / Blogs?
Today, I was reading Google's official article on Multi Regional website and use of duplicate content. Right now, We are working on 4 different blogs for following regions. And, We're writing unique content for each blog. But, I am thinking to use one content / subject for all 4 region blogs. USA: http://www.bannerbuzz.com/blog/ UK: http://www.bannerbuzz.co.uk/blog/ AUS: http://www.bannerbuzz.com.au/blog/ CA: http://www.bannerbuzz.ca/blog/ Let me give you very clear ideas on it. Recently, We have published one article on USA website. http://www.bannerbuzz.com/blog/choosing-the-right-banner-for-your-advertisement/ And, We want to publish this article / blog on UK, AUS & CA blog without making any changes. I have read following paragraph on Google's official guidelines and It's inspire me to make it happen. Which is best solution for it? Websites that provide content for different regions and in different languages sometimes create content that is the same or similar but available on different URLs. This is generally not a problem as long as the content is for different users in different countries. While we strongly recommend that you provide unique content for each different group of users, we understand that this may not always be possible. There is generally no need to "hide" the duplicates by disallowing crawling in a robots.txt file or by using a "noindex" robots meta tag. However, if you're providing the same content to the same users on different URLs (for instance, if both example.de/ and example.com/de/ show German language content for users in Germany), you should pick a preferred version and redirect (or use the rel=canonical link element) appropriately. In addition, you should follow the guidelines on rel-alternate-hreflang to make sure that the correct language or regional URL is served to searchers.
Content Development | | CommercePundit0 -
How many categories should you have within a blog / Wordpress Site for SEO?
Hi Guys I am just wondering whether or not for SEO purposes it is better to have a small number of categories for your blog posts to fit into as opposed to numerous ones. The reason I ask is that I have one site which is fairly new to the search engines - 8 months old which has 7 general categories within the blog for instance "rail contractors", "railway construction" "airport construction" etc I have another site which is 10 years old which has built up 25 different types of categories for instance brand design, brand development, brand management (i guess you could put all these under 1 category "branding"? We've been writing lots of press for both sites... yet the younger site is getting more coverage on Google page 1. Would this be because the blogs / press are more concentrated under a specific category as opposed to being spread thinly throughout the site? Any help would be appreciated. Debs 🙂
Content Development | | lethalmarketing0 -
Should a business blog be on a separate site or on the ecommerce site itself?
Hey there. I'm a new Pro member and this will be my first question on the Q&A. Thanks in advance for your responses. I'm the owner of an ecommerce site that sells custom candles. www.prometheancandle.com in case anyone wants to take a peak. I've become somewhat of an expert on all-things-candles over the past 4 years and I am thinking about starting a candle related blog. My question is this. Should I build this blog on the ecommerce site itself, say @ www.prometheancandle.com/blog.php, or should I devote a separate site to answering candle related question, history of candles, etc? At first, I was thinking that the blog should remain on the ecommerce site so readers would have easy access to the shop to be able to purchase products. But then it occurred to me that people who may be interested in reading up on candle history, candle making, meditation & candles, etc., may not want to go to an obviously ecommerce site to do that. I know Google values informational sites more than ecommerce sites (at least I think they do), so that encourages me to lean towards the separate site. Well, I may have just answered this question myself, but I'd definitely be interested to hear feedback and opinions. Thanks so much guys and I look forward to hearing from you.
Content Development | | Devynn0 -
Moving a html site into Wordpress
I'm getting ready to move a site into Wordpress. The current or old site is built with static html pages. My question is, how should I handle Google with these old pages. Should I 301 redirect from each old page to the new? Or is there a better way to handle it?
Content Development | | brandco0 -
Publishing on sites with greater domain authority
Hello, I had an idea, probably not original: While my website is still gaining domain authority, I was thinking about publishing articles in a website with great domain authority that allows articles from third parties. This way the article's relevance + domain authority of the site would result in a better position on Google for the article I write and with proper links, I can attract people to my website. This would be a temporary strategy until my website's domain authority increases. Any suggestions on how to do this? Where can I publish articles to attract people to my website (except blogs)? Thanks a lot.
Content Development | | Tev0 -
Blog for SEO: embedded in the site or separate
Hello, For both ecommerce and sites that sell services, I've seen a lot of people recommending a blog for SEO. Should this blog be inside or separate from the main website for the most results? I can see how adding one to a site would create more unique content and an opportunity for link bait, but perhaps there is a reason to have a blog separate from the main site Thank you.
Content Development | | BobGW1
