Can I have the same item description on Amazon, eBay and my website?

[goforgreen]

Hi guys,

After looking on the Internet and reading the Learn SEO section on this site, I've realised that Google doesn't like duplicate content and penalises it, whether that's duplication on your own site or of another site's content.

We are an online retailer currently selling on different platforms including Amazon, eBay and our own ecommerce webstore.

Is it okay to have the same item description (i.e. main page copy) on each of these sites, or will our search rankings get negatively impacted?

Thank you in advance, I have researched on this issue also but I couldn't find a concrete answer.

• Tanay

[William.Lau]

I've used Amazon and eBay very often back then and between Amazon and eBay it shouldn't matter having the same description.

However, your own website should have more in depth details and should not be exactly similar to Amazon and eBay. Because although if you post the description own your site first, Amazon and eBay might just rank higher than you just because.

But from my experience, products generally have the same descriptions and details. If you create some sort of slight variation, it shouldn't be negatively effecting SEO.

My suggestion is keep Amazon and eBay same just because they rank well in the first place. For your own site, make slight variations.

[SEOKeith]

I would try and vary them if possible... Spending the most time on your sites product description.

This could also help your listings / website stand out from the rest.

[Greg_Gifford]

Pravin -

You definitely CAN... but that's not always the best idea. We do car dealer websites, and we feed our dealers' inventories out to hundreds of online classified sites. Many of our dealers also use eBay motors. Our system allows them to either write a single description that goes to every property, or separate descriptions for website, eBay, and classifieds.

You should be able to do the same thing with your site. You should always have a bit more detail and depth on your own website, but if your system doesn't allow for you to do so, you'll probably still be ok. The search engines are smart enough to realize that the different online stores and classified sites are all selling the same product (and won't assign a dupe content penalty).

Remember - you should always look at your website and create content/descriptions that your customers (and potential customers) will find the most useful and relevant. Write for people, not for search engines. Plus, you've got different audiences on the other sales platforms, so unique descriptions might help with conversions, based on the audience you're trying to reach. BUT, if you're not able to, you should be ok with using the same description across the board.

[benjaminspak]

1. Depending on the authority of your website depends how quickly it gets indexed/ranked

For example:

• • I have seen stuff on Quora get indexed by Google in about 15 minutes
  • If you have a new site, it could take a couple of weeks

2. Personally if I'm planning on launching a new product I'd post in the info on my site a couple of weeks before it's ready to launch with a coming soon banner. This is good for two (2) resons:

1. 1. You are generating buzz
   2. You are making sure Google knows your site published the content before anyone else.

3. Is duplicate content an problem?

Yes.

If you get indexed first, is it your problem?

I'd say no