Websites with same content

[Paul78]

Hi, Both my .co.uk and .ie websites have the exact same content which consists of hundreds of pages, is this going to cause an issue? I have a hreflang on both websites plus google webmaster tools is picking up that both websites are targeting different counties. Thanks

[eyepaq]

Yes, since you use different domains (TLDs) then you have a clear case of duplicate content. Hreflang in this case dosen't solve the duplicate issue. You could however use rel canonical - cross domain and in correlation with hreflang you can actually solve the issue but again, you need to "connect" the two with rel canonical.

[Paul78]

Hi there, Thanks for your feedback. I'm rather confused, I have just watched Matt Cutts say that this is NOT a problem can you please explain further why you think what Matt Cutts is saying is not true? Have you had experience of such issues?

watch?v=Ets7nHOV1Yo&sns=em