Partially duplicated content on separate pages

[JacobFunnell]

TL;DR: I am writing copy for some web pages. I am duplicating some bits of copy exactly on separate web pages. And in other cases I am using the same bits of copy with slight alterations. Is this bad for SEO?

Details: We sell about 10 different courses. Each has a separate page. I'm currently writing copy for those pages.

Some of the details identical for each course. So I can duplicate the content and it will be 100% applicable.

For example, when we talk about where we can run courses (we go to a company and run it on their premises) – that's applicable to every course.

Other bits are applicable with minor alterations. So where we talk about how we'll tailor the course, I will say for example: "We will the tailor the course to the {technical documents|customer letters|reports} your company writes." Or where we have testimonials, the headline reads "Improving {customer writing|reports|technical documents} in every sector and industry".

There is original content on each page. The duplicate stuff may seem spammy, but the alternative is me finding alternative re-wordings for exactly the same information. This is tedious and time-consuming and bizarre given that the user won't notice any difference. Do I need to go ahead and re-write these bits ten slightly different ways anyway?

[Sarbs]

You should be ok, Google is ok about this type of boiler plate text, the fact you are also adding unique content to the pages to is even better as you are not replicating the entire page. There has been a recent video by Mat Cutts on the issue which you can find a write up on in Search Engine Watch.

Hope you find that useful.

[Aggie]

I agree you SHOULD be ok, but not knowing exactly what you're duplicating, I thought I'd send this video from Matt Cutts on content stitching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z13-yP3Zhns

[JacobFunnell]

Thanks Tuzzell, just what I was after.

[JacobFunnell]

Thanks Aggie! Glad to see Matt Cutts addressed it directly.