Duplicate content issues, I am running into challenges and am looking for suggestions for solutions. Please help.

[Jdubin]

So I have a number of pages on my real estate site that display the same listings, even when parsed down by specific features and don't want these to come across as duplicate content pages.  Here are a few examples:

http://luxuryhomehunt.com/homes-for-sale/lake-mary/hanover-woods.html?feature=waterfront

http://luxuryhomehunt.com/homes-for-sale/lake-mary/hanover-woods.html

This happens to be a waterfront community so all the homes are located along the waterfront.  I can use a canonical tag, but I not every community is like this and I want the parsed down feature pages to get index.

Here is another example that is a little different:

http://luxuryhomehunt.com/homes-for-sale/winter-park/bear-gully-bay.html

http://luxuryhomehunt.com/homes-for-sale/winter-park/bear-gully-bay.html?feature=without-pool

http://luxuryhomehunt.com/homes-for-sale/winter-park/bear-gully-bay.html?feature=4-bedrooms

http://luxuryhomehunt.com/homes-for-sale/winter-park/bear-gully-bay.html?feature=waterfront

So all the listings in this community happen to have 4 bedrooms, no pool, and are waterfront.  Meaning that they display for each of the parsed down categories.  I can possible set something that if the listings = same then use canonical of main page url, but in the next case its not so simple.

So in this next neighborhood there are 48 total listings as seen at:

http://luxuryhomehunt.com/homes-for-sale/windermere/isleworth.html

and being that it is a higher end neighborhood, 47 of the 48 listings are considered "traditional listings" and while it is not exactly all of them it is 99%.

Any recommendations is appreciated greatly.

[JaredMumford]

Hi Joshua,

There are a number of ways to stop Google from counting your dynamic urls as duplicates. Its unclear from your question why you can't use canonical tags for this.  If you went here:

http://luxuryhomehunt.com/homes-for-sale/lake-mary/hanover-woods.html

And add the canonical tag in the HEAD section:

It will solve your issue of duplication when people choose property variables like waterfront or bedroom #. I think you were trying to point out the reason this wont work at the end of your question but Im not exactly sure what you are eluding to there?

[Jdubin]

First,  thanks again for responding.  The challenge I have with using the canonical tag for the variable pages is that, won't it prevent google from indexing the variable pages that include some terms/ phrases I am trying to rank for?

Like Hanover Woods foreclosure homes for sale or Hanover 4 bedroom homes for sale

[JaredMumford]

I see, and yes it will.

I know for my real estate clients, the main listings page usually ranks naturally for info that is found in listings so for example "4 bedrooms" - we have a real estate client that ranks for "x real estate" and "x homes for sale" but also ranks for "4 bedroom homes for sale in x" simply because the listings summary have number of bedrooms in them (like yours does).

However for other variables, like "no pool", its gets trickier since no one lists a house on MLS citing "no pool".

The only two ways around this are: write unique content on every main page, and include the keywords you want like 'no pool' or

write some unique content for each variable - ie write some unique copy on the "no pool" page, write some unique copy on the 'waterfront' page, etc. Even then you are still running a risk of duplicate copy. Having the titles, breadcrumbs and h1's dynamically change just might not be enough. I would put all of my efforts (including linkbuilding) to the main landing page and just make sure to include the keywords i want (thats just an opinion).

What is the data showing now - are you being penalized? Are you ranking for any "without pool" or "waterfront" terms and if so, are they getting traffic?

[Dr-Pete]

Endorsing Jared for the full thread/follow-up. Unfortunately, when it comes to indexing all of these pages, you can't really have your cake and eat it too in 2012. These pages do look thin to Google - honestly, when the results don't change (and I get that that's just because the filters don't always impact the search), then it starts to look like you're just spinning out duplicates to target new keywords in the header. At high volume, that could get you into trouble (and is the kind of thing Panda has targeted).

You're right, though, if you canonical these pages, they won't get indexed and ranked. These days, my gut reaction is that the trade-off is worth it. If you focus your ranking power, the core category/neighborhood/etc. pages will get more authority, you'll reduce the risks of thin content, and you'll land search users on core pages that they can use to navigate to the options they want.

There's no solution that doesn't involve a trade-off, but I think focusing your index would be a positive trade-off. Keep in mind, too, that Google isn't really that fond of search pages - ultimately, you want them indexing the core property listings. The key is to have clear paths to those listings and to index and ranking prominent category pages. If you try to rank for every variations of ever search/sort/etc., you'll just end up diluting your ranking ability in most cases.