Duplicate Content on a Page Due to Responsive Version

[Wagada]

What are the implications if a web designer codes the content of the site twice into the page in order to make the site responsive? I can't add the url I'm afraid but the H1 and the content appear twice in the code in order to produce both a responsive version and a desktop version. This is a Wordpress site. Is Google clever enough to distinguish between the 2 versions and treat them individually? Or will Google really think that the content has been repeated on the same page?

[LoganRay]

Hi,

That sounds like a definite candidate for duplicate content issues. A true responsive design only has one set of page elements coded, which then rearrange based on screen size, that's what makes responsive the optimal solution for SEO. Search engines only have to read one code set per page and they know it'll render for most devices. In your case, I believe search engines will view that as a tactic to game the system; one version of the content is essentially cloaked when the other is displayed.

[DirkC]

To be honest - I would change web designer. Making your site responsive is all about reformatting your existing content to make sure the layout adapts to the used device. The main work is done in the css - not in the HTML.As far as I understand your question your webdesigner is duplicating the same content in the HTML, which normally shouldn't be done in order to make your site responsive.

To answer your question - the content will be appearing twice - once visible - once hidden depending on the device /type of Google bot. Google could consider this as spamming, or just ignore the part which is hidden, difficult to tell. You will in any case have a bloated HTML code which could have an impact on the load times of the page.

Dirk

[TimHolmes]

As per Dirk and Logan, personally I would try and not have two sets of content to be delivered, the point of responsive is really to have one page that is simply delivered visually consistent on all device types.

With regards to it being considered as duplicate content this is a little harder to determine and I would imagine Google may not penalise you for it really unless it is really spammy and used for keyword stuffing/cloaking etc. Here is an old video from M. Cutts, although it may not be totally relevant in today's SEO landscape and is probably more geared towards duplicate pages.