Mobile version creating duplicate content

[peterkn]

Hi

We have a mobile site which is a subfolder within our site.

Therefore our desktop site is www.mysite.com and the mobile version is www.mysite.com/m/. All URL's for specific pages are the same with the exception of /m/ in them for the mobile version.

The mobile version has the specific user agent detection capabilities. I never saw this as being duplicate content initially as I did some research and found the following links
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mY9h3G8Lv4k
http://searchengineland.com/dont-penalize-yourself-mobile-sites-are-not-duplicate-content-40380
http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/022109.html

What I am finding now is that when I look into Google Webmaster Tools, Google shows that there are 2 pages with the same Page title and therefore Im concerned if Google sees this as duplicate content. The reason why the page title and meta description is the same is simply because the content on the 2 verrsions are the exact same. Only layout changes due to handheld specific browsing.

Are there any speficific precausions I could take or best practices to ensure that Google does not see the mobile pages as duplicates of the desktop pages

Does anyone know solid best practices to achieve maximum results for running an idential mobile version of your main site?

[Getz.pro]

This is the perfect use of canonicalizing the page.

Start here: http://guides.seomoz.org/chapter-4-basics-of-search-engine-friendly-design-and-development

[peterkn]

Hi Richard

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I dont think you've read my question as I am fimiliar with that guide but it doesn't seem to answer my question at all. Maybe you can elaborate or point out something specific that you wanted me to see?

Thanks though. Cheers

[Getz.pro]

Are there any speficific precausions I could take or best practices to ensure that Google does not see the mobile pages as duplicates of the desktop pages

I was referring to the part on Canonical and Duplicate Versions of Content which you can also read here: http://www.seomoz.org/learn-seo/canonicalization

If your mobile site has the same content as your full version, then the mobile site should canonicalize to the full version.

This is how you handle duplicate content.

[Laura.Lippay]

Consider creating a user agent detection that will use a different style sheet when a mobile device requests it. OR you can use the mobile user agent to create progressive enhancement - building whatever the device wil allow.  Check out some of mobile css and/or progressive enhancement resources online first for more details.