Duplicate Content Question

[NathanGilmore]

We are getting ready to release an integration with another product for our app.  We would like to add a landing page specifically for this integration.  We would also like it to be very similar to our current home page.  However, if we do this and use a lot of the same content, will this hurt our SEO due to duplicate content?

[Kara.Wallace]

It definitely can.

Typically your homepage is going to get a bulk of your inbound links and traffic - giving it more authority than your subpages. If you target the same keyword on your homepage or a subpage, your homepage will more than likely win every time (not in all cases).

If you have a new integration with a product, that page should target specific keywords related that integration/product. If there isn't enough differing text to warrant its own page, then you should take a step back and ask whether a new page is needed OR if you should just have a mention of it on your homepage.

All of that said, you could rephrase and/or write about things from a different angle than your homepage and you should be fine and not have to worry about duplicate content as long as you are not just copying and pasting content.

Think about your user and whether the page is actually benefiting them or if you are just creating a page to try and get it to rank.

Hope this helps.

Mike

[ReferralCandy]

My recommendation would be to highlight any differences between this integration and your original app in the new landing page (e.g. feature comparison chart, pricing differences, etc). You can then provide links from the new landing page to your homepage when mentioning features of your original app. This would reduce the chances of having duplicate content, while maintaining a new landing page specific to the integration.

[NathanGilmore]

Thanks for the tips.  We will create a more basic page that highlights the best parts of the integration, then link back to the home page for more detailed information on the product itself.