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Add this to your htaccess file (remove the .txt extension from the file in order to use it) Remove index.php or index.htm/html from URL requests RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^[A-Z]{3,9}\ /(([^/]+/)*)index.(php|html?)\ HTTP/ RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/administrator RewriteRule ^([^/]+/)*index.(html?|php)$ http://your_site_URL/$1 [R=301,L] Obviously change the your_site_url to the your domain in   http://your_site_URL/$1 Also remove the # before RewriteEngine On to make these changes work.

See, as a user if you found duplicate content in 2 different sites - it probably will take your interest away from the second site. Google takes user behavior into consideration now by not giving priority to sites which has exact or almost similar content If you want to build niche site by focusing on that geographical market - you should rewrite content which means value to the users of that territory. Even, if the interpretation is same as that on in original site, you should still add on certain points which are not covered in your first site In terms of clear answer to your query from search engine perspective :- "If my content is similar between both sites and both authored by me could that possibly hurt my rankings?" Answer: Yes, as long as the content is similar across site, the search rankings will not gain or rather may be penalized too in long run.

It's been over 2 years since this question was raised. Would also love to see an export option for compare metrics. Any idea as to when it will be added?