Thin Content can be a huge seo problem, limiting the organic performance of many websites. This presentation talks through internal near duplicates and using canonicals as a solution to solve them.

2. H A N N A H T H O R P E
Solving Thin Content.
@hannahjthorpe

3. A little about me…
Managing
Director
at
White.net
Technical
SEO
&
Content
Marketing
Range
of
brands
– Luxury,
Travel,
Retail
#pubcon

4. There’s loads of
types of thin
content
#pubcon

5. Forms of Thin Content
Cross-­‐site
Near
Duplicates
Internal
True
Duplicates Cross-­‐site
True
Duplicates
Internal
Near
Duplicates
Low
Unique
Ratio High
Ad
Ratio
#pubcon

6. Internal
Near
Duplicates
#pubcon

7. Doorway
Pages

8. “Doorways
are
sites
or
pages
created
to
rank
highly
for
specific
search
queries.
They
are
bad
for
users
because
they
can
lead
to
multiple
similar
pages
in
user
search
results,
where
each
result
ends
up
taking
the
user
to
essentially
the
same
destination.
They
can
also
lead
users
to
intermediate
pages
that
are
not
as
useful
as
the
final
destination.”
#pubcon

9. Don’t do this.
#pubcon

10. You’re not going
to make
deliberately thin
content #pubcon

11. But what if your products are similar?

12. The products are
technically
different…
#pubcon

15. Impact in Google…
Pi Datametrics
#pubcon

16. Impact in Google… Wordstream
#pubcon

17. The
Solution
#pubcon

18. Identify
what
keywords
people
really use
Understand
what the
audience
want on the
landing page
Use
Canonicals
to
consolidate
equity
Monitor
the impact
closely
#pubcon

19. Identify the
keywords
people use

20. Circular Label 203
(76)(51) mm Diameter
Circular Labels on A4
Sheets
Circular Labels
#pubcon

21. Know the content users want

22. Consolidate site equity

23. https://www.site.com/a4-­‐
sheets/circular/
https://www.site.com/a4-­‐sheets/circular/t67
https://www.site.com/a4-­‐sheets/circular/t04
https://www.site.com/a4-­‐sheets/circular/t97
https://www.site.com/a4-­‐sheets/circular/t7
https://www.site.com/a4-­‐sheets/circular/t23
https://www.site.com/a4-­‐sheets/circular/t90
#pubcon

24. This won’t work if you’re
not consistent
#pubcon

25. Is this a bit ‘black-­‐hat’?

26. Monitor the Impact

27. Visibility
#pubcon

28. Traffic
34% June
47% July
71% August
83% September
#pubcon

29. Is your content
thin?

30. Does your
search
footprint
make
sense? #pubcon

31. Factors
Number
of
Products
Difference
between
Products Keyword
Variety
#pubcon

32. But
everyone
says
‘Content is
King’?

33. Make content….
Unique &
Valuable

34. Expertise
Authority
Trust #pubcon

35. That sounds like
a lot of work
#pubcon

36. The difference between Lean & Thin
Thin
• Auto generated
• No value
• Duplicated
Lean
• Customer focused
• Useful
• Provides information
#pubcon

37. Primary research
and
data
analysis
to
tell
a
story
Actionable
guides
on
products/services
for
users
Problem-­‐solving content
#pubcon

38. Key Takeaways
• Thin
content
isn’t
always
deliberate,
spammy SEO
• Be
bold
with
canonicals
on
very
very
similar
ecommerce
products
• Always
ask
‘Does
my
search
footprint
make
sense?’
• Make
sure
your
content
follows
the
EAT
principles
#pubcon

39. Resources
Defining
Doorway
Pages
https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/2721311
Example
of
Thin/Duplicate
Content
Issues
https://www.pi-­‐datametrics.com/resources/event-­‐talks/canonical-­‐tags/
http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2014/05/21/panda-­‐4
Thin
vs.
Lean
Content
http://webmindset.net/thin-­‐content-­‐vs-­‐lean-­‐content-­‐panda-­‐hates-­‐thin-­‐fishes/
Tools
Siteliner – http://www.siteliner.com/
Copyscape – https://www.copyscape.com/
Deepcrawl
-­‐ https://www.deepcrawl.com/
#pubcon

40. Thank you!