The online marketplace is constantly changing, and we stay up on the changes so you don’t have to.
However, there is a recent search engine development that we want our equipment sellers to know about. It relates to how you list your equipment on TuffWerx.com.
Get Your Equipment Seen by Avoiding Duplicate Content
When you’re listing pieces of equipment to be sold through TuffWerx, we want you to avoid what’s called “duplicate content.” Duplicate content refers to sizable blocks of content within a website that completely match or are extremely similar. Duplicate content is harmful because it makes web pages compete against each other for high rankings in search results.
From time to time, we see duplicate content in TuffWerx product listings. The General Terms and Conditions, Fees and Taxes, Warranty and About Us sections are identical across each seller’s equipment listings. In some cases, sellers copy Item Descriptions and only alter the product name. We saw this recently when 18 press brake dies of different sizes were listed on TuffWerx, and the only difference between the pages was the size of the dies.
What You Can Do
TuffWerx wants to protect your listings and make sure they rank as well as possible on search engines.
In this case, you have an important part in your success. There are two parts of each equipment listing you can focus on to make your listings unique.
- Make each Title different, even if you’re listing multiple pieces of equipment that are similar or the same.
- Make sure your Item Description is unique to each piece of equipment you’re listing.
You should also consider listing smaller pieces of equipment together, like press brake dies. Remember, the less duplicate content you have, the less competition you’re creating for yourself.
History on Duplicate Content
This has been a big year for search engine updates. So far in 2012, there have been nearly 30 recorded updates at Google. TuffWerx monitors every update to ensure that we’re using best practices on our website.
One major update that you may have heard about rolled out on April 24, 2012. It was called the Penguin Update and it targeted web spam, like unnatural linking between websites and cloaking (displaying different content to human visitors and search engine robots, in an attempt to rank better).
Many websites that had been ranking well before Penguin saw huge traffic drops when Penguin hit. TuffWerx was not one of those websites.
But this is where duplicate content comes in. Though TuffWerx.com has not been hurt by Penguin or any other search engine update we’ve identified, we still want to be vigilant. Duplicate content is a type of web spam that has been targeted by search engines.
To avoid penalties and unnecessary competition among TuffWerx product pages, we ask that you include as much unique content as possible when listing each piece of your equipment for sale on TuffWerx.com.
We’re Not Saying that Our Sellers Are Spammers
Duplicate content is not always spam. It makes sense for your General Terms and Conditions to be identical for all pieces of equipment that you’re selling. It also makes sense for Item Descriptions to be similar when products are similar.
Nonetheless, remember that search engines aren’t sending humans to every web page on the Internet. They’re sending robots. And robots have a harder time separating spam duplicate content from harmless duplicate content.
“Is All This Worth My Time?”
You came to TuffWerx to sell your equipment, so let’s work together to make that happen.
When your product listings are identical or extremely similar, they compete against each other to rank on search engines. You already have enough competition. You don’t need to be competing against yourself.
Resist the urge to copy and paste when there are unique and interesting facts to share about your equipment.
We do everything we can to make sure our sellers succeed. Whether you represent a local equipment dealer or a large enterprise, you deserve a good selling experience. And ultimately, you deserve to get your equipment sold.
We strive to keep you informed about the latest changes in the Internet world that affect equipment listings and search engine rankings. We believe that when you’re informed, you’re empowered to continue pursuing long-term growth and sustainability in your industry.
Thanks for being part of the TuffWerx community. If you have any questions, drop us a comment below.
Photos via Flickr CC, courtesy of oati and Library and Archives Canada.