This means that the URL in question has the exact same page title and meta description as at least one other indexable URL.
Why is this important?
The title tag is considered one of the most critical on-page SEO elements, and it can assist both users and search engines understand what content to anticipate on the page.
If there are several pages with identical titles, it can be a challenge for search engines to determine the 'best' page for a search query, possibly causing keyword cannibalization (various pages on your site trying to rank for the same query, detrimentally affecting the rank).
While meta descriptions do not have a direct impact on SEO, identical titles and meta descriptions on multiple pages might be symptomatic of a deeper problem such as a systematic error, rather than a simple oversight.
Additionally, if a site has widespread duplicate content issues, it could activate quality algorithms like Google's Panda algorithm, which could diminish organic search traffic across the site.
What does the Optimization check?
This Optimization will activate for any internal, indexable URL which has the exact same page title and meta description as at least one other internal, indexable URL.
Note: The duplicate content inspection is for indexable URLs only, so URLs that are canonicalized do not factor into this analysis, as the canonical tag addresses the duplicate issue.
How do you resolve this issue?
Oftentimes, repetitive titles/descriptions stem from a clerical mistake or script malfunction. The gravity of the problem typically depends on the magnitude — a few pages might not considerably impact the site, but thousands could trigger a quality algorithm like Panda.
You might need to adjust page titles and descriptions manually or require a developer's assistance for a more automated approach depending on your CMS settings.
Duplicated titles and meta descriptions are frequently indicative of broader technical challenges such as script malfunctions or misconfigured CMS settings.
How do you get more data from Loud Interactive?
With Loud Interactive, you have the option to examine duplicate content on a specific URL or to export all duplicate content for sorting in a spreadsheet program.
To investigate the URLs that share titles and meta descriptions, select the 'URL Details' option for a particular URL from the URL list.
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You'll then be shown a 'URL Details' tab, which displays all of the URLs with identical titles and descriptions when navigated to the correct section.
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To download all of the data for duplicate titles and descriptions, locate and use the 'Export Optimization Data' feature.
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This allows you to generate a spreadsheet detailing all the URLs with repetitive titles and meta descriptions, facilitating an easier review process.
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