How to Check for Duplicate Content Issues in Blogger

Duplicate content is a major issue for bloggers, as it can affect search engine rankings, reduce organic traffic, and even lead to penalties from Google. If you're running a Blogger website, it's essential to check for duplicate content regularly to ensure your site remains SEO-friendly.

Illustration of duplicate content issues in Blogger with SEO fixes like canonical tags and meta descriptions

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore:

✅ What duplicate content is
✅ Why duplicate content is bad for SEO
✅ How to check for duplicate content in Blogger
✅ Examples of duplicate content issues
✅ Tools to detect and fix duplicate content

🔎 What is Duplicate Content?

Duplicate content refers to blocks of text that appear on multiple URLs (either on your own website or across different sites) without significant changes. This can be internal duplicate content (within your own blog) or external duplicate content (copied from or to other websites).

Types of Duplicate Content

1️⃣ Exact Duplicates: Identical copies of a webpage appearing in multiple places.
2️⃣ Near Duplicates: Slightly modified versions of the same content.
3️⃣ Scraped Content: When others copy your blog posts without permission.
4️⃣ Boilerplate Content: Similar footers, disclaimers, or sidebars across multiple pages.

Example:

If you have two blog posts with the same title and similar content, Google may consider them duplicate content.
If another website copies your article word-for-word, that’s external duplicate content.

🚨 Why is Duplicate Content Bad for SEO?

1️⃣ Lower Search Rankings: Google avoids showing duplicate results, so your pages may not rank well.
2️⃣ Split Link Authority: If multiple URLs have the same content, backlinks get divided, weakening SEO.
3️⃣ Google Penalties: While not always manual penalties, Google may ignore duplicate pages in rankings.
4️⃣ User Confusion: Visitors may see repeated content, affecting engagement and credibility.

💡 Google’s Stand on Duplicate Content:

Google doesn’t penalize duplicate content unless it is deceptive (e.g., copying to manipulate rankings). However, it filters out duplicate pages and ranks only the most authoritative version.

✅ How to Check for Duplicate Content in Blogger

To maintain a clean, SEO-friendly blog, follow these steps to detect and fix duplicate content.

1️⃣ Check for Duplicate URLs in Blogger

In Blogger, some URLs might create duplicate pages due to URL variations.

🔹 Example:

yourblog.blogspot.com/p/example.html
yourblog.blogspot.com/p/example.html?m=1 (mobile version)

Google may see these as separate pages, creating duplicate content issues.

🔍 How to Check:

Open Google Search Console → Indexing → Pages.
Look for pages marked as “Duplicate without user-selected canonical.”
Check if your posts have multiple URLs.

🛠️ Fix:

Set the canonical tag to tell Google the preferred version of the page.
Add this to your Blogger HTML:

<link rel="canonical" href="https://yourblog.blogspot.com/p/example.html">

Ensure internal links point to the correct URL (not /p/example.html?m=1).

2️⃣ Use Google Search Operators

Google’s search operators help find duplicate content on your blog.

🔹 Method 1: Find Duplicate Pages

site:yourblog.blogspot.com "your article title"

🔹 Method 2: Find Copied Content on Other Websites

"This is a sample text from my blog post"

🛠️ Fix:

If someone copied your content, request removal using Google’s DMCA takedown tool.
Add internal links to the original post so Google knows which page to prioritize.

3️⃣ Check for Duplicate Meta Descriptions and Titles

🔍 How to Check:

Open Google Search Console → Indexing → Pages.
Look for “Duplicate meta descriptions” or “Duplicate title tags.”

🛠️ Fix:

Rewrite duplicate meta descriptions manually in Blogger:

Go to Blogger Dashboard → Posts.
Click on a post → Search Description.
Write a unique summary for each post.

Example Fix:

❌ <title>Best SEO Tips for Bloggers</title>
✅ <title>10 Best SEO Tips for Bloggers | Beginner's Guide</title>

4️⃣ Use Copyscape to Detect External Duplicate Content

🔍 Steps:

Visit Copyscape and enter your blog URL.
It will show websites that copied your content.
If you find stolen content:
- Contact the website owner to request removal.
- File a DMCA complaint to remove it from Google search results.

🛠️ How to Fix Duplicate Content in Blogger

✔️ Use Canonical Tags

<link rel="canonical" href="https://yourblog.blogspot.com/your-page.html">

✔️ Redirect Duplicate URLs

Go to Blogger → Settings → Search Preferences → Custom Redirects.
Add duplicate URLs and point them to the correct version.

✔️ Avoid Publishing Similar Content

Rewrite articles with fresh ideas.
Use a content variation tool like Quillbot to paraphrase effectively.

🚀 Final Thoughts: Keep Your Blogger Site Free from Duplicate Content!

Duplicate content can harm your SEO rankings and visibility in Google Search. By using search operators, SEO tools, and canonical tags, you can easily detect and fix duplicate content issues in Blogger.