Help: Explain to client why duplicate content isn't good.

[CanzDesign]

Hi All.

I have a client that has several web hosting websites, they all have the exact same content just layout is changed in some sites (about 4 out of about 15 sites have a different layout).

When I try to explain to him, he'd has to change the wording, he won't listen, say's he has tried different wording years ago, and this wording works best.

Do any of you know of links to other websites that explain very clearly why duplicate content across many sites is very bad and google will maybe not ban his sites, but definately give his sites less importance in searches.

Looking at his stats for last month, all the google bot's only visited his site 82 times, other sites I seo with the same or less content get many thousands hits from google a month. Also google is the last search engine listed since it's visits are so low.

The google PR is important to this client, but he just won't accept that duplicate content is hurting him.

Just one last thing, when I first started SEO'ing for this client, the meta tags were all the same, so all sites showed up one after the other is search engines, now I have changed the meta tags, we are getting different sites showing for different searches, but there is an extent to the different ways to write good meta tags for the exact same content.

I don't need to be convienced, I need to convience this client, any ideas?

[matt1biz]

Explain that having sites with duplicate content is a false economy. People believe that by having 5 sites they'll get 5 times the traffic. It doesn't work like that. One site (the original or the one with the highest PR) will be properly indexed, and the other will simply be relegated to the supplimental index, or not indexed at all.

The worst case scenario is that all of the sites will be penalised if Google take a closer look at the whois registrant data and come to the conclusion that it's a deliberate attempt to game the serach engines.

Also convince him that it'll save him money in the long run. SEO'ing one site is much more cost effective than dividing resources between several domains.

[CanzDesign]

The thing is he's had these sites for 6 years and hasn't been penalized, they just aren't doing we'll either.

I dunno, it seems even when they pay someone for advice they still won't take it.

thank for your comments though.

[squalid]

http://www.google.com/support/webmas...y?answer=66359

[CanzDesign]

squalid

This is exactly the type of thing I was looking for, believe it or not, I had done several searches for this reply.

Great stuff.