Is it OK to have multiple pages with the same content?

Several years ago, duplicate content used to be acceptable as a means to rank on Google and other search engines, but Google has since cracked down on duplicate content and punished it as a form of spam. In short, Google neither likes nor rewards duplicate content that appears on multiple pages.

However, this depends on the type of content presented. Written content should be fresh and original from page to page, with the exception of small snippets such as bullet points or short lists. Google wants to see new content to rank, but if you copy and paste text from a page that ranks and use it in yours, Google will still favor the original page.

The best way to avoid any kind of punishment from Google is to make sure that each page has unique, high-quality content that includes natural keyword instances and plenty of relevant, engaging information to keep readers engaged. Without this practice, you won’t likely find yourself ranking very well for any of your targeted keywords, and enough duplicate content can make your website nearly useless.

Google also wants people to take their time actually writing fresh content. Many spammers use text spinners to generate new content from older content, but these text spinners often turn sentences and terms into ones that are nonsensical and unnatural. Google won’t likely reward this spun content with higher rankings, and naturally written content about a certain topic is more likely to contain relevant long-tail keywords that people search, unlike spun content.