Dumb SEO Questions

(Entry was posted by Khalid Saleh on this post in the Dumb SEO Questions community on Facebook, 12/16/2021).

There is about a 45% match between the two articles

Hello everyone - quick "silly" question.   We are writing several articles that compare different tools. These articles are targeted towards BOTF searchers. For example: Tool A vs. Tool B Tool A vs. Tool C (tools A, B, and C are all in the same space and compete with each other).   Since we already have written about tool A in the first article, we are taking the same text and using it in the 2nd article. We do little modification to the text but I would say that 90% of the text is the same. So, if you compare these two articles, there is about a 45% match between the two articles.   A couple of questions: Do you see any potential issues from a pure SEO perspective? Would it be better to write a single article A vs. B vs. C?
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YOUR ANSWERS

Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.

  • Ryan Jones: it sounds like you`re trying to organize your content around keywords rather than around how it would be most useful to users. I would recommend organizing it based on how it`s more helpful to users.

  • Khalid Saleh: True, I am trying to organize it around keywords But at the same time, I see a lot of volume for these keywords and the articles we are creating are excellent (if I may say that )

  • Stockbridge Truslow: I`m agreeing with Ryan here. I`m not sure the specifics of the tools so maybe I`m wrong, but the obvious thing to do here is one article that describes how A B & C all compare to each other? Is there something we`re missing here?

  • Khalid Saleh: The problem is that there are 8 tools in the space that are trying to compare. Having a single article was tough (doable but though).

    When we talked to users, they usually compare two tools and an article that compares 8 tools was not useful.

  • Stockbridge Truslow: 8 Tools to compare means 36 articles. How is that somehow easier for you to create, easier for people to figure out which is the best, and easier for Google to figure out which one the person is most likely to benefit from? I`m still missing something here, I think.

  • Ammon Johns: If you are worried about duplicate content in this case then duplication is not the problem. However, whether Google`s algorithm decides those pages offer significant and unique value to users might be.

    Put yourself in the searcher`s mindset and need. What is the best result they are hoping for? What are the specific features to them that will make one kind of page better than another. If they only discover a third or fourth tool is available *after* reading your page and seeing the links, is all that repetition going t make your site seem better or worse, more or less credible, more or less `automated`?

    Reviewing at least the top 5-10 is generally better, but its fine for that to give only a summary of the major features benefits and disadvantages or limitations of each tool, along with a link to see more detail (a review of the specific tool in detail).

  • Michael Martinez: I would write as few articles as possible and I would compose the text naturally from the viewpoint of someone who is explaining his/her opinion to a friend.

  • Christine Hansen: If I just read a review and went on to the next page that included most of the same text I had just read, I would think something went wrong, and since time is limited, I wouldn`t take time out to investigate what is what on your site. Therefore I would leave. At this point, you have lost a reader... presumably forever.

  • Joshua Choate: What really should be done is an in depth review on each tool in it`s own article: "Tool A Review", "Tool B Review", "Tool C Review".

    Then do your comparison article of "A vs B vs C" where you only focus on how they compare to one another vs how they individually perform.

    Not only does this provide in depth information for each tool (a benefit for your readers) but also creates great internal links throughout your site.

View original question in the Dumb SEO Questions community on Facebook, 12/16/2021).