This signifies that the specific URL shares the identical page title with one or more other indexable URLs within your site.
Why is this important?
A title tag is paramount for on-page SEO elements and plays a crucial role in informing both users and search engines about the expected content on the respective page.
Multiple URLs sharing the same title may confuse search engines when determining the most relevant page for a specific search query. This confusion could lead to keyword cannibalization, where your own pages compete against each other, negatively impacting their search rankings.
Furthermore, widespread issues with replicated content might trigger search engine quality penalties like Google's Panda algorithm, which could lead to a site-wide drop in organic traffic.
What does the Optimization check?
This Optimization is activated when an internal, indexable URL is detected to have an identical page title as another internal, indexable URL on your site.
Note: Only indexable URLs are examined for duplicate content. URLs that are marked as canonical are excluded from this check since the canonical tag indicates handling of duplicates.
How do you resolve this issue?
Duplicate titles often arise from either manual mistakes or script-based errors. The number of affected pages indicates the severity; a few duplicates may not be an issue, but a site-wide problem can activate search engine quality filters like Panda.
Resolving duplicate titles might require manual adjustments or developer assistance to ensure each page title is unique.
For instance, a website that sells headphones might have duplicate titles across product pages due to the script populating the subcategory name such as 'Wireless Headphones' instead of the individual product names like 'Apple AirPods', leading to non-distinct titles.
How do you get more data from Loud Interactive?
To investigate particular URLs with duplicate titles, use the blue URL Details button in the URL List view.
<URL Details>
From there, navigate to the Duplicate Content -> Titles section to view the duplicates listed underneath.
<Duplicate Titles>
To export a complete record of duplicate title data, select the green Export Optimization Data button at the top right corner.
<Export Optimization Data>
You'll receive an Excel file which you can sort through to identify and address duplicate titles across your site.
<Excel Duplicate Titles>