I have just been contacted on webmaster tools to notify my site (which had suddenly dropped rankings) is getting a penalty for "poor quality content". Could this be because i have 15 pages on my website which have a different name (different file) but the exact same content?
You asked a question that surely you know the answer! If you do not know, you are in the wrong line of business
No i dont, my sites features unique scripts that can only be found on my site, however, while waiting to input all 20 scripts into the website (i have 6 so far), i have still made the files for the 14 scripts left, but i didnt fill them with a unique script yet so i just made a replica-page of my first script's page while waiting to replace them with unique scripts.
I want to help you to resolve the problem you have created! The penalty has been applied because many of your webpages have exactly the same content on display. Each page you publish MUST HAVE UNIQUE NON DUPLICATE CONTENT! That is the standard these days.
You will get a penalty for duplicate content on multiple pages. Each page or post has to be unique. Basic SEO.
Okay, and if i fix the site and re-upload it on a new domain name and use 301 redirect from the original demain to keep backlink's juice, would that get me rid of the penalty faster than asking for re-index which can take weeks?
Just remove the duplicate content and send in the request or just wait. Request usually get responded to within a week. 301 redirect might pass on a penalty so best to try to fix your site first. If it doesnt work then move the content to a new site but DO NOT 301 redirect and take the loss in backlinks and start fresh. And learn the basics of SEO before proceeding as this one was a basic error.
Honestly, don't bother trying to 301 to a new domain or any other type of redirect. Unless this is a hugely authoritative site, just buy an old domain from the drop auctions, write unique content, and get good rankings.
Duplicate content is not good - but not always fatal. I'm finding 60% unique on a page, particularly if it's the first 60% is sufficient (not ideal - but sufficient) Fact of life is that anyone who is prepared to write 1500 words a day, well structured, legible, unique and on topic and post it to a website once only and then spend some time and effort getting it backlinked..will likely own an authority site inside a year and making a very good living if they have done a half decent job of it. That's too much like hard work for many though. Scritty
I havn't been removed completely but my rankings have passed from top 5 for all my keywords to 70's. went from 1K visits a day to 30.
