SEO question about repeating content in different websites

Hi Everyone - while I have a few websites under my belt, I still feel pretty new to all of this. Early on I did a website for a medical professional. It hasn’t been getting the amount of attention that he hoped it would (he’s a non-techie and a bit too busy to post on the blog I set up for him, so it’s pretty static). I think some of it also has to do with the fact that he decided to give his practice a name - that’s the domain as well. This is new to the world. People are googling his name more than the name of his practice, so I thought maybe that if I created another site with his name as the domain, that would help. We plan on leaving the other one up. Now that I’m a bit more accomplished at this, I offered to do it for free - I think a one page scroller would do the trick. My question (finally) is about content. Can I copy and paste content from the original site onto the new one? I read somewhere (remember I’m still learning) that duplicate content is a no-no with regards to google and SEO. I’d hate to have to rewrite everything while trying to say the same thing - that’s pretty tough (and time consuming)! Any advice is appreciated.

Cheers!

Hi @mark180,

I hope this is useful:

Do not create a second site. Duplicate content is bad for SEO. While you could use the rel canonical tag to identify the authoritative source of the content to Google, the non-authoritative location wouldn’t deliver much benefit to your client.

People are googling his name more than the name of his practice.

This shouldn’t matter. People should still find his practice. If his practice is not returning as a search result for his name, that suggests the practice’s website doesn’t have a strong About page like, “About Dr. John Smith.” That page could include a bio with professional certifications, awards, specialties, and why he does what he does, among other things.

People are googling his name more than the name of his practice.

They’re Googling more than his name. People Google his name when they want to make an appointment. Most of that audience is made of current clients. So, while the website is attracting visitors, it may not be attracting new clients. A small percentage of that group is referrals.

The doctor wants to grow his practice. I’m not sure what his specialty is, so I’ll be generic. That said, most searchers won’t know your doctor-client’s name. They’ll search for what’s ailing them, and they won’t use medical terms to do it: neck pain versus upper cervical care. Your client’s website needs to answer user searches. Therein are probably some opportunities for revenue growth.

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