Duplicate Content?

targeting similar keywords

[jsnively]

I've spent quite a bit of time searching this site for my question and even though it's been addressed several times, the threads are quite old and do not specifically answer my question.

I'm building a site around quality content and in some cases I'm trying to target keywords that have similar meanings. I'm trying to avoid duplicate content as much as possible, but for the content to make sense it ends up being much the same as other pages.

As an example, what I'm currently working on are two or three pages that share approximately 65-80% of the content. I've rearranged some elements (I don't know if that makes any difference) and there will be different graphics between the pages. Is 65-80% close enough that it will get me in trouble? If so, any ideas on how to approach this?

[ThomasB]

At the moment it works perfectly if you just change the layout. If you don't want to change the layout, try using css and it should be enough to avoid a duplicate content filter.

That's from my experience, but it's not an advise to do it, because I see a very high risk that it will be detected some time soon.

[power_iq]

Well, I dont think that Google can read CSS. Changing layout with css will not be successfully. For the user it is an other design, for Google its the same similar Site.

Best Regards, Tom

[ThomasB]

sorry for the confusion. My suggestion was:
Building a site with the same look&feel but organizing the layout by external CSS instead of tables, ...

Just try to change the sourcecode to some extent and it should work.

[power_iq]

ok, sorry, my fault :-)

Tom

[jsnively]

Thank you both for your advice. I'm new to this, so I need a little clarification.

ThomasB, you suggest changing the layout. By that do you mean rearrange the text? And keep in mind I will be using different graphics and outbound links from page to page.

[ThomasB]

Rearranging the text normally works. (If you change more than 10% of the visible text - my experience)

But changing the sourcecode to some extent is also enough most of the time.