301 redirecting when resolving duplicate content

[TomSnow]

I have two pages that compete for the same keyword.

One ranks, the other doesn't.

I want to delete the bad one and 301 to the good.

The problem is...

The bad URL has the URL structure I need with a subfolder. The good URL doesn't have this sub-folder, which will be bad for navigation and tracking.

Any ideas on how to change the URL of the good URL to feature a subfolder?

Should I 301 the bad URL to the good one, then 301 the good URL to a new URL with the subfolder I need?

[tangor]

Why? If it is working just keep track of it as an outlier and do nothing (except 410 the bad page ... don't 301, who knows what that might introduce!)

Just a thought.

Can't tell you how many pages on a number of sites I have in the "wrong folder" that do their job and why mess with what is working?

[lucy24]

It's a long step from “duplicate content” (as in the topic title) to “compete for the same keyword” (as in the content of the first post).

What purpose do each of the two pages serve on your site? What content is currently on the “bad” page, and what would you do with it? Other than search engines, how do people arrive at each of the two pages?

:: idly thinking what a happy thing it would be if the term “keyword” could simply be erased from every brain on the planet ::

[TomSnow]

Hi all and thank you for your advice!

Ok, not dup content. But headers and title tags fighting for same keyword. Example:

Keyword I want to rank for is 'abogados de inmigracion' and related kws.

Page 1 - H1 is 'abogados de inmigracion.' Gets no traffic.

Page 2 - H1 is 'abogado de inmigracion' (singular) and there is NO CONTENT for some reason. Gets no traffic.

Page 3 - Neither the title tag or headers are optimized for the keyword. They contain a keyword that has zero search volume. And yet this page ranks for "abogados de inmigracion" better than the other pages listed above, which is why I want to keep it and get rid of the others. I believe it ranks better because a) it's linked to from our top navigation so it gets more traffic that way and b) it contains some keywords related to my target keyword.

Should I 401 the pages that aren't getting any traffic and then optimize the page that is ranking better for the target keyword?

Thanks!