Google now usually shows no more than two results from the same site for a search. Near-identical pages were already competing with each other; merging them into one strong page per service is the better use of effort.

What changed this week

Google said yesterday that its results will now usually show no more than two listings from the same site for a given search.

Until now, a search could return three, four or more results from one site, one after another. Google said it had heard feedback about exactly that.

It may still show more than two where its systems judge them especially relevant to a particular search, and it generally treats subdomains as part of the main site.

The change is separate from the core update that began on Monday, which matters when you come to read your numbers.

Who this affects

For most small business sites, the visible change is slight. The sites that used to fill a page of results were mostly large ones: big retailers, directories, publishers.

What changes is the value of a common habit. Many small sites carry several pages written for the same search, on the theory that more pages mean more chances.

They never did. Several pages on one subject were one chance split several ways, and the new limit makes that plain.

How near-identical pages pile up

The fifth is the one nobody remembers making. A page built for a campaign three years ago and never removed can still be found, and can still compete with the page you meant people to see.

Why they were never helping

Google ranks pages, not businesses. When five of your pages say the same thing, it has to pick one for a given search, and the pick can change from month to month.

Each page also collects a share of what would otherwise go to one: links from other sites, links from your own pages, and the attention of whoever keeps it current.

And nobody writes five thorough pages on one service, so five pages means five thin ones, written to be found rather than read.

What one strong page looks like

One page per service, or per real question, carrying everything a customer needs to decide.

That usually means what is included, how pricing works, how long it takes, the area covered, real examples, and the questions people ask on the phone.

Separate pages still make sense where the work really differs. Restoring an antique and refinishing a kitchen table raise different questions; furniture refinishing and wood refinishing do not.

A worked example

A two-person furniture refinishing shop south of the Fraser had built up seven pages about refinishing wood furniture.

Furniture refinishing, wood refinishing, furniture stripping, table refinishing, antique refinishing, affordable refinishing and refinishing shop: around three hundred words each, most of them the same words rearranged.

In Search Console, the same searches showed different pages from one month to the next, and none of the seven held a steady position near the top.

The shop rewrote the furniture refinishing page to cover the pieces it takes on and the ones it does not, how stripping, repairs and new finishes work, how quotes are priced, how long a piece takes, and pickup and delivery.

Antique refinishing kept a page of its own, because preserving an original finish, and what stripping does to a piece's value, are genuinely different questions.

The other five pages were redirected to the main refinishing page, so old links and bookmarks still arrive somewhere useful.

Merging without losing what worked

Before removing anything, check which of the similar pages already gets visits and links from other sites. That is usually the address to keep.

Fold anything genuinely useful from the others into it: a good answer, a real photograph, a review. Then give each retired address a permanent redirect, the kind search engines treat as a change of address.

Finally, point the links inside your own site straight at the page that remains. A handful of pages is an afternoon's work for whoever maintains your site; a larger tangle is worth planning.

The rest of the page

Two results is a limit on one site, not on one business.

A local search page usually holds a map with three businesses, the ordinary results, often a box of related questions, and directories or review sites listing several companies at once.

Your Google My Business listing appears in the map, separately from the ordinary results. A complete profile on a directory that ranks for your trade puts your name on the page again.

Effort that went into a fifth version of the same page is better spent there.

Reading your numbers this month

Two changes arrived in one week, this one and Monday's core update. Either can move traffic, and neither comes with a list of affected sites.

Note both dates, and compare Search Console in two or three weeks, page by page. If a page lost visits, check which of your pages now appears for its searches; sometimes traffic has simply moved between them.

And merge similar pages as a planned job, not as a reaction to a few days of figures.

The counter-case

Some sites genuinely need pages that look alike.

A clinic with three locations needs three location pages, each with its own address, hours, parking and staff. A store needs a page per product, even when products are close.

A search for your business by name is different too: your site is the answer, and Google has said it may show more than two results where they are especially relevant.

Where several pages were written for one search, though, merge them into one that answers it properly.

The order to do it in

  1. List every page by the search it was written for.
  2. Group the pages that answer the same question.
  3. Find the one that already gets visits and links.
  4. Fold the others into it, keeping anything useful.
  5. Redirect each retired address permanently.
  6. Update your own links to the page that remains.
  7. Note this week's dates before comparing traffic.

Step three is the one that protects what already works. The page with the visits and the links is the one to keep, and choosing by title or preference can throw both away.

Reading traffic after this week's core update is covered in Google announced this update in advance.

Frequently asked questions

What did Google change this week?

Google now usually shows no more than two results from the same site for a search, though it may show more where they are especially relevant. Subdomains generally count as the same site.

Does this affect most small business sites?

Not directly. Few small sites ever held more than two places for one search. What it changes is the value of keeping several near-identical pages written for the same search.

Why are near-identical pages a problem?

They split what would have gone to one page, links included, and Google has to choose between them. The result is several thin pages, none of them consistently near the top.

Which page should I keep when merging?

Usually the one that already gets visits and links. Fold anything useful from the others into it, then redirect each retired address to it permanently.

When do similar pages make sense?

When they answer different questions: separate locations with their own address and hours, distinct products, or services such as antique restoration and everyday refinishing that involve different work.

Should I change pages this week?

Not in a hurry. A core update began the same week, so note both dates and compare traffic page by page in Search Console in two or three weeks.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

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