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@jlhitch
Managing a website with thousands of product pages can indeed present challenges, especially when it comes to optimizing for SEO while avoiding duplicate content issues. Here are some considerations and potential strategies:

1. URL Optimization:

   • Shorten URLs to make them more concise and user-friendly.
   • Include relevant keywords in the URL, but avoid keyword stuffing.
   • Consider organizing URLs hierarchically based on product categories and attributes.

2. H1 Optimization:

   • Ensure that each H1 tag accurately reflects the content of the page.
   • Keep H1 titles concise and relevant to the page's main topic.
   • Avoid duplicating H1 titles across multiple pages, as this can confuse search engines and users.

3. Title Tag Optimization:

   • Craft unique and descriptive title tags for each product page.
   • Include primary keywords near the beginning of the title tag.
   • Keep title tags within the recommended character limit to ensure they display properly in search engine results.

4. Content Differentiation:

   • Identify areas of content overlap or duplication among similar product pages.
   • Make meaningful distinctions between pages by highlighting unique features, specifications, or benefits.
   • Utilize canonical tags to consolidate duplicate content and signal to search engines which version of the page is the preferred one.

5. Indexing Strategy:

   • Consider the purpose and value of each product page when deciding whether to index or noindex/nofollow.
   • Pages with unique content, high traffic potential, or conversion opportunities should typically be indexed.
   • Pages with thin or duplicate content may benefit from being noindexed to avoid diluting the site's overall quality and relevance in search results.

6. Monitoring and Analysis:

   • Regularly monitor site performance, rankings, and crawl errors using tools like Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, and third-party SEO platforms.
   • Analyze data to identify patterns, trends, and areas for improvement in SEO optimization efforts.

7. Consult with SEO Experts:

   • Seek advice from experienced SEO professionals or agencies who can provide personalized recommendations based on your specific website and goals.
   • Consider conducting an SEO audit to assess the current state of your website and identify opportunities for optimization.

Ultimately, the decision to index or noindex/nofollow certain pages should be based on a careful evaluation of their quality, relevance, and impact on overall SEO performance. Balancing SEO best practices with the practical considerations of managing a large website can help ensure long-term success in search engine rankings and user engagement.

It sounds like you're dealing with significant SEO issues due to duplicate content and non-optimal URL, title, and header lengths. Instead of noindexing, consider consolidating similar pages or using canonical tags to point to preferred pages. This can reduce duplication and focus SEO efforts on key pages.

So, we would on a huge e-commerce website, thousands of products, always changing. Its massively time consuming, but every bit of text, must be written in a white hat way. unique, high quality, meets the guidance set out in Google E-EAT. Plus, so too must the meta titles, meta descriptions, its only way to enhance the SEO for each page. Duplicated text, or "content thin" text, and this will dilulte the power of the organic SEO across the whole website. does this help? We have more help on our Cardiff SEO website.