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Avoid SEO Penalties on Medium

10 Oct 2024 / 8 minutes to read

Elena Daehnhardt


Avoid SEO Penalties on Medium
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Introduction

Not long ago, I faced a sudden drop in my website traffic after Google’s latest ranking updates. Posts that once drew steady streams of visitors were now languishing unnoticed. It felt like watching a house I’d built with care suddenly crumble. The algorithms had changed, and despite my best efforts, my content wasn’t reaching the audience it once did.

You can read the full story in my post Regaining Website Traffic After Google Updates. I chose to see this setback as a catalyst for growth. I began exploring social blogging platforms like Medium to republish my content.

I have decided to republish my blog posts on Medium and see what happens. You can see my new profile on Medium with quite a small following, so do not hesitate to follow :)

However, I was worried about how search engines such as Google (which brings me the majority of traffic) would handle the SEO of the copied posts. The solutions is the well-known HTML tag - canonical.

The proper setup of the canonical tag in Medium post advanced settings is crucial to make it properly. I will explain why and how to do it.

What Are Canonical Tags?

Think of canonical tags as a way to tell search engines, “Hey, this is the original version of this content.” An HTML element (rel="canonical") signals to search engines which URL should be considered the authoritative source when similar or duplicate content appears on multiple pages.

By specifying a canonical tag, you guide search engines to prioritise one URL over others, thus preventing duplicate content issues and consolidating the ranking signals to the preferred URL. For example, suppose you have the same content accessible via multiple URLs. In that case, you can use a canonical tag to point to the main URL, ensuring that search engines recognise it as the authoritative version.

Avoiding the duplicate content

With proper canonical tags, search engines might be clear about which version of your content to index and rank.

When you use well-defined canonical tags, you:

Avoid Duplicate Content Penalties: search engines like Google frown upon duplicate content and may penalise sites that contain it. Maintain Your Search Rankings: by indicating the original source, you ensure your main blog retains its SEO value. Consolidate Link Equity: all the SEO “juice,” such as backlinks and authority, gets attributed to your original post.

When you republish your content on platforms like Medium without properly setting canonical tags, search engines like Google may encounter duplicate versions of the same content.

Not setting canonical tags correctly when republishing content can lead to the following:

  • Reduced search rankings due to duplicate content confusion.
  • Loss of traffic to your original site.
  • Diluted link equity and authority.
  • Potential search engine penalties in severe cases.

To maintain your SEO and ensure your original content continues to perform well, it’s crucial to set canonical tags properly when republishing on platforms like Medium. This simple step helps search engines recognise your original work, consolidate your SEO efforts, and protect you from potential penalties for duplicate content.

A proper setup

Where can we find the canonical tags?

To explain simply, when you look in your original webpage HTML source, you will find a string like this:

<link rel="canonical" href="your_absolute_web_page_address" />

Please notice that you should use your absolute URLs as recommended in Canonical Tags: A Simple Guide for Beginners, having a more in-depth explanation of the canonical tags.

But here, we like to keep things simply; we will build the house brick-by-brick :)

If you don’t have the canonical tag, I recommend adding it to your web pages with the original posts you want to republish.

Next, in your republished content, you will refer to the original blog posts using the exact address defined in the “href” attribute. Medium has the canonical tags set up in its advanced settings.

How to safely Republish

How to Republish Your Blog Posts on Medium Without Hurting Your SEO?

Timing Is Everything! It is really essential to wait a bit before republishing. Give your original post some time to be indexed by search engines—usually about one to two weeks. You can use tools like Google Analytics to track when your original post’s traffic starts to level off before you republish on Medium.

Next, before you copy and paste your posts onto Medium, consider SEO and the dreaded duplicate content issue. Don’t worry; it’s not as scary as it sounds.

Medium makes it pretty straightforward to set canonical tags, ensuring you won’t run into any SEO issues.

There are two options for setting canonical tags on Medium.

Option 1: Use Medium’s Import Tool

  1. Go to the Import Tool:

    Head over to Medium’s Import Tool.

  2. Paste Your Blog Post URL:

    Enter the link to the original blog post you want to republish and click “Import”.

  3. Review and Edit:

    Medium will fetch your content. Please review it for any formatting issues or tweaks you’d like to make.

  4. Publish:

    Once you’re satisfied, hit “Publish”. Medium automatically sets the canonical tag to point back to your original post!

If you prefer to copy and paste your content, you can manually set the canonical link:

  1. Create a New Story:

    Click on “Write a story” on Medium.

  2. Paste Your Content:

    Copy the text from your original blog post and paste it into the editor.

  3. Access Advanced Settings:

    Click on the three dots () in the top-right corner and select “Story settings”.

  4. Set the Canonical Link:

    Scroll down to the “Advanced Settings” section and tick the “This story was originally published elsewhere” option. Paste your original post’s URL here, and press the “Edit canonical link” button.

  5. Publish Your Story:

    After double-checking everything, click “Publish”.

Double-Check the Canonical Tag

To be extra sure, you can view the source code of your Medium post after publishing to confirm the canonical tag is correctly set.

Conclusion

Republishing your blog posts on Medium is a fantastic way to reach a larger audience and grow your following. By properly setting canonical tags and implementing a thoughtful strategy, you can enjoy increased visibility without sacrificing your original content’s SEO value.

If you found this post helpful, consider following me on Medium for more tips on blogging so that you won’t forget this website’s complicated name :)

Did you like this post? Please let me know if you have any comments or suggestions.

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References

1. Regaining Website Traffic After Google Updates

2. Canonical Tags: A Simple Guide for Beginners

3. Medium’s Import Tool

4. Elena Daehnhardt on Medium

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About Elena

Elena, a PhD in Computer Science, simplifies AI concepts and helps you use machine learning.

Citation
Elena Daehnhardt. (2024) 'Avoid SEO Penalties on Medium', daehnhardt.com, 10 October 2024. Available at: https://daehnhardt.com/blog/2024/10/10/republish-on-medium/
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