Using Pull Quotes: Duplicate Content and Accesibility

[martcol]

If I use a pull-quote I repat the phrase, float it and add some style to pretty it up. Does the duplicate content cause Amy problems for accessibility and/or SEO?

I can see that in terms of the way the text would read (rather than render) if it wasn't floated, it would jar. I'm also sure that I've read that Google does not like duplicate content but would a short sentence or two make that much difference?

Thank you

Martin

[hupsey]

It does not matter. Magazines quotes statments all the time. A quote have to be exactly the same, if not your not quoting. I think its good practice to link to the place or person the quote comes from.

[martcol]

Hello,

Thanks for that but I am thinking about the situation where the quote is from within the same page. I am ok with the idea of quoting someone or something else. Maybe they should be referred to as a call out?

That's where my question about duplicate content comes in.

Martin

[hupsey]

I dont understand why you need to use the text twice on the same page, why not just style it where you use it? If you include a link to a post it will probably be easyer to understand why you use it.... I think it depends on the amount of text. If you have a long article it should not be a problem.

[Stevie D]

You would, of course, mark up your pull-quote with a <blockquote> tag, so even with styles off it will be visually distinguishable in most user-agents.

There's no problem with repeating short passages as pull-quotes. There is no "penalty" for duplicate content – Google doesn't choose to mark sites down. The only problem with duplicate content is that if you have several pages all with the same content, Google won't know which one to direct people to, so there's a danger it will split the googlejuice between all those pages, meaning that none of them will rank as highly in the results as if there was just a single page harvesting all the links and rankings into just the one.

(For @hupsey and anyone else not sure what we're talking about, see a typical news page – scroll down to near the bottom and you'll see a short quote off to the right. This is a "pull-quote" ... a short extract of text from the main article that is repeated in isolation to highlight a point)

[hupsey]

I dont see the point in pulling it. Why not just make the quote in the article where it appears? (it would also make a interesting break in a long text article..) Having it in the bottom makes no sense to me as a reader anyway. If it was at the top of the article it would make more sense. That just my personal opinion.

[Black Max]

I dont see the point in pulling it. Why not just make the quote in the article where it appears? (it would also make a interesting break in a long text article..) Having it in the bottom makes no sense to me as a reader anyway. If it was at the top of the article it would make more sense. That just my personal opinion.

Depends on the design, the layout, the presentation, etc. Pullquotes can be beautifully enhancing or annoying and useless.

[martcol]

There's no problem with repeating short passages as pull-quotes. There is no "penalty" for duplicate content – Google doesn't choose to mark sites down. The only problem with duplicate content is that if you have several pages all with the same content, Google won't know which one to direct people to, so there's a danger it will split the googlejuice between all those pages, meaning that none of them will rank as highly in the results as if there was just a single page harvesting all the links and rankings into just the one.

Many thanks for that. It's exactly what I was thinking about.

Personally, I like the idea of pull quotes. Just one or two in a page can help give visual references to the reader, are an established convention in print media (and web I suppose) and can present the opportunity to add some style.

The only other thing that worried me was wondering what might happen to someone using a screen reader? If I use a pull quote, I duplicate the text so that it renders on the page where I want it after it is floated which means that if you were looking at the page without styles it would appear out of context. It might even be a portion of a sentence that would just appear tacked on.

Martin

[TechnoBear]

Hi Martin,

This does seem to be more of an accessibility issue than an SEO one, so it might be better to move the thread to the accessibility forum, where you'll get more knowledgeable replies about screen readers, etc. If you'd like the thread moved, click on the red flag and let us know.

[martcol]

Thank you.

I think it got moved once already. My original question was half SEO and half accessibility and the SEO bit I think, is resolved by Stevie D. Maybe I should start another question on the accessibility board and leave this one here?

Thanks again

Martin