Explain the impact of duplicated content on a website's search engine ranking and provide three strategies to prevent and manage duplicate content effectively.

Duplicate content, which refers to substantial blocks of content appearing on multiple URLs or websites, has a significant negative impact on a website's search engine ranking. Search engines like Google aim to provide users with unique and relevant results. When the same content appears on multiple pages, it becomes difficult for search engines to determine which page to rank, causing a loss of ranking potential and a negative impact on overall site performance. Duplicate content can cause several issues for websites. It can dilute a website’s link equity, meaning that the value of incoming links is spread over different versions of the content, so each version of the content becomes less powerful than if there was one version. It can also lead to indexing problems. When search engines encounter duplicate content, they may not crawl or index all versions of that content, which means some pages may not show up in search results. Moreover, search engines might perceive the site as having low-quality content and a poor user experience if it is filled with duplicated content. Duplicate content issues can occur unintentionally but also sometimes intentionally.

Here are three strategies to prevent and manage duplicate content effectively:

1. Use Canonical Tags: Canonical tags are a technical SEO tool that tell search engines which version of a page is the preferred or "canonical" version when multiple pages contain similar content. When you have duplicate content that cannot be avoided, you should always specify which version of that content is the original source. This is done using the rel="canonical" tag in the HTML header. If you have a product listed on multiple URLs due to different category paths, for example, you should add a canonical tag to the main product page, indicating that it's the main source. The other pages should then have canonical tags pointing back to the main product page. Using this tag tells search engines which version of the page should be prioritized in search results, and it consolidates any link equity to that main page. This prevents any problems in indexing your pages, and allows you to make sure that the correct page is ranked and all other variations point to this. For example, if an online store has the same t-shirt available under different color and size variations, all of the different variations should link to the main page for that t-shirt via the canonical tag.

2. Implement 301 Redirects: 301 redirects are used to permanently redirect users and search engines from one URL to another. If you have multiple versions of a page that you no longer need or are consolidating into a single page, use 301 redirects from the old pages to the new one. This ensures that users and search engines are redirected to the correct URL and also makes sure that the link equity of the old pages are transferred to the new page. For example, if a website reorganizes its blog and has moved a blog post from `/old-url` to `/new-url`, the old url should be redirected to the new one using a 301 redirect. Similarly, when a website switches from HTTP to HTTPS, all of the old http pages need to be redirected to the new HTTPS pages. Using this method ensures that the old pages are correctly redirected to the new ones, which will prevent duplicate content from appearing. This consolidates any ranking signals of the old pages to the new ones, making sure that there isn’t any dilution of link equity and search ranking potential. It makes sure that only one version of the content exists, preventing duplicate content.

3. Create Original and Unique Content: The best approach to preventing duplicate content is to create original and high-quality content for your website. Every page should have unique and valuable information. Avoid copying content from other websites or from your own pages. If you have very similar products or services, create different descriptions for each one that is unique and provides unique and distinct value. This also includes creating unique title tags, meta descriptions and other elements. Avoid duplicating them across your website. If you find yourself in a position where you may have to duplicate some content, use the canonical tags or 301 redirects as mentioned above. For example, instead of having similar descriptions for similar products, create unique descriptions that describe their specific benefits, uses and features. If you have to rewrite or reuse some of the previous content, make sure you rewrite it and do not simply copy and paste, and always use canonical tags or 301 redirects if you have to use some already existing text. Creating original and unique content will ensure that you will never face any issues with duplicated content.

In conclusion, duplicate content can severely hurt a website’s search engine ranking. By using canonical tags, 301 redirects, and ensuring that all content is original, websites can effectively prevent and manage duplicate content. This will improve overall website SEO, as it is essential to have high-quality and original content, so that search engines can index and rank your content correctly and provide the best experience for the users.