I think this is actually pretty common in print / manufacturing type niches… like direct mail, packaging, commercial print all tend to circle the same core topics, so you naturally end up with overlap over time.
Hmmm… I wouldn’t jump straight into “delete everything” just because a tool is flagging 200+ duplicate pages. A lot of SEO tools label pages as “duplicate” when the intent or topic is similar, not necessarily because Google is treating them as harmful duplicates.
What I’d probably do is this:
I’d first check what kind of duplication it is. If it’s thin variations of the same idea (like multiple blogs targeting “direct mail marketing tips”), then yeah, that’s where consolidation makes sense. But if they’re slightly different angles or intent (pricing, strategy, use cases, industries), then keeping them separate is still valid.
I think the safest approach here is consolidation + pruning, not mass deletion. So merge overlapping posts into stronger “pillar” pages and 301 redirect the weaker ones. That way you keep the authority instead of just throwing it away.
For underperforming blogs that don’t get impressions/clicks at all, yeah… I’d either:
– merge them into a stronger related post
– or update them heavily and re-target long-tail variations instead of competing with your own content
Leaving everything as-is usually just leads to keyword cannibalization in this kind of niche, so I wouldn’t recommend that long-term.
Hmmm… the “209 duplicate pages” number sounds scary, but I’d treat it more like a cleanup opportunity than a penalty situation.
So yeah, if I had to pick:
not delete blindly, not leave as-is → consolidate strategically and build a few strong authority hubs instead of lots of similar posts.
