Same content on both websites - SEO problem?

[David]

Hi, for certain reasons I'm hosting two websites with identical content but completely different layouts. One of them is SEO'd and submitted to google while the other is not.

What I am asking is, if I block google robots with a script will that be enough to prevent duplicate content problems? Also, if I were to add the duplicate site as a sub domain e.g. duplicate.mydomain.com instead of a stand alone would it help. The only thing is on mydomain.com I will have a link to duplicate.mydomain.com for people who want to see that fancier version.

The only advice I'm looking for is how to be safe from an SEO point of view.

Thanks.

[dazza]

Look into using the "Canonical" tag for duplicate content issues. There is plenty of information about this online and I also suggest you look into the Google Webmaster Youtube videos.

[john]

I agree with dazza. Rel "canonical" is the best variant in your situation. Use it and you'll solve this problem