What's the best way to handle duplicate questions and requests in your community?

Hey everyone! It’s been a while since I last logged in - almost three months! I’m really happy to see how much this community has grown. So many new discussions, features, and members. Feels great to be back.

I could use some advice on handling duplicate questions and feature requests in our community. We’re building a customer community around our SaaS, and I’ve noticed that most members don’t use the search bar. Instead, they end up asking the same questions that have already been answered several times.

Each post has a small variation, but it’s mostly the same content - and the same goes for feature requests.

For those who’ve been moderating communities for a while, what’s your go-to strategy for managing duplicate content? Do you respond to each one, merge them, or delete the duplicates altogether? Also, does it impact SEO if we leave them as is?

Would love to hear how you handle this!