Keyword cannibalization is an element that must be understood and managed in the new competitive world of SEO if one desires a successful SEO strategy. It can reduce your website authority, confuse search engines, and reduce your rankings ultimately.
Here in this guide, we will dig deeper on what keyword cannibalization is, how you can find it, and most importantly, how to fix and prevent it.
What Is Keyword Cannibalization?
Keyword cannibalization occurs when various pages of your website compete with each other for the same keyword or keyword intent. Instead of strengthening your ranking position for the keyword, you end up weakening the pages’ general performance. If Google finds it hard to differentiate between pages, all related pages could experience some decrease in performance or visibility at times.
Common Examples of Keyword Cannibalization
- Blog posts targeting the same keyword; for instance “SEO strategies”.
- Same copy and keywords on product pages.
- Lack of individual focus, which causes duplication with other pages
What Keyword Cannibalization Is Not
Whereas it is crucial to find and fix keyword cannibalization, not everything that is similar in its keyword usage is cannibalization. Here’s not what it is:
Supporting Pages: Usually, pages targeting closely but different topics (e.g., “SEO strategies for beginners” vs. “Advanced SEO strategies”) do not cause cannibalization.”
Hierarchical Content Structures: Often, it is great to have a few pages of subtopics under one single umbrella or larger topic. In this case, a parent page would be like “SEO” with child pages on “on-page SEO” and “off-page SEO.” For these kinds of examples, Google understands that either there is a difference in intent or more specific subtopics at play; thus, both pages should rank differently.
Finding Cannibalized Keywords
Identifying the problem keywords in cannibalization cases is the first step in identifying the solutions. There are some effective methods here.
SEO Tools: SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Google Search Console help a person know what pages rank for the same keyword. They give a keyword report of which pages rank for a particular keyword and its positions.
Run a manual audit: Go to Google and search for your top keywords with the site:yourdomain.com operator, like so: site:example.com “SEO strategies.” See what pages come up and whether multiple pages are targeting the same term.
Assess Your Content Strategy: You probably introduced a lot of new content into your library recently, so keyword overlap was likely an accident. Go through each page, and determine if the keywords targeted align with the intent of that page.
5 Solutions for Keyword Cannibalization Issues
Now you know what keyword cannibalization is, and it is time to fix it. Here are five ways to do so:
Consolidate content
Merge related content into one, comprehensive page. This helps strengthen the authority of one page rather than diluting it across several.
Use 301 redirects
If one page is a duplicate, you can redirect it to the more authoritative page. This way, all the traffic and authority will flow to one primary page.
Content Hierarchy
You can implement a content silo or hub-and-spoke model. For example, if you have many articles on SEO, create a main “SEO Strategies” page and link to subpages covering specific aspects (like on-page SEO, link-building, etc.).
Adjust Keyword Targeting
Alter the focus keyword for competing pages so they are no longer competing. For instance, assuming you have two pages that compete over “Digital Marketing Services“, deoptimize one of those to a relevant term “SEO services for small businesses.”
Deoptimize Content
At times, it is simply what the doctor ordered and deoptimization of a page. The process might include removing a few instances of keywords and the headlines on the lower performing page so that it’s no longer competing.
How Keyword Cannibalization Affects SEO
Ignoring keyword cannibalization leads to many SEO-related problems such as:
Decreased rankings: Google has few slots in which to represent your pages for a particular keyword. Other competing pages will not let one page win at the top.
Overutilized crawl budget: With too many pages associated with a particular keyword, search engines can crawl too similar pages too often at the cost of crawling on new unique content.
Lower Authority: In the case of a splintered authority over different pages on your site, it is unlikely that one page will build up sufficient backlinks, traffic, and authority to rank well.
SEO Tip:
Reviewing content periodically to ensure each page has a different purpose and keyword target is part of a healthy SEO strategy.
FAQs – Keyword Cannibalization
Q1: Is keyword cannibalization always bad?
No, not always. Keyword cannibalization is a problem when the search engines rank multiple pages for the same keyword with no intent difference. However, proximate topics that answer different intents are generally alright.
Q2: How often should I audit my site for keyword cannibalization?
You should audit for keyword cannibalization at least quarterly or any time you significantly expand your content.
Q3: Does keyword cannibalization negatively impact my domain authority?
Indirectly, yes. Cannibalization can hinder individual page rankings, which impacts your site’s visibility and authority.
Q4: Are there tools specifically for finding cannibalized keywords?
Some of the best tools in this regard are Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Google Search Console; they are great at uncovering keyword cannibalization issues.
Q5: Will adjusting internal linking help address keyword cannibalization?
Yes, proper internal linking can help search engines discover the main page on a topic, which can work to reduce cannibalization.
Final thoughts
So keyword cannibalization can be put among those numerous, all too common, and looming SEO challenges posing an evident threat to a website’s visibility and to its ranking. Eradicating the problems from inside is bound to make SEO even better and boost one’s performance-all this on regular auditing of the contents and strategic planning for each chosen keyword followed by smart writing in support of making the content communicate well with the target public.
Remember, the ultimate optimized site is one where each page has a purpose toward content that search engines can more easily understand, rank, and deliver your content to the right audience.
Right keyword cannibalization approach towards your website will lead it to its full SEO potential. Want to optimize your site? Look for Digital Marketing Agency or SEO Services USA to elevate your SEO strategy.