The three primary goals of search engine optimization, or SEO, are to make your website more visible, rank higher in search results, and draw in the right kind of visitors. To cover every conceivable topic, marketers frequently concentrate on growing pages, adding more keywords, and producing more content. Although this strategy might seem sensible, it occasionally results in keyword cannibalization.
One of the SEO problems that is most frequently disregarded is keyword cannibalization. It can deceive search engines, subtly lower your rankings, and hinder the optimal performance of your website. The facts about keyword cannibalization, its detrimental effects on SEO, how to spot it, and the best strategies to handle it will all be covered in this blog.
Keyword Cannibalization: What Is It?
When several pages on your website focus on the same keyword or search intent, this is known as keyword cannibalization. These pages compete with one another rather than improving your ranking, which confuses search engines and lowers your authority.
Assume, for instance, that you oversee a fitness website with three blog entries:
- “The Greatest Exercises for Losing Weight”
- “Weight Loss Activities for Novices”
- “The Best 10 Workout Plans for Rapid Weight Loss”
The keyword theme of weight loss exercises runs through all three posts. These pages compete with one another for rankings rather than improving your SEO. Because of this, none of them rank as highly as if you only had one authoritative page.
Important Information Regarding Keyword Cannibalization
Let’s examine the main ideas to see why keyword cannibalization is detrimental to SEO.
1. Search Engines Are Confused
Providing the most pertinent results for each query is the aim of Google and other search engines. Google finds it difficult to determine which pages on your website best match the same keyword. This misunderstanding typically leads to:
- Over time, the pages’ rankings shift.
- Not a single page has a high ranking.
- Page ranking errors (e.g., a less relevant page showing up for a high-value keyword).
Fact: Google finds it more difficult to determine which pages should have authority when keywords are cannibalized.
2. The Equity of Links Is Divided
One important ranking factor is backlinks. Concentrating authority on a single, powerful page should be the aim of a page’s backlinks. The value of your backlinks would be divided, though, if several pages discuss the same keyword and external websites link to different pages.
Fact: Cannibalization lowers the potential ranking by distributing link equity among several pages.
3. There is a decrease in the Click-Through Rate (CTR).
It could feel like a victory when multiple pages from your website show up in the search results for the same term. But typically, this leads to a lower overall CTR because
- Your site’s numerous comparable listings are in competition with one another.
- None of them is particularly noteworthy as the best outcome.
Cannibalization reduces CTR, which is a bad indirect SEO signal.
4. The Crawl Budget Has Been Used
Each website is given a “crawl budget” by search engines, which is the maximum number of pages that bots can crawl in a specific amount of time. Bots will spend more time crawling similar pages than indexing new or valuable ones if your content is redundant or overlaps.
Factual statement: Keyword cannibalization slows down indexing of key pages and wastes crawl budget.
5. It diminishes the authority of the content.
One in-depth article is typically more thorough, longer, and of higher quality than several articles written on the same subject. In-depth and authoritative content is preferred by search engines.
Factual statement: Cannibalization hinders the development of strong topical authority.
6. It Degrades the User Experience
People who are looking for a specific question want information that is easy to understand and useful. If your material is dispersed throughout several rival pages, they may:
- Receive answers that are not complete.
- Find the page that is most pertinent.
- Visit a competitor’s website to see more detailed content.
Factual statement: Unsatisfactory user experiences lead to higher bounce rates and lower conversion rates.
How to Recognize Cannibalization of Keywords
Cannibalization of keywords isn’t always evident. To find it, you must actively audit your website. Here are a few techniques:
1. The “Site:” command in Google Search
Use the website operator to determine your keyword. For instance:
site:yourwebsite.com "weight loss exercises"You might be suffering from cannibalization if several of your website’s pages show up for the same keyword.
2. The Search Console on Google
- Navigate to Performance → Search Results.
- In the search bar, type the keyword.
- Verify which pages for the same keyword are getting clicks and impressions.
It’s a warning sign if multiple pages show up.
3. Tools for SEO
To find overlapping keywords and widespread cannibalization problems, utilize tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, or Screaming Frog.
4. Content Review by Hand
Examine your landing pages and blog. Seek out related topics, meta descriptions, and titles that all speak to the same search intent.
How to Correct Cannibalization of Keywords
Fortunately, it is possible to prevent keyword cannibalization. The following are the best options:
1. Gather Relevant Data
Write a single, in-depth blog post if you have several brief pieces on the same subject. Navigate to the new page from the previous one.
For instance, merge “Weight Loss Exercises for Beginners” and “Best Weight Loss Exercises” into a single, all-inclusive guide.
2. Make Use of Canonical Tags
Use a rel=”canonical” tag to inform Google which is the primary version if you need to maintain multiple pages current. Ranking signals are combined in this way.
3. Distinguish between search intent and keywords.
Using the same keyword on multiple pages can occasionally lead to cannibalization. Rather, concentrate on particular keywords that have a clear search intent.
For instance:
- Page 1: “Best Weight Loss Exercises for Beginners” (beginner-friendly audience).
- Page 2: “Advanced Weight Loss Exercises” (for an experienced audience).
4. Strengthen Internal Connections
Use internal links to direct users and Google to the desired page. Provide links from the weaker page to the stronger one.
5. Make the Present Pages Better
If two pages overlap, switch one to focus on a different intent or keyword. Thus, every page has a distinct SEO goal.
6. Remove Extraneous Pages
Think about removing pages that promote cannibalization and are useless. To reroute traffic to the more dependable page, use 301 redirects.
Avoiding Future Keyword Cannibalization
Treatment is not as good as prevention. To prevent keyword cannibalization, abide by these guidelines:
- To perform keyword mapping prior to content creation, assign each keyword to a distinct page.
- Keep a Content Calendar: Keep an eye on current trends and steer clear of rehashing.
- Be Aware of Search Intent: Ensure that each new page has a distinct function.
- Conduct Frequent Content Audits: Examine your website every three months to spot overlapping content early.
- Create Topic Clusters: Rather than having several pages dedicated to a single keyword, create pillar pages with supporting cluster content.
An Example of Keyword Cannibalization in the Real World
Think about a shoe seller who sells shoes online:
- Page 1: “Purchase Running Shoes”
- Page 2: “Best Running Shoes for Men”
- Page 3: “Affordable Running Shoes Online”
Running shoes are the subject of all three pages. Google finds it difficult to select the most pertinent one. All three pages wind up ranking poorly rather than one at the top.
The answer is to gather all of the data into a comprehensive landing page called “Best Running Shoes – Affordable Options for Athletes and Fitness Enthusiasts.” After that, reroute the other URLs to this master page.
Concluding remarks
One of the unseen SEO issues that many websites ignore is keyword cannibalization. Initially, it may appear innocuous or even advantageous to have several pages devoted to the same keyword. However, the facts are unmistakable: keyword cannibalization degrades user experience, splits authority, lowers rankings, and confuses search engines.
Thankfully, cannibalization problems can be resolved and avoided in the future with the correct audits, content strategy, and keyword mapping.
Keep in mind that producing more content is just one part of SEO; another is producing relevant, keyword-optimized, and clearly intended content.
You can make sure that every page on your website complements rather than competes with the others by concentrating on quality, relevance, and strategy. By doing this, you’ll get more traffic, better rankings, and long-term SEO success.
