Keyword Cannibalization

Keyword cannibalization happens when your website has too many pages that target the same keyword, making them compete with each other regarding ranking. This competition can lead to the dilution of search engine authority. It can result in decreased visibility and traffic for the website as a whole, as the competition among pages for the same keyword can make it difficult for any one page to rank well. To avoid keyword cannibalization, it is crucial for website owners and digital marketers to have a clear understanding of their target keywords and to ensure that each page on the website is optimized for a unique set of keywords. By avoiding keyword cannibalization, websites can improve their search engine visibility and attract more targeted traffic. To avoid keyword cannibalization, you should know what it looks like, how to find it, and how to fix it.

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When keyword cannibalization Can Happen

Keyword cannibalization can happen if you have multiple blog posts on your website that have the same keyword or the same intent. Since the topic of the numerous blog posts is too similar, they compete in ranking on search engines such as google or bing. This competition can cause your website to have decreased traffic. It may even cause one of your blog posts you wanted more traffic on to rank higher than the other or drive all the posts to have decreased traffic.

For instance, let’s say that a website sells fitness equipment and has a product page for “dumbbells” and a blog post titled “The Benefits of Using Dumbbells for Your Home Workouts.” The product page and blog post target the keyword “dumbbells,” which can confuse search engines and users. When a user searches for “dumbbells,” the search engine may not know which page is the most relevant to the search query, leading to a drop in the website’s search engine rankings. Additionally, users may land on the wrong page, leading to a poor user experience and lower conversion rates. To solve keyword cannibalization in this scenario, the website owner can consolidate the content by redirecting the blog post to the product page or merging the content of the two pages. This ensures the website has one authoritative page for the keyword “dumbbells,” improving search engine rankings and providing a better user experience.

How can you identify keyword cannibalization?

You can take numerous steps to identify keyword cannibalization on your website. The first step is identifying the keywords or phrases you want your website to rank for. To do this, you can use software called Ahrefs. To use Ahrefs for keyword cannibalization, enter your website’s domain into the Site Explorer tool. Then, navigate to the “Organic Keywords” report to see a list of all keywords that your site ranks for. Use the search bar to filter for the specific keyword you are concerned about and sort the results by “URL” to see which pages compete for that keyword. Once you’ve identified the pages that are cannibalizing your target keyword, you can take steps to consolidate or differentiate them. This could involve merging the pages into a single, more comprehensive piece of content or adjusting the focus of each page to target a different aspect of the keyword.

Using Google’s site search feature is a simple and effective way to identify keyword cannibalization on your website. To get started, type “site:yourdomain.com” followed by the keyword you want to check for in Google’s search bar. This will generate a list of all your site’s pages targeting that specific keyword. Once you have this list, review each page to ensure it provides unique and valuable content for that keyword. If you find multiple pages targeting the same keyword, you may need to adjust their focus or combine them into a single, more comprehensive piece of content. Doing so will help you avoid cannibalization and improve your website’s search engine rankings. Google’s site search feature is a quick and easy way to identify instances of keyword cannibalization on your website. By regularly checking for this issue, you can ensure that each page on your site targets unique and valuable keywords, ultimately improving your site’s search engine optimization.

How can you solve keyword cannibalization?

Once you have identified instances of keyword cannibalization on your website, the next step is to solve it. Once you have found the pages cannibalizing each other, you can look at each page’s traffic and engagement metrics to determine which are most important to your website’s overall performance. From there, you can decide whether to consolidate or differentiate the content on these pages to direct the traffic to the consolidated page or new traffic to the differentiated content. This will help search engines understand which page is the most relevant for the keyword.

If you consolidate the content, identify the most comprehensive and valuable content for the keyword. Then, redirect the other pages to that content using 301 redirects. This will ensure that search engines understand which page is the primary source of information for that keyword. If you decide to differentiate the content, look for ways to make each page unique and valuable in its own right. This could involve adjusting the focus of each page to target a different aspect of the keyword or adding new, unique content to each page.

After taking these steps to solve keyword cannibalization, regularly monitor your website’s search engine rankings and traffic metrics to ensure that your efforts to solve keyword cannibalization have a positive impact. Continuously optimizing and updating your website’s content can also help prevent future instances of keyword cannibalization.

Ensure your website’s internal linking structure is logical and does not create confusion among search engines. Use internal links to help guide search engines to the most relevant pages for each keyword. If you find duplicate content on your site, remove it to avoid confusing search engines. Make adjustments as necessary to continue improving your website’s SEO. By taking these steps, you can address keyword cannibalization on your website and enhance your website’s SEO performance.

What are the adverse effects of keyword cannibalization on your website?

Website’s contentThe main difference between a website with keyword cannibalization and one without is the impact on search engine optimization (SEO) performance. Keyword cannibalization can confuse search engine crawlers and make it harder for them to understand the website’s content. A website with keyword cannibalization may experience many adverse effects. One is lower search engine rankings. When multiple pages on a website target the same keyword, search engines may have difficulty determining which page is the most relevant, this can result in lower search engine rankings for all pages targeting the keyword.

This can lead to lower rankings and less organic traffic. Keyword cannibalization can cause reduced click-through rates: If multiple pages on a website have similar titles and meta descriptions, users may be unable to distinguish between them in search engine results. This can result in reduced click-through rates and lower traffic to the website. On the other hand, a website without keyword cannibalization can experience positive effects and benefit in many ways.

When each page on a website targets a unique set of keywords, search engines can better understand the website’s content and rank each page accordingly. This can lead to higher search engine rankings and increased organic traffic. Websites without keyword cannibalization can give an improved user experience. When each page on a website targets a unique set of keywords, users can easily find the content they are looking for. This can improve user experience and increase engagement metrics, such as time spent on the site and pages per session. When each page on a website targets a unique set of keywords, search engines receive more precise signals about the website’s content. This can help search engines better understand the website’s topic and purpose, leading to higher rankings and more traffic.

How removing keyword cannibalization can benefit your website

Removing keyword cannibalization from your website can have several benefits. 

• Improved Search Engine Rankings: When a website has multiple pages targeting the same keyword or set of keywords, search engines can need clarification about which page to rank for a specific search query. By consolidating content and removing keyword cannibalization, you can help search engines understand the most authoritative and relevant page for a particular keyword or set of keywords, leading to higher search engine rankings.
• Increased Organic Traffic: When search engine rankings improve, organic traffic to your website will increase. By targeting the right pages with the right keywords, you can attract more relevant traffic to your website, leading to higher conversion rates and revenue.
• Better User Experience: Keyword cannibalization can lead to a poor user experience as users may land on the wrong page or receive confusing information. By consolidating content and targeting the right pages with the right keywords, you can provide a better user experience, leading to higher engagement, lower bounce rates, and more satisfied users.
• Lower Bounce Rates: Keyword cannibalization can lead to higher bounce rates as users may need help finding the information they want on their landing page. By consolidating content and targeting the right pages with the right keywords, you can provide users with more relevant and engaging content, leading to lower bounce rates and higher engagement.
• Easier Website Maintenance: Maintaining a website with multiple pages targeting the same keyword or set of keywords can be challenging and time-consuming. By removing keyword cannibalization, you can reduce the number of pages on your website, making it easier to maintain and update the content.

Removing keyword cannibalization from your website can lead to higher search engine rankings, increased organic traffic, better user experience, lower bounce rates, and easier website maintenance. By consolidating content and targeting the right pages with the right keywords, you can attract more relevant traffic to your website, leading to higher conversion rates and revenue.

Takeaway

Keyword cannibalization is a standard SEO issue when a website has multiple pages targeting the same keyword or set of keywords. This can confuse search engines and users, negatively impacting rankings, organic traffic, and user experience.

To identify keyword cannibalization, conducting a content audit of your website is essential to locate pages targeting the same keyword or set of keywords. Keyword research tools can also help identify pages competing for the exact keywords. To solve keyword cannibalization, you can consolidate content by redirecting or merging pages targeting the same keyword or set of keywords. This ensures that your website has one authoritative page for each keyword or group of keywords, improving search engine rankings and user experience. The difference between a website with keyword cannibalization and one without is significant. A website with keyword cannibalization may have lower search engine rankings, decreased organic traffic, poor user experience, and wasted resources. In contrast, a website without keyword cannibalization is optimized for search engines. It provides the best possible user experience, leading to higher search engine rankings, increased organic traffic, and better engagement.