Keyword Cannibalization: What It (Really) Is & How To Fix It

Have you been working hard on your content but not seeing an impact on SEO and a surge of your website ranking in digital marketing Gold Coast search results? You might be facing a sneaky problem called keyword cannibalization. Don’t worry! Let’s dive in to see what’s really going on and how you can fix it.

What keyword cannibalization is?

Imagine you own a bakery and write two blog posts:

• Best strawberry cake recipes
• How to bake the best strawberry cake?

The titles are different, but both target the same idea. Instead of boosting your Google ranking, they compete and stay stuck on the lower end of search result pages.

Keyword cannibalization happens when multiple pages on your website accidentally target the same or very similar keywords. 

It usually happens when you:

• Keep publishing similar content with the same main keyword over time
• Create different paths to the same product
• Forget to update and redirect old pages
  

Why keyword cannibalization is bad?

Keyword cannibalization impacts your website’s organic performance in a lot of ways:

• Confused search engines: Google struggles to figure out which page of your website best matches the search intent, which can downrank all your pages
• Weaker rankings: Your ranking power gets split across multiple pages instead of building one strong result
• Diluted authority: Backlinks and internal links get split between pages, so no single page becomes strong enough to rank well
• Poor user experience: Visitors might click on outdated pages, causing frustration and increase of bounce rates

In technical SEO, it’s sometimes fine to target the same keyword on different pages like serving different user intents. In those cases, you’re helping, not hurting your site.

How to find keyword cannibalization issues 

• Use Google site search: Type site:[domain] with any keyword on Google. It shows all your pages related to that keyword. If you see two or more pages targeting the same term, you might have a cannibalization problem.
• Check Google search console: Go to the Performance tab, filter by a keyword, then check which pages are getting clicks and impressions. If multiple pages show up for the same query, it’s a sign they might be competing.

Additionally, you can also try:

• Use SEO tools like Semrush or Ahrefs: Track your keywords and highlight when multiple pages rank for the same keyword. Some even have a built-in cannibalization report to spot problems quickly.
• Run a content audit: Look for pages covering the same topics or chasing the same long-tail keyword variations. Catching this overlap early can help you clean up and strengthen your technical SEO.
• Look at historic rankings: If different pages of your website have appeared in search results for the same keyword over time, it often means your pages are competing with each other instead of helping.

How to fix keyword cannibalization issues

1. Pick your preferred page: Choose the page with the best organic performance (highest traffic, backlinks or rankings) to keep.
2. Merge or delete content: Combine similar articles into one stronger page and delete weaker ones.
3. Use 301 redirects: Redirect old or duplicate pages to your preferred page to keep the SEO value.
4. Use canonical tags: If you must keep similar pages, add canonical tags to show Google which one to prioritize.
5. Create missing content: If needed, build a new page that clearly matches the right search intent and long-tail keyword variations.
6. Optimize internal links: Update links across your site to point to your new preferred page.

4 Mistakes to avoid when solving keyword cannibalization

• Delete the page: This sounds easy but not a good move. Most pages still have value or rank for other keywords.
• Hide the page from Google: If you noindex a page, it disappears from Google completely. It won’t show up for any keywords, not even the ones it’s doing well for.
• Tell Google which page is the main one: Canonical tags are only helpful when two pages are almost exactly the same. If the pages are just similar, using this won’t fix keyword cannibalization.
• Remove keywords or links: Trying to take out keywords or internal links might sound like a good idea, but it usually makes the page weaker. 

Keyword cannibalization is like letting your own team bump into each other, messy and unnecessary! Luckily, with a few smart moves (and a little help from BrandCom), you can clean it up fast. 

If you want to boost your website ranking, organic performance in digital marketing Gold Coast search results, BRANDCOM is here to guide you every step of the way.