Website owners worldwide want the same thing: for their web pages to rank for specific keywords during an organic search. So, it’s totally natural to see them conduct keyword research, improve their content marketing, and optimize their pages for the best results.
One such standard practice is optimizing your web pages for the exact keywords. The rationale is that the more your web pages appear on SERPs, the greater your chances of attracting more visitors, right?
Well, that’s not the case. That’s simply the act of keyword cannibalization. It sounds ominous because it actually is. It spells doom for your SEO and your digital marketing campaign in general. Thus, if you discover it, you should take steps to rectify it.
This article explores everything you need to know on cannibalization definition, how to discover them, and how to go about fixing them.
What is Keyword Cannibalization in SEO?
Keyword cannibalization occurs when multiple pages of a website target the same keywords and rank against each other during an organic search. This simply means you have your website competing against itself. That’s usually a bad sign when SEO is involved.
Cannibalization in SEO poses more danger to your digital marketing strategy, as your click-through rates (CTR) and conversion will be split between multiple pages instead of one. Google and other search engine bots aren’t going to see the relevance of numerous pages.
Thus, these bots will weigh these pages against each other and choose the one suitable for that organic search.
Let’s say your eCommerce website sells boots; boots are the only keyword you optimize and target. Google will only assume all the pages of your website is about boots, even if they’re displaying rain boots, hiking boots, training boots, etc.
So, what happens when you engage in SEO cannibalization on your web pages?
● Diminished page authority. When you have multiple pages ranking for the exact keywords, their respective page authority gets diminished. This means your page views and conversion will be split.
● Diluted backlinks and anchor texts. You will earn backlinks from other websites when your web page is relevant. When your keywords are cannibalized, your backlinks will be split between less relevant pages.
● Search engines may devalue the more relevant page. The problem with content cannibalization is that Google may end up devaluing the more relevant web page.
● A signal of poor content. When multiple pages target the exact keywords, it sends a wrong signal to your readers that you lack great content.
Keywords cannibalization is terrible for your website. You should avoid it and fix it immediately.
How to Check for Keyword Cannibalization
There are multiple ways on how to find cannibalized keywords. They include:
Run a Site Search
One of the easily identifiable ways to check for cannibalization is to run a site search. All you need to do is enter Google and search ‘site:yourwebsite.com “topic”’
Consider the example below for The Washington Post for the keyword “Biden.”
You can do the same for your website and see the number of pages that show up on organic results. From the results you find, you can tell which web pages are cannibalized and rectify them.
Run a Google Search and Remove Host Clustering
Another way you can identify content cannibalization is to remove host clustering. You can discover this by running a filtered search on Google.
You can simply choose a keyword search and search for your website when the results appear.
Follow these steps:
● Type the keyword.
● Click Ctrl + F (windows) or command +F (Apple) and type ‘yourwebsite.com’
● Check how many times your website appears for that keyword.
With these keyword cannibalization checkers, you can discover if your web pages are cannibalized.
How to Fix Keyword Cannibalization
From what we’ve explored so far, keyword cannibalization poses a high risk to your website. If, after identifying your web pages have been cannibalized, you should take active steps to fix them.
Implement the following strategies:
Create New Landing Pages
One of the best ways to fix keyword cannibalization SEO for your website is to create new landing pages. Every website needs an authoritative landing page where all your content can be consolidated.
You can create different products and blog pages and implement broader keywords when you have a unique landing page. Your landing page should be a central point for all your content pages.
So, you can have a landing page that explores boots in general and product pages that address sports boots, hiking boots, rain boots, and others.
Merge Content
If you notice multiple pages are ranking for the exact keywords, you can merge them together in one post. You shouldn’t make the mistake of copying and pasting one content into another.
Instead, take your time and rewrite the web pages into a fantastic article or blog post.
Let’s say you have one article about ‘content marketing for beginners’ and another about ‘benefits of content marketing’. You can combine both of them into one blog titled ‘Everything you need to know about content marketing’.
Google will see this as a comprehensive guide and rank it during an organic search.
Find New Keywords
Another foolproof way you can fix keyword cannibalization is to discover new keywords.
Chances are your web pages are cannibalized because you’ve been implementing a poor keyword strategy.
You must ensure that the web content correctly describes the keywords you targeted. Put yourself into your readers’ shoes. Will they be satisfied after going through your content? If the answer is no, then you need to research suitable keywords that will uniquely optimize the page.
Some of the best keyword research tools include Ahrefs, Ubersuggest, SEMrush, Google Keyword Planner, SECockpit, Moz, KWFinder, and KeywordTool.
How to Avoid Keyword Cannibalization
From the previous, we can see that fixing keyword cannibalization is possible. But most times, prevention is better than cure.
Preventing content cannibalization will lower the risk of spending quality time fixing the issue. So, how do you avoid it? Follow these steps below:
Have a Targeted Keyword Strategy
Implementing a targeted keyword strategy is one of the best ways to prevent keyword cannibalization. It simply optimizes your web pages to rank for different keywords in SERPs.
Hence, you have multiple web pages ranking for different similar keywords instead of having them rank for the same thing. Thus, your audience is treated to different quality content while you stay on topic.
Do Regular Content Audits
After establishing a targeted keyword strategy, you need to monitor and track your progress using tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console.
But much more than that, you must conduct regular content audits to ensure your published content satisfies your readers and your marketing objectives.
Your content audit should provide answers to the following questions:
● Are your topics relevant and compelling?
● Are the facts in the article correct?
● Are you optimizing the right keywords?
● Are your keywords essential to your marketing goals?
You should ensure that your content suitably matches these questions to avoid keyword cannibalization.
Conclusion
Keyword cannibalization in SEO is not only dangerous for your website but for your brand. Now that you’ve discovered what it is, you can go ahead and avoid it entirely. You can also take steps to fix it when it occurs.
