Keyword Cannibalization: What is it?
Keyword cannibalization is not a new term for those who are into website development and SEO services.
Keyword cannibalization is a common SEO problem that happens when a website uses the same or similar keywords on multiple pages.
This can make the pages compete with each other for search engine rankings, making it harder for any of them to rank well. As a result, the website’s overall SEO performance can go down.
The problem with keyword cannibalization is that it makes it hard for search engines to figure out which page is the most relevant for a particular search query. This can make it hard for people to find the website and keep it from reaching its full search engine ranking potential.
When multiple pages on a website target the same or similar keywords, search engines may not know which page to rank for that keyword.
As a result, none of the pages may rank well, which can hurt the website’s visibility in search results.
Also, having multiple pages that target the same keyword can dilute the link equity of the website, which can hurt its ability to rank well for that keyword.
So, it’s important to find and fix keyword cannibalization problems as soon as possible to make sure that your website is doing as well as it can in search engine results.
Why Keyword Cannibalism is Detrimental to SEO?
Keyword cannibalization can hurt SEO in several ways. First, it can cause competition between pages on a website for search engine rankings, making it hard for any of them to rank well. This can make it hard for people to find the website and keep it from reaching its full potential in search engine rankings.
Second, it can confuse search engines, making it hard for them to figure out which page is the most relevant for a specific search query. This can make the user experience bad, as search results may show irrelevant or low-quality pages.
Third, it can dilute the link equity of the website, which can hurt its ability to rank well for that keyword. Link equity is the value that is passed on to a website through links from other websites. When multiple pages on a website target the same keyword, the link equity is spread thin among those pages. This makes the links less useful and makes it harder for the website to rank well.
Lastly, it can hurt the website’s brand reputation because users may see irrelevant or low-quality pages in search results, which can make them unhappy with the website.
In short, keyword cannibalization can lower a website’s visibility, ruin the user experience, dilute link equity, and hurt the website’s brand reputation. It’s important to find and fix keyword cannibalization problems as soon as possible to make sure your website is doing the best it can in search engine results.
Identifying Keyword Cannibalism
There are several ways to find keyword cannibalization on a website:
Do a keyword analysis: Use a keyword research tool to find the keywords that are being used by multiple pages on your website.
Check for duplicate content: Use a tool like Siteliner or Copyscape to check for duplicate content on your website. Pages that have the same or very similar content may be targeting the same keyword.
Analyze your website’s analytics: Use Google Analytics or another tool for website analytics to see which pages are ranking for which keywords. If multiple pages are ranking for the same keyword, it may be a sign of keyword cannibalization.
Check your site’s XML sitemap: Review the XML sitemap of your website and look for URLs that target the same keyword.
Use SERP analysis: Use a tool like SEMrush or Ahrefs to look at your website’s search engine rankings. These tools let you see which keywords your website ranks for and which pages rank for those keywords.
Check your site’s internal linking structure: Check your website’s internal linking structure to see if there are any links that lead to multiple pages that use the same keyword.
By using these methods, you can find any instances of keyword cannibalization on your website and take steps to fix the problem.
Dealing with Keyword Cannibalization
Once you’ve found instances of keyword cannibalization on your website, you can take several steps to fix the problem:
Consolidate or get rid of duplicate content: If you have multiple pages that target the same keyword and have the same or very similar content, you should combine or get rid of the duplicate content. This will stop the pages from competing with each other and help them get higher rankings on search engines.
Redirect or delete low-performing pages: If you have multiple pages that target the same keyword, but one isn’t doing well in search engine rankings, you might want to consider redirecting or deleting it.
This will stop the pages from competing with each other and improve the performance of the better-performing page.
Optimize page titles and meta descriptions: Make sure that each page’s page title and meta description are unique and reflect the page’s content accurately by optimizing them. This will help search engines figure out how relevant the page is and boost its ranking in search results.
Update internal linking: Make sure that your website’s links are pointing to the most relevant and best-performing pages by updating the internal linking structure. This will help to pass link equity to those pages, which will help them rank higher in search engines.
Monitor and track progress: Use tools like Google Analytics or SEMrush to keep track of how your changes are going and how your pages are doing in search engine results.
By taking these steps, you can effectively fix keyword cannibalization problems on your website and improve your SEO performance.
Conclusion
In conclusion, keyword cannibalization can harm the SEO performance of a website. It can make pages compete with each other, make them less visible, make the user experience bad, dilute the value of links, and hurt the website’s brand reputation.
To stop keyword cannibalization, it’s important to do regular keyword analysis, check for duplicate content, look at website analytics, review the XML sitemap, use SERP analysis, and check the internal linking structure.
Once keyword cannibalization has been found, it’s important to take steps to fix the problem, such as merging or removing duplicate content, redirecting or removing low-performing pages, optimizing page titles and meta descriptions, updating internal links, and keeping an eye on progress.
By finding and fixing keyword cannibalization, you can make sure that your website is doing as well as it can in search engine results and improve your rankings..
