Cannibalization
Keyword cannibalization occurs when a website tries to rank two or more URLs for the same keyword. It’s a fairly common issue, especially on large sites with a lot of content, but it can happen on any webpage, even if it only has a blog or an online store.
Imagine you have two blog posts covering the same topic or very similar products in your online store. Both are trying to rank for the same keyword.
This creates confusion for Google about which of your URLs should be displayed in the search results, which directly affects your ranking and visibility.
Why is it a Problem for Google?
Google aims to provide the best possible result for a user’s query. If your website has multiple pages trying to rank for the same keyword, Google doesn’t know which one it should prioritize.
In the end, it ends up splitting the relevance among those URLs, which weakens the chances of any of them ranking well.
Instead of having one strong page that meets quality and relevance criteria, you have several competing with each other, which diminishes the strength of each one. It’s like your own pages are competing against each other instead of joining forces to outperform other competitors.
Most Common Types of Cannibalization
There are several scenarios where keyword cannibalization is very frequent. There aren’t “defined” types, but there are patterns where it tends to appear more often:
1. Online Stores: Similar Products
In online stores, it’s very common for similar products to end up cannibalizing each other. For example, if you sell athletic shoes and have various versions of the same product, it’s likely that these products will start competing with each other for keywords like “athletic shoes.”
This happens because each product has its own URL, and if those pages are not properly differentiated at the SEO level, Google won’t know which page is the most relevant to rank.
2. Blogs: Similar Content
In blogs, it’s easy to fall into the trap of generating too much content around the same concept. For example, if you write several articles about “how to do good SEO,” but each one addresses slightly different aspects, you end up cannibalizing your own keywords.
Instead of having a strong and well-ranked article, Google might see several articles with similar relevance and decide that none of them is important enough to be at the top.
How to Detect Cannibalization?
Detecting keyword cannibalization might seem complicated, but fortunately, there are tools that make this process much easier.
1. DinoRank: The Direct Option
One of the most useful tools to detect cannibalization is DinoRank. This software allows you to analyze your website and quickly detect cannibalizations that might be affecting your ranking.
DinoRank shows you the URLs that are competing for the same keyword, allowing you to identify and fix the problem quickly.
Once you know which URLs are in conflict, you can take steps to merge the content or optimize it so that each page targets different keywords.
2. Search Console: The Manual Alternative
Another option is to manually review cannibalization through Google Search Console. In this tool, you can see which keywords are ranking multiple URLs from your site.
The problem with this approach is that it can be very tedious. You have to go keyword by keyword, checking each URL that is trying to rank for that query. It’s not a quick or efficient solution, especially if you have a large website.
3. Looker Studio: Creating a Visual Dashboard
A more efficient alternative than manually using Search Console is to connect this tool to Looker Studio (formerly Google Data Studio) to create a visual dashboard.
In this dashboard, you can monitor cannibalizations more intuitively, seeing which URLs are ranking for the same keywords without having to conduct a manual page-by-page analysis.
Solutions for Keyword Cannibalization
Once you identify the URLs that are cannibalizing a keyword, it’s time to solve the issue. Here are some strategies you can implement:
1. Merge Content
A common solution is to merge the content of several pages into one. If you have multiple articles or products targeting the same keyword, you can combine them into a single page that is more comprehensive and valuable for the user.
By doing so, you will be consolidating relevance into one page, which increases the chances of Google seeing it as the best option to rank.
2. 301 Redirects
If you decide to remove one of the URLs causing cannibalization, use a 301 redirect to direct traffic from that page to the one you choose to keep. This helps preserve the authority that page might have gained and prevents users from encountering a 404 error.
3. Differentiate the Keywords
Another option is to optimize each page for different keywords. If you have two similar products or articles, you can focus one on a more specific or long-tail keyword, so they don’t directly compete.
For example, if you have two articles about “technical SEO,” you could optimize one for “technical SEO for beginners” and the other for “advanced technical SEO.” This way, you’ll be targeting different search intents and avoiding cannibalization.
Keyword cannibalization is a common issue in SEO, but it doesn’t have to be complicated to solve. With the right tools, like DinoRank, Search Console, or Looker Studio, you can quickly identify the pages that are competing with each other and take steps to optimize them.
Remember, while this issue might seem minor, it is actually affecting your performance on Google. By correcting cannibalization, you’ll not only improve your site’s ranking but also be maximizing the value of each page.
