Keyword cannibalization tin negatively interaction your website’s integrated hunt performance.

But catching and fixing this contented tin person the other effect.

Case successful point: Two of our articles connected Backlinko had cannibalization issues. So, we consolidated them with a 301 redirect.

And saw a 466% summation successful clicks twelvemonth implicit year.

Cannibalized pages undermine your SEO efforts. And whitethorn not look successful the apical spots—no substance however bully they are.

Don’t suffer that precious existent property connected integrated search.

In this guide, we’ll thatch you step-by-step however to place and resoluteness keyword cannibalization issues. So you tin amended your rankings and the idiosyncratic experience.

What Is Keyword Cannibalization?

Keyword cannibalization happens erstwhile 2 oregon much pages connected your website people the aforesaid keyword(s) and fulfill a akin search intent.

The result?

Search engines person trouble determining the astir applicable and authoritative leafage for the people keyword.

Ultimately, each of these pages tin get stuck successful little positions successful hunt results.

Keyword cannibalization tin wounded your site’s integrated show due to the fact that it:

• Reduces hunt visibility and integrated traffic, which tin impact conversions
• Dilutes ranking imaginable by distributing authorization signals betwixt these pages
• Frustrates users with akin accusation oregon duplicate content dispersed crossed aggregate pages

Let’s instrumentality a deeper look astatine the cannibalization illustration from our site—that we mentioned earlier.

We had 2 older articles connected the aforesaid topic: the champion escaped and paid SEO tools.

The oldest nonfiction targeted “SEO tools” and featured an extended (albeit overwhelming) database of options:

The much caller nonfiction targeted “best escaped SEO tools.” And featured a shorter (but inactive significant) fig of tools.

Both pieces targeted queries related to SEO tools and fulfilled a akin hunt intent (people exploring SEO tools).

But they were getting importantly antithetic results.

We researched some articles and noticed that the “free SEO tools” nonfiction received notably much impressions and clicks.

The uneven organisation of postulation indicated cannibalization.

It was besides wide that the format of the older “SEO tools” nonfiction was nary longer resonating with our audience. The lengthy database of tools was overwhelming, which is different crushed wherefore the competing nonfiction received much clicks.

So, we decided a 301 redirect was successful order.

After consolidating the URLS, it didn’t instrumentality agelong to spot an improvement. In the eight-week play pursuing the launch, postulation accrued by 466% compared to the erstwhile year.

This awesome summation was debased effort for our squad but precocious interaction for our site.

In fact, we’re inactive seeing a nett summation implicit clip by doing thing different than redirecting an underperforming page.

What Keyword Cannibalization Is Not

Let’s recap. Keyword cannibalization happens erstwhile 2 oregon much pages:

• Target the aforesaid keyword(s)
• Fulfill the aforesaid oregon akin hunt intent

But what if these pages people hundreds of keywords and lone a fewer presumption overlap? Or if pages targeting akin keywords cater to antithetic hunt intents?

In specified cases, keyword cannibalization is little apt to beryllium a important issue. But we urge regularly monitoring these pages for optimal search performance.

For example, the wellness tract Health has aggregate pages for the keyword “protein powder.”

On a person look, each leafage fulfills a antithetic hunt intent and targets assorted keywords:

• Can Protein Powder Make You Gain Weight?: Serves an informational intent with factual details astir consuming macromolecule powder. And targets keywords similar macromolecule pulverization and value gain.
• The 11 Best Tasting Protein Shakes: Serves a transactional intent with a database of products and targets keywords similar macromolecule shakes and macromolecule supplements
• Is Protein Good for You?: Serves an informational intent with a nutritional breakdown of macromolecule powder. Targets keywords similar plant-based macromolecule and macromolecule pulverization nutrition.

So, adjacent if these pages don’t look successful the hunt results for “protein powder,” it’s apt not owed to keyword cannibalization. Because different pages people and fertile for assorted keywords related to “protein powder.”

Put simply, each these pages don’t combat each different for hunt traffic.

Instead, they heighten the site’s hunt visibility for a broader acceptable of keywords. That’s wherefore it’s not a lawsuit of keyword cannibalization.

How Keyword Cannibalization Impacts SEO

Let’s interruption down the interaction of keyword cannibalization connected your website’s SEO.

Low Rankings and Traffic

Dipping postulation is 1 of the astir communal indicators of keyword cannibalization.

Why?

Because cannibalization tin negatively interaction your integrated hunt positions.

When aggregate pages vie for the aforesaid keyword, it becomes hard for hunt engines to fig retired the astir applicable leafage to fertile for this keyword.

This tin pb to little hunt rankings and little visibility for each acrophobic pages.

Reduced Page Authority

Search engines fertile pages based connected authorization signals, similar backlinks, contented quality, user experience, and more.

In cases of keyword cannibalization, these authorization signals are divided betwixt aggregate pages. That means you person respective low-authority pages alternatively than 1 highly authoritative page.

This distributed authorization makes it hard for your pages to outrank different high-authority pages successful the hunt results.

For example, the pursuing nonfiction by MoEngage ranks extracurricular the apical 10 results for the keyword “email selling tactics.”

The nonfiction is good structured and has actionable tips, adept insights, and a webinar.

But doesn’t presently fertile among the apical hunt results.

This mightiness beryllium due to the fact that the website has aggregate pages optimized for the aforesaid keyword and hunt intent. Causing authorization to beryllium distributed crossed respective pages targeting the aforesaid keyword.

And perchance starring to little rankings.

Distributed Internal Links

Internal links administer authorization crossed antithetic pages connected your website. When keyword cannibalization happens, interior links are dispersed crossed aggregate pages.

Instead of linking to 1 leafage for applicable anchor substance crossed your site, you person to selectively nexus antithetic pages successful each location.

For example, let’s see a task absorption SaaS institution with aggregate pages for the keyword “task management.”

• Blog A: www.manageprojects.com/blog/task-management-tips
• Blog B: www.manageprojects.com/blog/task-management-advice
• Feature page: www.manageprojects.com/product/task-management

Instead of creating aggregate interior links for 1 leafage with the anchor substance of “task management,” you’d request to administer interior links crossed each 3 pages.

This fragmented linking operation tin trim each page’s authorization and relevance signals.

Users besides trust connected interior links to find applicable contented connected a site. Linking antithetic pages with akin anchor substance tin confuse users oregon pb them to pages that don’t fulfill their hunt intent.

Poor Conversion Rates

Keyword cannibalization tin wounded your website’s idiosyncratic experience.

Multiple pages created for the aforesaid oregon akin taxable tin overwhelm users. They won’t cognize which 1 contains the astir up-to-date oregon broad information. And not each visitant volition person the clip oregon patience to work each leafage to find out.

This tin besides diminish their spot successful your content’s quality.

The result?

High bounce rate and debased conversions.

For example, Scribe, a documentation tool, has created aggregate articles and pages astir penning and gathering SOPs. These articles contiguous useful tips and connection a wide enactment of templates, helping readers get started quickly.

But since these pages screen precise akin topics, readers whitethorn beryllium confused astir which leafage has the champion information.

Wasted Crawl Budget

Search engines allocate a constricted fund to crawl your website. When you person respective instances of keyword cannibalization, you discarded this crawl budget connected akin pages astir the aforesaid keyword alternatively than focusing connected unsocial content.

Wasting your crawl fund tin forestall hunt engines from indexing much important pages and negatively interaction hunt rankings.

When Cannibalization Is Not Problematic

Keyword cannibalization doesn’t wounded your integrated hunt show erstwhile you make aggregate pages for the pursuing reasons:

Different Locations

If you make aggregate pages targeting the aforesaid keyword(s) and antithetic locations, these pages shouldn’t cannibalize each different due to the fact that they’re geared to antithetic audiences.

Ensure each page’s contented is unsocial to debar duplicate contented issues.

For example, this furnishings rental institution has created respective work pages with the aforesaid keywords for aggregate locations.

Varied Search Intents

You shouldn’t look a cannibalization contented if each leafage fulfills a unsocial hunt intent. This means you tin make aggregate pages covering akin topics but varied hunt intents.

For example, Nuclino has respective pages for the keyword “project absorption software.”

Each leafage focuses connected a antithetic hunt intent, specified arsenic crippled development, planning, originative management, and more.

Some pages person a transactional intent, portion others person an informational intent.

How to Identify Cannibalization Issues

When near unchecked, keyword cannibalization tin go a roadblock for your SEO strategy. Let’s larn antithetic ways to actively place cannibalization issues.

Google Search Console

Google Search Console (GSC) is simply a escaped instrumentality to enactment connected apical of your SEO wellness and place cannibalization issues.

Sign into your GSC relationship and spell to “Search Results” nether the “Performance” section.

You’ll spot a database of keywords that person brought impressions and clicks to your site. Click connected immoderate of these keywords to spot impressions and clicks specifically for this keyword.

Go to the “PAGES” tab to find the pages associated with this keyword.

If you find much than 1 leafage listed for a query, it could beryllium a cannibalization issue. Evaluate each page’s monthly postulation and hunt rankings to spot if they’re cannibalizing each other.

For example, successful this scenario, the archetypal nonfiction is doing well, portion the different articles aren’t performing great.

Review each page’s intent to find if there’s a cannibalization issue.

You tin besides cheque the mean presumption for these pages. Dropping oregon fluctuating positions is simply a motion of cannibalization due to the fact that hunt engines are apt switching the rankings for these pages.

Semrush’s Cannibalization Report

Semrush’s Position Tracking instrumentality monitors your website’s SEO show and leafage rankings. Access its Cannibalization Report to rapidly place pages and keywords that mightiness beryllium cannibalizing each other.

Enter your website domain and click “Set up tracking” to get started.

Then, adhd the determination wherever you privation to show your show and take different parameters similar hunt engine, device, and language.

Click “Continue To Keywords” erstwhile you’re done.

This is wherever you tin adhd your people keywords by:

• Manually pasting keywords successful the box
• Using “Import from…” to adhd from Google Analytics
• Getting keyword suggestions from Semrush

Once you’ve added each keywords, deed “Add keywords to campaign” and “Start Tracking.”

The study whitethorn instrumentality immoderate clip to populate.

When it’s ready, caput to the “Cannibalization” tab to spot insights related to keyword cannibalization.

Here, you’ll find cannibalized pages that fertile for the aforesaid keywords arsenic 1 oregon much pages.

Click connected the “Keywords” conception for a breakdown of cannibalized pages by keyword.

When you grow the results for a circumstantial keyword, you tin spot rankings for idiosyncratic pages associated with this keyword.

The graph besides shows the varying hunt measurement for this keyword implicit time.

To accurately place cannibalizing pages, reappraisal pages for each keyword and look astatine their hunt show implicit the past fewer months.

Check whether immoderate pages fertile successful the apical positions and reappraisal each page’s monthly traffic.

If the hunt show doesn’t look great, meaning low/fluctuating rankings and dipping traffic, you whitethorn beryllium facing a cannibalization issue.

Site Search

You tin besides usage a Google Site Search to place cannibalization issues.

Use the hunt relation “site:[domain]” with immoderate keyword to find each pages targeting this keyword.

Here’s however it works for the trade tract Gathered:

A tract hunt volition amusement each the pages containing adjacent a azygous notation of the keyword you’ve searched for. This means you’ll request to manually reappraisal the database to place applicable pages covering the aforesaid topic.

Then, reappraisal each of these pages to spot if there’s a keyword and hunt intent overlap.

5 Ways to Fix Keyword Cannibalization

The diagnosis is in: Your website has cannibalizing pages.

What now?

The champion starting constituent to lick keyword cannibalization is simply a comprehensive website audit. So, you tin place and code each cannibalizing pages astatine erstwhile alternatively than picking lone a fewer issues astatine a time.

Each leafage volition request a antithetic solution based connected its value and intent.

Let’s look astatine 5 ways to hole cannibalization issues.

1. Consolidate Content and Set Up Redirects

One of the champion ways to lick keyword cannibalization issues is by merging aggregate pages into 1 broad page.

You’re fundamentally replacing respective low-authority pages with a azygous highly authoritative page.

You don’t person to make a brand-new leafage for this. Choose the best-performing leafage from your existing pages and revamp it.

But however bash you find the best-performing page?

Go to Semrush’s Position Tracking instrumentality and find the information connected cannibalized pages. Pick the pages with the highest hunt positions.

When consolidating aggregate pages, you need:

• A wide operation of what you’ll cover
• Optimized meta rubric and description
• 301 redirects for each merged pages

Setting up redirects for each pages you’ve merged allows you to bring visitors to the leafage with the consolidated content.

Remember, each leafage needs high-quality, value-added contented to outrank different high-ranking websites connected the aforesaid topic.

Maximize leafage authorization erstwhile your consolidated leafage is published by improving its backlink illustration with interior and outer links.

2. Target Different Search Intents connected Each Page

If you don’t privation to consolidate these pages, you tin recreate the contented for each leafage to cater to a antithetic hunt intent.

This requires mapping each leafage to a defined intent and revamping the content.

For example, if 3 pages are competing against each different for the aforesaid keyword, you tin alteration the contented to people antithetic hunt intents:

• Informational intent: Share actionable knowledge
• Transactional intent: Help radical marque a purchase
• Commercial intent: Help with probe earlier a purchase
• Navigational intent: Show up for a branded keyword

To amended recognize this solution, let’s see that you person an ecommerce store selling footwear.

You’ve created aggregate pages for the keyword “running shoes,” each targeting commercialized intent.

Instead of merging these pages into one, you tin differentiate each leafage with a unsocial hunt intent:

• Informational: An nonfiction connected “How to Choose Running Shoes”
• Commercial: A buying usher connected “Best Running Shoes for Flat Feet”
• Transactional: A merchandise oregon class landing leafage for moving shoes

The large dense lifting present is defining a unsocial intent for each leafage and creating insightful contented to fulfill this intent.

You tin besides optimize each leafage for aggregate variations of the superior keyword. Use long-tail keywords, modifiers, and semantic variations to seizure the circumstantial intent.

3. Optimize Internal Links for High-Impact Pages

Internal links explicate your site’s structure to hunt engines. The placement of these links tells hunt engines which pages are much and little important.

You tin strategically usage interior linking to summation the leafage authorization for immoderate cannibalized pages.

Here’s how:

• Identify the astir important leafage from each the ones facing cannibalization for a keyword
• Add links to the important leafage from each the little important pages. This volition archer hunt engines which leafage is the astir applicable to fertile for a keyword.
• Use descriptive anchor substance to supply much discourse astir the linked page
• Remove interior links to different pages with akin anchor substance to forestall immoderate confusion

We’re doing this for 2 Backlinko articles, which some fertile for the keyword “backlinks.”

With the extremity of getting the featured snippet, we’re cleaning up the interior linking operation to fortify each page’s authority,

And we’re revising the contented to people antithetic hunt intents connected some pages.

4. Add a Canonical Tag to Prioritize a Page

You mightiness find duplicate contented crossed cannibalized pages.

In specified scenarios, you tin usage canonical tags to pass hunt engines astir the preferred leafage to scale and rank.

For example, if you person 2 articles connected “How to Create a GPT” and “How to Make a GPT Quickly” with akin content, you tin adhd a canonical tag to immoderate 1 of these articles.

Search engines whitethorn prioritize the leafage with this tag and fertile it supra different pages targeting the aforesaid keyword.

But it’s champion to revamp the contented connected these pages to forestall Google and different hunt engines from penalizing duplicate content.

5. Restructure the Site to Remove Cannibalized Pages

Removing oregon deleting pages isn’t an perfect solution for keyword cannibalization.

When you region an indexed page, you suffer each its backlinks and nexus juice. This means the authorization this leafage passed connected to different internally linked pages volition besides beryllium lost.

It tin besides make broken links since the leafage doesn’t beryllium anymore.

Only region pages that nary longer adhd worth to your site. Otherwise, acceptable up 301 redirects to usher visitors to a antithetic page.

How to Prevent Keyword Cannibalization

Keyword cannibalization tin gradually devour distant integrated postulation and trim hunt visibility earlier you get to the bottommost of the problem.

The much contented you create, the higher the likelihood of keyword cannibalization.

But you tin forestall these issues by pursuing champion practices for each caller and existing pages:

• Create keyword clusters and representation keywords for each website pages to guarantee there’s nary overlap
• Define a unsocial hunt intent for each page, particularly erstwhile targeting akin keywords
• Strategically usage interior links to physique leafage authorization and reenforce important pages
• Use SEO tools to enactment connected apical of hunt show and find pages astatine the hazard of cannibalization

Fix Cannibalization to Enhance Your Search Performance

Keyword cannibalization tin beryllium a communal situation arsenic your tract grows and you make pages astir akin topics.

But cautiously readying your SEO efforts and conducting regular audits volition help.

Start by gathering your keyword mastersheet utilizing this keyword probe template to strategically signifier your keywords.

Then, regularly audit your tract with an SEO instrumentality to assistance summation your rankings and integrated traffic.

The station Keyword Cannibalization: An A-to-Z Guide to Fixing and Avoiding It appeared archetypal connected Backlinko.