Keyword and content cannibalization happens when different pages on the same website try to use the same or similar keywords. This makes them compete with each other in results pages.
Instead of improving search results, this overlap confuses the search engines, weakens ranking signals, and makes it harder for the site to be seen. This is a common problem, especially on websites with a lot of content.
Blog posts or landing pages are often published without a clear SEO plan. Sometimes without meaning to, cannibalization can hurt a website’s chance to rank high, get visitors from search engines, and turn those visitors into customers.
By fixing keyword and content cannibalization, websites can make sure each page has its own purpose, matches a specific search goal, and helps with a strong SEO plan. In this post, we will see how to fix and prevent cannibalization to give a better experience for users, and a smarter use of content and technical resources.
What is Keyword Cannibalization?
Keyword cannibalization happens when multiple pages on a website compete for the same keywords. This can confuse search engines about which page to show in search results, making it harder for any of those pages to rank well.
Keyword cannibalization happens when many pages on your website try to rank for similar types of keywords. This usually happens by accident, especially as your website gets bigger and has more content.
If pages are too alike, it can confuse search engines. They might have trouble figuring out which page should be ranked higher. As a result, your pages are competing against each other, which can cause all of them to have lower rankings.
For example, if you write two posts, one focused on “does backlinking rank” and the other on “backlinking ranking factor”, Google might think they both are trying to answer the same question. Instead of getting one good result, both might stay in lower ranks, making your site’s overall performance worse.
Also Read: Top 5 Tips for Crafting Good Seasonal Content in Any Niche
What is Content Cannibalization?
Content cannibalization happens when similar pieces of content on a website compete with each other for attention, making it hard for any of them to stand out. Content cannibalization happens when several articles talk about the same topic, even if they don’t use the same keywords.
It’s a bigger problem that impacts related topics more than just matching specific words. Keyword cannibalization happens when different pages use the same keywords, while content cannibalization occurs when too many pages provide similar information.
This makes it harder for users to have a good experience, weakens your authority, and can cause your content to not perform consistently.
Negative Effects of Keyword And Content Cannibalization
Lower Rankings
Keyword cannibalization happens when several pages try to rank for a keyword, causing them to compete with one another in search results. This competition between pages makes it harder for each one to do well, so they all end up ranking lower than one strong page would.
Instead of one good page getting high in search results, several weaker pages are having a hard time getting noticed. Search engines don’t know which page to show at the top, so none of them may get a good ranking.
As a result, a website might be less visible and perform worse in search results. Also, the spread-out information means that none of the pages seem to be the best answer to what a user is looking for.
Over time, this can result in fewer visitors to your website, lost chances to gain new customers, and a weaker position compared to competitors, especially in areas where higher search rankings are very important for getting new clients.
Diluted Backlinks
Backlinks are very important for how search engines rank websites. When several pages try to rank for the same keyword, any links they get are divided among those pages instead of all going to one strong page.
This splitting weakens the SEO benefits that a combined page could have. Instead of creating strong links that help improve rankings, each page ends up with less importance. As a result, none of the pages rank well in search results.
This is a big problem if good backlinks are accidentally divided, stopping any single page from getting the ranking boost those links could provide. Also, if internal linking strategies are not clear or work poorly, it can make it harder for crawlers to understand the content.
In the end, this spread of links reduces the site’s power in its niche, making it harder to compete with websites that focus their backlinks on one strong page for each keyword or search purpose.
Confused Search Engines
Search engines need clear information to find the best page for a specific search. When many pages on a website use the same or similar words, it can be confusing. They have a hard time figuring out which page is the most important, and this can cause all the pages to not rank well.
For example, Google might change which pages appear in results pages, making their rankings change often and hard to guess. This inconsistency can hurt SEO results and makes it harder for marketers to improve content.
In the worst situations, search engines might accidentally place a less useful or lower-quality page higher than a better one. Additionally, there can be standard issues that make it harder to organize and rank information.
Using clear and consistent keywords helps crawlers understand what your content is about and how it’s organized. When many pages compete for similar keywords, it confuses them and makes it harder for your website to show up in results pages.
Lower CTR
Keyword cannibalization can harm your CTR by making search listings less visible and less attractive. When several pages from the same website show up in search results for the same keyword, they can compete for clicks and take them away from one another.
Instead of having one good ad that gets a lot of attention and clicks, having several similar ads splits the clicks, or none of them get noticed enough to get any clicks. This can get worse if the titles or descriptions are too similar, which can confuse users and cause them to miss results.
A lower CTR means fewer people are clicking on your site. This can also make search engines think your site is not engaging, which might cause your rankings to drop even more in the future.
Search engines might see low click-through rates as a sign that the content is not relevant or of low quality, which can cause even more problems with visibility. To keep a high CTR, it’s important not to cannibalize keywords from other pages and make sure each page focuses on its own unique purpose.
Wasted Crawl Budget
Search engines set a certain crawl budget for their bots to index each website. This decides how often and how thoroughly they check the pages. When a website has many pages focused on the same keyword, bots might waste time looking at similar or less important pages.
Using the crawl budget poorly can keep important pages from being found or updated on time. As a result, new or better content may take longer to show up in results pages, which means it won’t be seen or have an effect right away.
On big websites, where it’s important to use resources wisely for good SEO, keyword cannibalization can really hurt performance. Also, if crawlers keep finding the same or very similar content on a site, they might lower the importance of some pages or think the site doesn’t have strong, clear information.
By combining similar content and preventing keyword competition, website owners can make better use of their crawl budget. This helps their site get indexed more effectively and improves their overall SEO results.
How to Spot Cannibalization Problems?
As your website gets bigger, you’ll have more and more content. Some of these articles will be about the same subject. Even if you’ve always organized it nicely, your content might still end up competing with itself.
You’re having problems because your keywords or content are competing with each other. You should regularly check and fix keyword cannibalization problems as part of keeping your content in good shape to avoid these issues.
Finding Keyword Cannibalization
Begin by searching the site. Use the search term site:yourdomain.com “keyword” in Google to find all the pages related to that word on your website. If you have two or more web addresses using the same keyword, they could be causing a problem.
Next, you can use Google Search Console. Check the Performance section. Use the search box to find keywords that get views and clicks, then check which pages get visits from those keywords.
Next, use SEO tools like Ahrefs or Semrush to monitor how well your keywords are doing and find URLs that are competing for the same keywords. Focus on pages that are ranked lower than the top five for the same word or phrase.
When two of your web addresses are ranked near each other but not in the top positions, it usually means that neither one is doing very well.
Finding Content Cannibalization
Content cannibalization is less obvious. You might not see the same keywords, but you might notice similar themes.
Check the URL Links and Tags to Find Duplicates
Begin by checking your website’s URLs and content types to find pages that talk about the same topic in different ways.
Check for similar slugs, the same folder setups, or articles with the same tag or category. This quick check often finds duplicate coverage, especially on big websites or ones with several writers.
Use Tools to Map Keywords/Topics
Follow what each page is focused on. Make a list of important pages and the main words or topics for each one. This helps you see when several pages are trying to use the same word or talk about the same topic.
It doesn’t matter if you use a tool or a spreadsheet; keyword mapping helps show what your content is about. It also helps prevent duplication and makes sure every page on your site has a role in your plan.
Use the Page Filter
In Google Search Console, use the Page filter to check how well each URL is doing. The information shows how many times people saw something, how many times they clicked on it, and where it usually appears.
Find pages that are getting visitors from similar searches. Having several pages for the same or similar topics might mean that your content is competing with itself. You can use the Query filter to search for a word and see which pages are competing for it.
How to Solve Cannibalization Problems?
You should understand your content, how it’s doing, and where it is similar to other things. Fixing keyword or content cannibalization means checking, reviewing, and rearranging your web pages.
It doesn’t mean you should delete things without thinking. Each page on your website should have a clear purpose and help with your site’s overall SEO plan. Here are some easy ways to fix both kinds of cannibalization.
Solving Keyword Cannibalization
Often, fixing keyword cannibalization involves removing or combining content. We’ll guide you through some of the maintenance tasks we did to show you how to do them. We will share some ideas about a group of words connected to keyword research.
Step 1: Audit Your Content
The first step is to gather all the information about the keyword research topic. Most of it was easy: we have a tag for keyword research, and most of the content was tagged well. This was also challenging because we had a lot of posts about the topic.
We looked up site.com “keyword research”, and Google showed us all the posts and pages on that site that talked about it. We had many articles about keyword research or big parts talking about it.
Many people briefly talked about it and shared links to other articles. We began checking the content for this group of keywords to help us rank better for words related to keyword research.
We needed to look at which pages were doing well in search results and which ones were not. This maintenance of the content was really necessary. It was definitely time to look for and fix any problems of cannibalization.
Step 2: Check How Well the Content is Doing
Open Google Search Console and look for the Performance part. In that part, click on the filter bar. Click on “Query” and type “keyword research” into the box. This allows Google Search Console to include all searches that have the words “keyword” and “research”.
This gives you two really important pieces of information. A list of the words that your website has appeared for in search results, along with how many times people clicked on them and the percentage of clicks compared to how many times they were shown.
A list of the pages that got a lot of visitors and how many visitors each page got. First, add up all the clicks the content got for each search. Then, check the details for each page. It was obvious that only a few posts were getting most of the visitors.
But we knew we had a lot of articles about this topic. It was time to tidy up. We didn’t want to get rid of any posts that were getting visitors, even if they didn’t fit into this specific group. So, we had to look at each post one by one.
We got rid of the Query filter and chose to use the Page filter instead. You can sort by a bunch of web addresses or just one specific web address. On big websites, you might have the option to sort by groups of web addresses. Here, we checked the data for each post one by one.
Step 3: Choose What to Do Next
After looking at each post in this review process, we decided if we should keep it or remove it. If we removed a post (and we did for most of them), we chose another post to send people to.
For each of those posts, we checked if there were parts that could be combined with another article. Some posts had parts that could be combined with other posts.
If combining posts takes more time than just adding a paragraph or a few sentences, we suggest starting a new draft by copying one of the original posts. This way, you can edit your combined post without directly changing either of your original posts.
Step 4: Take Action
We had a list of tasks: add some content to particular articles, and then we could remove that content from the articles where it originally came from. It’s simple to redirect a post or page to a new link when you delete it, making the process easy.
We took out the extra articles on the topic and kept only the most important ones. We still had a list of articles that talked about the topic and connected to each other. We looked at them and made sure each one was connected to at least one of the other articles in the right section.
Solving Cannibalization by Merging
For example, we had three different articles explaining how to do an SEO audit, divided into parts 1, 2, and 3. Each post talked about a different part of the audit process, but none of them did well or attracted good traffic.
The articles seemed unfinished on their own, and breaking up the topic probably made it more difficult for people and search engines to find all the information they wanted in one spot. We chose to take a break.
After looking at performance data and understanding what users wanted, we combined the three posts into one better guide for SEO audits. We updated old parts, added more details to important points, created a helpful checklist, suggested tools, and made the overall structure clearer.
After merging and updating the content, the article now shows up for more keywords than the old posts did on their own, gets more steady visitors, and does better overall. This shows how combining similar content carefully can provide more benefits to users and also enhance SEO.
Solving Content Cannibalization
Make a Cornerstone or Landing Page
Create a cornerstone page that talks about the big topic in detail. Then, add links to other articles that focus on smaller parts of the topic. This helps organize the content, improves links between pages, and shows search engines which page is most important for the main topic. Supporting content can still be found on its own, but it will send importance and trust back to the main topic.
Combine Content that is Underperforming
If you have many pages with similar topics that aren’t doing well, put them together into one better, more helpful page. Focus on the page that gets the most visitors or links, and add helpful parts from the other pages. This helps cut down on repetition, make the content better, and give crawlers a clear page to understand for that topic.
Use 301 Redirects
Redirects are useful for managing your overlapping content. After you delete something, make sure to use 301 redirects to guide people from the old web addresses to the new one. Sure, you can also send them to the best page instead. This maintains the current rankings, links, and visitors from the original pages. Also, it helps prevent broken links or problems with indexing.
Also Read: How to Structure a Scalable Content Audit Process
Preventive Actions You Can Take
Perform Regular Audits
Audit your main content regularly. Check for pages that repeat information, old posts, or content that doesn’t match your keywords. Regular checks will help you spot problems early, which can keep your site on track and visible in search results.
Give Each Page an Unique Target Keyword
Before making new content, please check that no other page is using the same keyword. By making sure each page has its own clear topic, we avoid confusion between the pages. This also helps crawlers know which page to show for a specific search.
Have a Clear Content Brief
Begin each section with a short summary that explains the main keyword, what the reader is looking for, the important topics to discuss, and how it relates to your current content.
This plan keeps your articles clear and makes sure they don’t talk about the same things. It also makes sure that the new content you add is one-of-a-kind for your website.
Maintain a Topic and Keyword Map
Keep an easy list of the topics and keywords you’ve already talked about on your site. This helps you find missing pieces, prevent repeating things, and plan new content that matches your main goals.
A keyword map is useful for updating or removing old pages. If you have an online store with lots of similar product pages, make sure your category pages are well organized and that your products link clearly to them.
Common Errors in Dealing with Cannibalization
Removing Pages Without Thinking About Their Value
Don’t remove content just because you think it isn’t useful anymore. Before you take big actions, check the traffic data, backlinks, and how well you’re doing in search results. For example, a webpage might seem old, but it still gets visitors or has strong links from other sites. Just deleting it might cause a drop in rankings that you don’t want.
Depending on Canonical Tags Without Reviewing the Content
Using a canonical tag isn’t always the best solution. If two pages are very alike, it might be better to combine them or send people from one to the other. Canonicals are useful when two pages have a little bit of similar content, and both pages are important. They shouldn’t be used as a quick fix for duplicate content without thinking it through.
Combining Pages that Have Different Intent for Search
Just because two pages are about the same subject doesn’t mean they should be put together. If each one is made for a certain group or answers a different question, putting them together could make them less useful and lower their rankings. Always think about the purpose of each page before choosing to combine them.
Missing Chances to Use Internal Links
Internal links show crawlers which pages are the most important. If you skip this step, you could lower the authority of your page and lose opportunities to help crawlers and users find your important content. Connecting related pages in a smart way can help clear up confusion and improve search rankings.
Final Thoughts
Fixing keyword and content cannibalization is important for getting lasting success in SEO. When many pages try to rank for the same keyword, they work against each other. This can lower their rankings, weaken their links, and confuse crawlers.
Luckily, the solution is close by. Doing regular checks on your content, having a clear plan for keywords, and using special tags or redirects when needed can greatly make your website better and work faster.
Combining similar content into detailed, well-made pages improves the user experience and shows search engines that your site is important and trustworthy. Clear internal links, updated metadata, and smart content planning help make sure each page focuses on a specific keyword or goal.
By finding and fixing problems with content overlapping, businesses can make their content work better, help bots find their pages more easily, and increase the number of visitors from search results.
FAQs
How can I find out if my website has keyword cannibalization?
To find keyword cannibalization, look at your website’s content and check for pages that are ranked for the same or similar keywords. Tools like Ahrefs, and Screaming Frog can help find the same keywords ranking on different web pages. You can also use Google to find pages by typing, site:domain.com “target”. This will show you the affected pages. If you see more than one page for the same search, it’s a good idea to look into it more.
What is the difference between content and keyword cannibalization?
Keyword cannibalization happens when different pages on a website compete for the same keywords. Content cannibalization is a wider term that means different pieces of content share similar topics, messages, or purposes. Two pages on a website might use different keywords, but if they aim to do the same thing or help the same users, it can still confuse both people and search engines.
Can keyword cannibalization also affect well-known sites?
Yes, even well-known websites can have a problem with keyword cannibalization. Even though their website is strong enough to make several pages show up in search results for a short time, having similar content on those pages can still hurt how well each page performs. Over time, this can reduce how well things work, especially in areas where there is a lot of competition.
Should I always combine pages when I see cannibalization?
Not all the time. Merging is usually the best choice when two or more pages have similar content and aim for the same purpose. But, if the pages provide something special or focus on different user experiences, it’s a good idea to update and improve the product page by using different keywords. The choice relies on how good the content is, what the users want, how well it gets traffic, and the goals we aim to achieve.
Can technical SEO help prevent keyword cannibalization?
Yes, technical SEO can help reduce the problem of cannibalization. Using canonical tags correctly helps search engines know which version of a similar page is most important to show in search results. 301 redirects can help combine the value of links when you are merging or deleting extra pages. XML sitemaps and robots. txt files need to be changed to show the new content organization. Keeping URLs clean, not using the same meta tags twice, and using structured data make things clearer.
