If you’ve developed a website and cultivated an online presence for your business, among the most important tactics you can implement is search engine optimization (SEO). A well-run SEO campaign can give your website more visibility on search engines like Google and Bing. If your web pages rank towards the top of relevant search results, you’ll be able to bring more traffic to your website. Without SEO, your website may not receive the traffic it needs to be successful.
When you begin to optimize your website for search engines, it’s crucial that you avoid some of the more common mistakes associated with this strategy. Keyword cannibalization is an issue that occurs when you have numerous articles or blog posts on your website that rank in Google for the same query. If the topic between multiple articles is too similar or you use the same keywords in both pieces, these articles will likely perform poorly in search rankings.
When two articles rank for the same keywords or phrases, they’ll compete against each other. Google typically limits a single website to one or two results for a specific search query. High-authority domains are the only ones that can get three. Keyword cannibalization can be highly damaging to your SEO efforts, which is why it’s important to address this issue immediately after it’s detected. This guide delves into the topic of keyword cannibalization SEO and answers the question “Is repeat info on a website bad for SEO?”.
What is Keyword Cannibalization?
Keyword cannibalization is a common SEO mistake that takes place when at least two pages on a website focus on the same keywords and revolve around the same subject. When SEO cannibalization occurs, the search engine rankings of both pages are negatively impacted. Google and other search engines are unable to identify which page offers the most relevancy for the specific query. There are many things that can cause keyword cannibalization to occur, which include the following:
- Optimizing similar pages with the same keywords
- Not optimizing subcategory pages
- Publishing similar articles or blog posts
- Having multiple paths that lead to the same category of products
- Developing a new version of a site page without first redirecting the older one
Keep in mind that keyword cannibalization SEO doesn’t occur just because you use the same keyword on two or more site pages. Keywords can be targeted multiple times as long as the search intent is different.
For an example of keyword cannibalization, let’s say that an auto manufacturer writes one article about how driving on snow can damage brakes and another about how inclement weather can lead to wear and tear on brakes.
Even if the articles are optimized for slightly different focus keywords, the similarity between the two posts could make it difficult for Google to determine which is the most important. If Google can’t figure out how to measure the importance of both articles, they’ll likely drop in search rankings.
How Repeat Information Affects SEO
In most cases, Google and other search engines don’t like it when a website has duplicate content and repeat information. This issue can occur if you have content on your website that’s similar. The same is true if there are exact copies of content that can be found on other websites or multiple pages of the same website. If you have a considerable amount of duplicate content on your site, your rankings on Google will likely drop.
Keep in mind that duplicate content and keyword cannibalization don’t mean the same thing. Duplicate content can either involve word-for-word copies or content that has been slightly rewritten. You can view duplicate content as a subset of keyword cannibalization. While duplicate content can lead to keyword cannibalization, there are also many other examples of this issue.
If you have repeat information on your website, make sure you’re careful about how much of this content you use. Google states that repeat information is fine if you don’t use it to manipulate search rankings. For example, you shouldn’t have a problem if you decide to add content from another website that’s meant to inform your customers about something. However, regularly copying or spinning content to improve rankings can lead to significant penalties.
Identifying Keyword Cannibalization on Your Website
Keyword cannibalization is an easy mistake to make. If some of your site pages aren’t ranking as well as you think they should, it’s possible that keyword cannibalization is the cause. Identifying this problem is easy. First, search your website and specific keywords on Google to determine if multiple articles from your site show up.
If you type in a query and find multiple pages from your website at the top of search results, you don’t need to correct the issue. If, on the other hand, you find two of your articles below the 10th ranking position for the same keyword, this is a sign of keyword cannibalization.
When you’re googling keywords, it’s also important that you don’t stop at the first page. You may have multiple articles on the second and third pages of the results. If you’d like a more comprehensive overview of your SEO efforts and potential instances of keyword cannibalization, you can use software like SEMrush and Ahrefs to conduct your research.
For example, let’s say that you’re using Ahrefs. This tool allows you to find a keyword that’s working against itself. First, enter the Ahrefs website and log in. From here, you can input your domain name, after which you should select the “Organic Keywords” option.
Look through the list of available keywords to find the one you want to know more about. When you click on this word, choose the “Show History Chart” option. This chart should have a single blue line that shows you how this keyword has performed. If you see multiple lines on the same chart, this means that two of your articles are competing against one another with the same keyword.
As for SEMrush, this tool also makes it easy to perform a keyword cannibalization audit. The first step involves logging into their website before entering your domain name. From here, select “Organic Research” under the “Domain Analytics” tab. If a keyword you’re using is listed more than once, this means that there’s some cannibalization that needs to be addressed.
Solutions to Keyword Cannibalization
As touched upon previously, not every instance of keyword cannibalization needs to be removed. If the articles continue to rank well, don’t change anything. However, you should take steps to lessen the amount of cannibalization SEO that occurs. There are several strategies that can help you consolidate content, which include the following examples:
- Deleting irrelevant pages
- Joining multiple articles into a single long-form one
- Using internal linking to move from one page to another
- Setting up 301 redirects
- Changing the metadata of similar articles to make sure the content is as different as possible
- Altering the focus keyword of one article
- Using canonical tags to address duplicate content
The types of metadata that you should edit include the title, URLs and description. If you remove a page, you can use a 301 redirect to make sure users who open the link are redirected to a similar page on your website.
Canonical tags are HTML elements that allow you to prevent duplicate content by setting a “preferred” version of your web page. Once Google knows which version of your web page should be ranked higher, you’ll be able to effectively consolidate SEO value. The duplicate content can still exist without dragging down the rankings of other pages on your site.
Every page on your website should target different focus keywords and have a distinct purpose. Once you implement these measures, analyze the results to determine if additional changes need to be made.
Best Practices to Prevent Keyword Cannibalization
After you fix the existing keyword cannibalization throughout your website, your next step is to prevent any future issues. To do so, avoid writing and publishing pages that use the same focus keyword. You shouldn’t have two pages with the same search intent. Before writing an article or blog post, you can use your CMS to search for similar content. By focusing on creating unique and valuable content, you’ll avoid keyword cannibalization and keep your customers satisfied.
You can also use the keyword mapping technique to properly assign target keywords to different pages. Once you create a new page, use a keyword map to match the content with the most relevant keyword.
You can monitor the health of your website and your page rankings with the SEMrush Position Tracking tool. Google Search Console also offers this feature.
Conclusion
Keyword cannibalization is a common problem that you should fix if you want to improve search engine rankings and obtain more traffic from your target audience. Addressing instances of keyword cannibalization is crucial to effectively optimize your content and build authority with Google. Maintaining a healthy SEO strategy means using the right strategies to improve and optimize your content. It also requires you to avoid issues like keyword cannibalization.
