Keyword cannibalization is an SEO issue that can cause significant problems for website owners. It occurs when multiple pages on the same website target the same keyword phrase. This issue can cause search engines to become confused and lead to decreased rankings for the website. It is essential to identify and address keyword cannibalism as quickly as possible to ensure that the website can remain competitive in search engine rankings. In this article, we will discuss what keyword cannibalism is, why it is bad for SEO, and how to find and fix this issue.
Keyword cannibalization occurs when the exact keyword phrase is used on more than one page of a website. That is different from a site with multiple pages targeting different keyword phrases, which is typical for most websites.
For example, if a website sells running shoes and the main keywords are “running shoes,” “running shoes for women,” and “running shoes for men,” then all three pages are targeting different keyword phrases.
However, if each of those pages also contains the phrase “running shoes,” there is keyword cannibalization. The same goes for other variations such as “running shoe prices” or “best running shoes.”
Keyword cannibalization causes the following issues for websites,
When multiple pages on a website target the same keyword phrase, the search engine becomes confused about which page to rank and might choose neither. That can significantly affect the website’s ability to rank for that keyword phrase.
If the page has multiple variations of the same keyword phrase, it will dilute many of them, which can lead to the page being too general and not specific enough for the target audience. That can result in the page not being relevant enough to rank for any keyword phrases.
If the page is not receiving any traffic, it is not generating revenue for the website owner. If the page is a sales page, no one buys the product. No one is signing up if the page is used for collecting email subscribers.
If the page is not ranking for any keyword phrases, then no one is visiting the page. That will negatively affect the bounce rate and click-through rate, which can lead to a drop in rankings.
If the keyword cannibalization is extreme, the website could lose all of its organic traffic. That can be a grave issue and lead to a drop in rankings or even a complete delisting from the search engines.
The best way to identify keyword cannibalization is to list the most important keywords for the website. Once you have the list, you can go through each page on the website to check for keyword cannibalization.
For each page, you’ll need to check the title tag, Meta description, headline, image alt text, content, and URL to see if each page is targeting the exact keyword phrase. If multiple pages on the website are targeting the same keyword phrase, you may have a keyword cannibalization issue.
The following are the most common symptoms that indicate a cannibalization issue,
How to prevent keyword cannibalization?
The best way to prevent keyword cannibalization is to plan and ensure that each page on the website targets a unique keyword phrase. That can be done in a few ways.
The best way to fix keyword cannibalization is to create new pages on the website that do not contain the keyword phrases already being used on other pages. Once the new pages are published, make sure to change the other pages to remove the keyword phrases that are being used.
Consider adding nofollow or noindex tags to prevent the search engines from crawling and indexing the pages using the exact keyword phrases already being used on other pages on the website.
The best tool to resolve keyword cannibalization
Several online tools can help you to identify and fix keyword cannibalization. These tools will analyze your website and let you know if there are any issues with keyword cannibalization. Rankwatch website analyzer is one of the most reliable tools to resolve this fatal SEO issue.
Now let us discuss the methods this amazing tool offers to resolve keyword cannibalization,
Method-1: Using Rankwatch Console Module
You need to follow the following steps to implement this method,
Method-2: Using Rankwatch ranking overview
You need to follow the following steps to implement this method,
Conclusion
Keyword cannibalization is an SEO issue that can cause severe issues for website owners. It happens when multiple pages on the same website target the same keyword phrase or when there is a close similarity between them.
This issue can confuse the search engine and lead to a drop in the ranking of the website. To identify and fix keyword cannibalization, you must create an editorial calendar, a keyword research plan, and a sitemap, keep on top of your analytics and choose a reliable tool. With these steps, you can identify and fix any issues with keyword cannibalization.
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