What is Keyword Cannibalization & How to avoid it?

Keyword cannibalization sounds scary, right? 🙂 Keyword cannibalization occurs when you have several articles/posts ranking for similar search queries in Google. Due to this, Google can’t detect which article must rank high for a specific query. This is either due to the high percentage of similarity between two or more articles or due to the utilization of similar key phrases. For instance, using the same title tag on several pages causes you to compete with yourself for ranking, resulting in decreased authority and a lower CTR. And, weaker conversion rates!

If you’re seeking a quick solution to deal with cannibalization and update your content, CONTADU provides a platform that allows you to compare content performance, CTR, and CPC, additionally, it provides aid in comparing content and tips based on NLP to optimize your content. 

Here are w ways to handle cannibalization:

1. Conduct regular content audits.
2. Compare and analyze content performance.
3. Merge, delete and direct.

The first two will help you to decide which articles to keep and which ones to merge or delete. In many cases, the acting part will consist of combining and deleting articles, but also to improve internal linking on your site.

Merging two or more articles will help your ranking and cannibalization issues and it will also enable you to build a richer article with elements from both articles. Bear in mind that Google loves in-depth long-form content. And your audience will love having everything in one place. 

Updating your internal linking structure will make it easier for Google to identify which article is the most valuable. We advise to linking less important posts to more in-depth articles so that Google can identify those and rank them high in SERP.

With Growth, Keyword Cannibalization increases. 

Sadly, your website is at a higher risk of cannibalization as it grows. The issue lies in the fact that you will need to be repetitive to some extent to cover all the elements of a singular topic. However, it happens to all of us. By keeping these 3 tips in mind, you can lower your cannibalization rate. Rewriting, updating articles, and upgrading the structure of your site will help you reduce the severity of keyword cannibalism. 

Eager to Learn More,  Google Search Console integration in CONTADU provides report helping to manage keyword cannibalization.