How to Fix Keyword Cannibalization in 2024?

SEO writing differs from the usual writing as it uses target keywords strategically throughout your content to help search engines understand it and rank it accordingly. Quite often though, you may need to address the same topic several times to give new, deeper perspectives, or updates – which means that you might target the same focus keyword.

And while the content might be fine, your work may get diluted across similar URLs instead of being consolidated into one powerful page that ranks high.

The above is called keyword cannibalization, and it is hurting your site and keyword strategy by doing more harm than good.

This problem, while not new, is widespread.. After all, the concept of SEO has existed since the late 90s. One may even ask why hasn’t Google done anything to solve this problem until now?. Well, it has. In 2024, Google is smarter and more complicated than just registering duplicate pages to downgrade, so fixing the problem is not as easy as just wiping out or merging valuable content from your website.

Let’s see how to approach the issue carefully.

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What Is Keyword Cannibalization?

Keyword cannibalization happens when multiple pages on a website target the same or similar keywords. For instance, if you have five articles that target “email marketing”, then you have five articles that are competing against each other. You could get better and more organic traffic by combining them into one page, otherwise, they’re competing against each other and don’t get the desired organic performance. This is the classic explanation of what keyword cannibalization is.

But pages that rank at the top for one keyword often also rank for hundreds of other related keywords. So even if you have multiple pages targeting the same focus keyword like “email marketing”, they can still drive traffic from all those other long-tail keyword variations. The page ranking #1 for “email marketing” brings in traffic for that prime keyword. But the other pages covering that topic could be ranking well for things like “email marketing tips” or “email marketing strategies” and bringing in their own stream of traffic.

That said, trying to merge or delete duplicated content to “fix” keyword cannibalization could backfire. You might delete an article that ranks well for something different but in the same niche.

For example, two articles might rank well for ‘email marketing’, but one of those articles focuses on ‘email marketing tips’ while the other focuses on ‘email marketing for local businesses’’. You might lose other valuable keyword rankings, leading to an overall drop in organic traffic to your site.

So where is the problem? The true keyword cannibalization issue comes up when multiple pages on your site target the exact same focus keyword and have the same search intent overlapping across many pages.

If each of those pages is unlikely to rank well for lots of different long-tail variations around that keyword, then you have a cannibalization problem. In that case only, it’s better to consolidate or delete those competing pages.

What Is Search Intent?

Search intent is the reason behind someone’s search on Google.

Search engines try to figure this out your intent to show you the most relevant results. For instance, if you search for “pizza delivery,” you probably want to order pizza. But “pizza recipe” most likely means you want to make it yourself and/or want to know how.

As a writer, you need to match your content to specific search intents. If multiple pages overlap and confuse Google on the intent behind a keyword, that’s when keyword cannibalization happens.

How to Fix Keyword Cannibalization?

Identify the Problematic Pages

The first step is identifying which pages are actually competing for the same focus keyword/s and user intent. This can typically be done using SEO tools like Semrush, Google Search Console, or Ahrefs. Check which pages are ranking for your target keyword, and look at the performance metrics, clicks, impressions, and position of those keywords.

You can also do a site check using: yourwebsite.com “topic” on Google to see which pages contain keywords in their titles, URLs, or body content. You can then make a list of any potentially cannibalized pages and analyze their content alongside search intent signals and performance data.

Identify and Prioritize the User Intents And Choose the Best Page for Each

Sometimes a keyword can indicate different user intents. For example, someone searching for “lead scoring software” might want to buy a tool, or they could be looking to understand how to learn lead scoring. One keyword serving diverse needs. To identify different intents, search your domain for the keyword variations and scan page titles/meta descriptions. Different keyword modifiers such as “buy” or “what is” can help distinguish between intense.

Next, do a Google search for your target keyword. Look at the top ranking pages and analyze what specific user intents that organic content is satisfying. The URLs earning the most clicks and visibility in the search results are the most important.

Then review your own website’s content relevant to that keyword. Assess which of your existing pages does the best job addressing each of those key search intents you identified.

Basically, you want to pinpoint the ideal piece of content to serve as the definitive target for each distinct search intent around your keyword. The URLs pulling in the most organic traffic should take priority. Make sure your most authoritative, high-ranking assets are the designated targets for your most valuable keyword intents.

Make Changes Carefully

The classic advice in case of cannibalization is to start merging, deleting, and updating pages. But don’t rush it – take your time to analyze those search conversations.

You want to highlight the content that’s dominating the search results for your target keyword and intent. Then, update your strongest existing page or pages so they can perform better than before. Afterwards, you can remove or redirect any other overlapping pages.

This will consolidate your topical authority into a single, powerful URL instead of having it divided across multiple conflicting pages.

Use Internal Links for the Best User Experience

In cases where multiple pages are vying for the same keyword, you should use internal links to strategically indicate which page/s should be the primary one/s.

Before you go to work on your internal links, keep in mind that the main goal of an internal link is to bring the user to a place that makes sense to them. For instance, the “lead generation tools” anchor text should link to, for example, “10 Top Lead Generation Tools”, instead of a “What Is Link Generation?” article because this is what your reader expects. You intervene only to give the best UX and if user intents are not matching.

Here are some steps to take with internal links to resolve cannibalization issues:

1. Identify the page you want to be the primary one for that keyword. This should be the most comprehensive, up-to-date, and highest-quality page.
2. On the other duplicate/secondary pages targeting that same keyword, add internal links pointing to the primary page. Use the keyword itself or a very close variation as the anchor text.
3. Don’t link back from the primary page to the duplicate ones, as this can dilute signals.
4. Over time, you may want to consolidate content from the duplicate pages into the primary page and then redirect or remove the duplicates.

What Are Canonical Tags?

Canonical tags are HTML elements that help web pages avoid content duplication issues and cannibalization. They are important for SEO because they tell search engines which is the main (or canonical) version of a page when there are multiple versions or copies of that content available online.

So when should you fix canonical tags?

• If you have multiple URLs that have identical or very similar content, but only if you have content competing for the same intent.
• If you use URL tracking parameters that create copies of pages.
• If you have www and non-www versions of pages.
• If you have paginated series across multiple URLs.

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Wrap Up

Never forget that the quality of the content is what matters most. As there are always fluctuations and algorithm updates give time to monitor and analyze. Act only when absolutely sure that there is a cannibalization issue! Google is becoming smarter and the old SEO strategies don’t work as before. Keep in mind user intent as the main priority and carry on.