What is Keyword Cannibalization: Does it Affect Google Indexing?

What is Keyword Cannibalization?

Keyword cannibalization, besides known arsenic contented cannibalization, happens erstwhile aggregate pages connected your website vie for the aforesaid keyword oregon people the aforesaid hunt intent.

Instead of boosting your SEO, it becomes challenging for Google to find which leafage to scale and fertile erstwhile aggregate pages cannibalize each other. 

This whitethorn origin redundant pages to divided ranking signals, fluctuate hunt performance, oregon not get indexed altogether, resulting successful little wide visibility.

Unfortunately, keyword cannibalization tin hap inadvertently, and tract owners volition not consciousness the effect until their pages’ indexing presumption becomes erratic.

This assets volition analyse the communal causes of keyword cannibalization and research however it impacts Google indexing.

Common Causes of Keyword Cannibalization connected a Website

Content cannibalization tin hap for 2 emblematic reasons:

1. Multiple pages targeting the aforesaid keyword and hunt intent
2. Poor tract architecture and lack of a logical tract hierarchy

When 2 pages connected a website fertile for the aforesaid keyword and hunt intent, they are apt to screen the aforesaid taxable and person akin content. This straight results successful keyword cannibalization, confusing Google astir which of the 2 pages is astir applicable to service successful SERPs. 

For example, see the query “best nootropics.” Healthline has 2 listicles that fertile for the aforesaid keyword and stock akin concepts, apt starring to keyword cannibalization.

However, galore cases beryllium wherever the aforesaid keyword tin person aggregate hunt intents. While a fewer keywords whitethorn overlap betwixt the 2 pages, it volition improbable effect successful keyword cannibalization.  

Let maine springiness you 2 examples:

Example 1: Same keyword + Same Intent (Informational, but answers antithetic questions)

Both pages people the keyword “What is SEO?” which satisfies the informational intent (queries that question accusation oregon cognition astir a subject). 

However, effect #1 focuses connected however SEO works, portion effect #2 emphasizes wherefore SEO is important. I checked each leafage individually and recovered minimal overlap successful their content.

In different words, portion some pages are informational successful intent, they reply antithetic questions, which means the likelihood of contented cannibalization is low.

Example 2: Same Keyword + Different Intents (Informational and Commercial)

As the representation supra shows, some pages people the keyword “creatine” but fulfill antithetic intents. 

Result #1 focuses connected defining creatine and explaining the pros and cons of utilizing 1 (informational). Meanwhile, effect #2 satisfies a commercialized intent by comparing antithetic creatine supplements.

In this case, immoderate accidental of cannibalization betwixt some pages is slim to none. 

5 Ways Keyword Cannibalization Affects Google Indexing

Content cannibalization affects not conscionable the hunt show of conflicting pages but whitethorn adjacent disrupt Google’s indexing process.

Below are 5 ways keyword cannibalization impacts however Google indexes and treats your pages, starring to imaginable drops successful ranking and traffic:

1. Google whitethorn take a cannibal leafage arsenic canonical

In galore ways, keyword cannibalization shares immoderate similarities to duplicate content.

Duplicate contented refers to aggregate pages having identical oregon astir identical content. In astir cases, erstwhile pages perpetrate keyword cannibalization (same keyword + aforesaid intent), they are prone to stock the aforesaid information, leaving nary country for favoritism betwixt the 2 pages.

By extension, akin to duplicate content, keyword cannibalization confuses Google astir which among the conflicting pages are champion served connected SERPs. For this, Google indispensable prime a canonical version. 

Unfortunately, this whitethorn not beryllium your preferred page.

Google’s algorithm mightiness prioritize a little optimized, older, and irrelevant leafage arsenic the main version, limiting the viability of your desired page.

This impacts indexing due to the fact that the chosen canonical mentation mightiness beryllium indexed and shown successful hunt results, portion your desired contented mightiness stay unindexed and autumn into utter obscurity.

2. Fluctuating oregon inconsistent rankings betwixt cannibalizing pages

If 2 conflicting pages are not wholly duplicates of each different contempt keyword cannibalization, Google whitethorn inactive scale and service some successful SERPs.

However, this whitethorn effect successful unstable rankings.

When a website has 2 cannibalizing pages, Google struggles to find the astir applicable leafage to service successful a fixed query, causing rankings to fluctuate. 

For example, a circumstantial leafage mightiness fertile precocious 1 day, and the next, different cannibalizing leafage takes its place.

In summation to affecting indexing status, since Google’s algorithm is perpetually reassessing which leafage to prioritize, the inconsistency mightiness besides confuse users.

Ultimately, this results successful unpredictable hunt show betwixt the 2 pages, making it challenging to support a accordant hunt motor presence.

3. Wastes Googlebot’s crawl budget

Google assigns dedicated and chiseled crawl budgets to antithetic websites depending connected their popularity, size, and update frequency. 

A little crawl fund means Googlebot volition walk little clip exploring a website’s content. This stresses the value of managing the crawl fund properly, particularly for large, seldomly updated, and little fashionable sites since they apt person a smaller crawl fund allocation. 

Unfortunately, keyword cannibalization wastes the crawl fund due to the fact that Googlebot volition person to walk resources crawling redundant content. Cannibal pages bargain resources that could person been utilized to observe and scale recently published oregon precocious updated pages.

4. Dilutes ranking signals crossed competing pages

Keyword cannibalization tin undermine a website’s link-building efforts, particularly erstwhile gathering backlinks oregon interior links to conflicting pages.

Multiple pages targeting the aforesaid keyword and intent could dispersed nexus equity and different ranking factors excessively thinly. Instead of concentrating the ranking factors and creating 1 beardown page, you person aggregate weaker ones.

This weakens the authorization of each leafage and, by extension, the website’s wide domain authority.

5. May effect successful untimely deindexation of pages

While this is much commonly observed among duplicate content, if the grade of keyword cannibalization results successful near-duplicates, Google whitethorn lone scale 1 and deindex the rest.

Obviously, deindexation impacts a website’s visibility, arsenic unindexed pages won’t look successful hunt results.

This is an utmost effect of cannibalization, underscoring the value of having a well-defined contented strategy to debar overlaps successful keywords and hunt intent.

How to Identify Keyword Cannibalization connected a Website

While contented cannibalization poses superior threats to a website, conflicting pages tin beryllium rapidly resolved erstwhile identified.

Below, we’ll look astatine ways to spot keyword cannibalization connected a website.

1. Use Google Search Operators

Doing a tract hunt connected Google is the easiest mode to place keyword cannibalization. 

Use the pursuing bid connected Google:

site:yourwebsite.com “keyword”

Analyze the tract hunt results to spot if the pages stock akin keywords and intent. If they do, it’s astir apt an denotation of keyword cannibalization. Review the contented manually to marque sure.

2. Use Google Search Console

Google Search Console tin amusement keyword cannibalization by analyzing the Search results tab.

Enable the Filter option, past prime query and insert your people keyword.

For instance:

Scroll to the bottommost of the results to spot which pages fertile for the selected keyword.

If determination are nary overlaps, determination is nary cannibalization happening. 

However, if you find aggregate pages ranking for the aforesaid keyword, transcript their URLs, adhd different filter, and comparison the graphs of some pages.

If the older page’s SEO metrics dropped with the work of the caller contented oregon some pages’ SEO show has plateaued, you mightiness beryllium dealing with keyword cannibalization.

3. Use keyword cannibalization tools

Keyword cannibalization tools are specialized bundle designed to place cannibal pages connected your website. One bully illustration of this is FeedMyRank. 

After linking your website’s Google Search Console to the tool, it volition database each cannibalized keywords recovered connected your site.

You tin past grow each query to amusement each the cannibal pages competing for that keyword, arsenic shown below:

Unlike manually utilizing tract hunt and analyzing GSC, contented cannibalization tools usage circumstantial algorithms, speeding up the process. This allows tract owners to observe keyword cannibalization minus each the tedium.

FeedMyRank is presently offered FREE connected their website. Check it retired now!

4. Use SEO tools

Popular SEO tools similar Ahrefs and Semrush person built-in features that fto them place keyword cannibalization connected a website. However, 

Ahrefs and Semrush research the humanities rankings of keywords, overmuch similar Google Search Console, to spot which pages person ranked for that query successful a fixed period. If aggregate pages appeared connected SERPs for a keyword, past these pages mightiness beryllium cannibalizing each other.

Here is an illustration utilizing Ahrefs:

Source: Ahrefs

Here is an illustration utilizing Semrush:

Source: Semrush

Both tools connection suggestive but not implicit indications of keyword cannibalization. 

It is champion to place keyword cannibalization with either Ahrefs oregon Semrush if you are already utilizing these tools successful your SEO campaigns, successful the archetypal place. However, it mightiness not beryllium economical to put successful these premium tools for the sole intent of uncovering cannibalization issues.

How to Fix Cannibalization to Prevent oregon Mitigate Indexing Problems

Finding cannibalization issues is the tricky part, but fixing them is beauteous straightforward and tin beryllium done successful either 1 of 3 ways:

1. Add a rel=”canonical” tag to your preferred page: This is simply a beardown awesome that informs Google that a specified leafage should beryllium canonical. However, determination are cases erstwhile Google mightiness take a antithetic canonical than specified if it detects much ranking signals and relevance successful the cannibal page.
2. Consolidate the contented and acceptable up 301 redirects: Gather each the indispensable accusation connected the conflicting pages and harvester them into 1 broad piece. Then, acceptable up 301 redirects from the cannibal pages to the preferred page.
3. Diversify the contented and hunt intents of cannibal pages. If you privation to support the conflicting pages connected your site, you tin take to diversify their contented and hunt intent. This whitethorn make capable favoritism betwixt each page, allowing them to fertile independently for abstracted queries.

By pursuing the steps above, you tin forestall your pages from cannibalizing each different and debar oregon mitigate immoderate indexing problems you mightiness brushwood owed to keyword cannibalization.

Ready to get escaped of cannibal pages?