Keyword cannibalization is a term that stands out in the world of SEO for its originality and uniqueness. Although it may seem exciting, this phenomenon can hurt your website’s visibility and harm your website’s ranking. We will go into the world of keyword cannibalization in this blog post, outlining its significance, effects, and, most crucially, how to avoid it. So, fasten your seatbelts and get set to optimize your SEO tactics like never before!
Understanding Keyword Cannibalization:
When many pages/posts on a website target the same keyword or keyphrase, keyword cannibalization occurs. It amounts to having various websites competing, which lessens their efficiency. When this happens, search engines cannot decide which page should be ranked higher, which lowers the overall rating of all pages involved. This may also harm conversions, visibility, organic traffic, and rankings.
Lower Visibility:
Keyword cannibalization can prevent your website from ranking number 1 on search engine results pages (SERPs). Multiple pages end up competing against one another for the exact keywords, which lowers the visibility of each page rather than having one-page rank highly for a given keyword.
Lower Click-Through Rates (CTRs):
Users may find it disgraceful and feel angry to see similar material in search results when numerous pages target the same term. As a result, consumers may click on other, more distinctive, and pertinent search results, which lowers your website’s CTR.
Weakening of Authority:
You weaken your website’s authority by distributing your content too thinly across numerous pages optimized for the same keyword. Because it will be more difficult for websites linking to your content to choose which page to link to, each page will acquire less backlink equity.
Confusion in the user experience:
Keyword cannibalization may frustrate and perplex visitors to your website. Imagine a consumer visiting several pages with the same material but learning little new. This could hurt the user experience and make them less likely to stay on your website or explore it further.
Does keyword cannibalization harm the website’s ranking (USER’S PERSPECTIVE)?
In order to understand the content and relevance of a webpage, search engines rely on various on-page and off-page signals. These signals become separated when numerous pages use the same keyword, confusing search engines and possibly diminishing the likelihood that all impacted pages will rank well.
Keyword cannibalization can result in changes to the order of search results and a drop in organic traffic. The website may become less visible, decreasing hits and organic growth when search engines need help determining the most prominent page for a particular phrase.
How to Get Rid of Keyword Cannibalization:
Now that we dissected the effects of keyword cannibalization let’s investigate practical solutions:
- Carry out a thorough keyword audit.
To begin, look over the existing content on your website and note the pages that use the same or related terms. Use SEO tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs to examine your website’s keyword rankings and spot any possible cannibalization problems.
- Consolidate and Merge material:
After you’ve located pages that use the same term, think about combining them into one long piece of material. A more robust, more authoritative page that search engines can readily understand and rank higher will be produced by this consolidation.
- Boost On-Page Elements and Metadata:
Ensure that your integrated material’s title tag, meta description, headings, and body are optimized with prominent keywords. This will make your pages visible to search engines and help them comprehend its purpose.
Find it Here : Importance of contextual backlinks
4. Implement Correct Internal Linking:
Internal links are essential for directing users and search engines to your website’s most essential and reliable page. Reviewing your internal linking structure, ensure you send link juice to the consolidated page.
- Refresh and Update Existing Content:
Regularly examine and update your content to ensure it stays pertinent and valuable to your audience. Your content’s exposure can increase, and its position in search engine outcomes can be enhanced by editing it.
Conclusion
The problem of keyword cannibalization can undermine your website’s SEO efforts and lower its visibility in search engine results. Understanding the effects of keyword cannibalization and adopting workable solutions to combat it can help you increase the exposure of your website. Leave your thoughts about keyword cannibalization in the comments below. Happy SEOing
