Keyword cannibalization happens when you have multiple pages or posts on your website that target the same keyword, unintentionally. This can negatively impact your SEO efforts and overall website performance. By proactively addressing keyword cannibalization and optimizing your website’s content and structure, you can enhance user experience, and boost your website’s overall search engine rankings and organic traffic. Fortunately, companies providing organic search engine optimization services perform SEO audits for their clients to identify the problem and fix keyword cannibalization effectively.
Optimizing Your Website to Combat Keyword Cannibalization
Keyword cannibalization can have several disadvantages for your website’s SEO and overall performance. Firstly, it leads to a lack of clarity for search engines, causing them to struggle when determining which page is the most relevant and authoritative for a specific keyword. As a result, your pages may compete against each other, diluting their individual ranking potential and causing a drop in overall search engine rankings. Secondly, it can confuse and frustrate your website visitors. When multiple pages offer similar content, users may encounter redundancy, and this could reduce the perceived value and quality of your site. Additionally, this can lead to a higher bounce rate as visitors may leave your site in search of more focused and valuable information.
Lastly, it hampers your content’s ability to rank higher in search results, limiting the organic traffic potential and hindering your site’s ability to attract and retain target audiences effectively. To mitigate these drawbacks, implementing a sound SEO strategy that addresses keyword cannibalization through proper keyword research, content optimization, and page differentiation is essential.