Keyword Cannibalization: What It (Really) Is & How to Fix It
Introduction:
Keyword cannibalization is a common issue in SEO where multiple pages on a website target the same or similar keywords, leading to internal competition for search engine rankings. Ahrefs’ blog post delves into what keyword cannibalization truly means, why it’s a problem, how to identify it, and how to address it effectively.
Review:
The article begins by explaining the concept of keyword cannibalization and notes that it doesn’t always indicate a need for action. A true cannibalization issue only arises when multiple pages targeting the same keyword harm the website’s overall performance. The post offers several methods for identifying keyword cannibalization issues, including content audits, historical rankings, using site: searches, removing host clustering, and checking for multiple ranking URLs. Once a cannibalization issue is confirmed, the article suggests resolving it by consolidating pages or redirecting them to centralize ranking signals such as backlinks and internal links, thereby improving the website’s overall SEO performance. The article also warns against some non-recommended solutions to cannibalization, such as deleting pages, using noindex or canonical tags, and attempting to de-optimize pages.
