What is Keyword Cannibalization?
Keyword cannibalization, also known as content cannibalization, happens when multiple pages on your website compete for the same keyword or target the same search intent.
Instead of boosting your SEO, it becomes challenging for Google to determine which page to index and rank when multiple pages cannibalize each other.
This may cause redundant pages to split ranking signals, fluctuate search performance, or not get indexed altogether, resulting in lower overall visibility.
Unfortunately, keyword cannibalization can happen inadvertently, and site owners will not feel the effect until their pages’ indexing status becomes erratic.
This resource will examine the common causes of keyword cannibalization and explore how it impacts Google indexing.
Common Causes of Keyword Cannibalization on a Website
Content cannibalization can happen for two typical reasons:
- Multiple pages targeting the same keyword and search intent
- Poor site architecture and absence of a logical site hierarchy
When two pages on a website rank for the same keyword and search intent, they are likely to cover the same topic and have similar content. This directly results in keyword cannibalization, confusing Google about which of the two pages is most relevant to serve in SERPs.
For example, consider the query “best nootropics.” Healthline has two listicles that rank for the same keyword and share similar concepts, likely leading to keyword cannibalization.
However, many cases exist where the same keyword can have multiple search intents. While a few keywords may overlap between the two pages, it will unlikely result in keyword cannibalization.
Let me give you two examples:
Example 1: Same keyword + Same Intent (Informational, but answers different questions)
Both pages target the keyword “What is SEO?” which satisfies the informational intent (queries that seek information or knowledge about a subject).
However, result #1 focuses on how SEO works, while result #2 emphasizes why SEO is important. I checked each page individually and found minimal overlap in their content.
In other words, while both pages are informational in intent, they answer different questions, which means the likelihood of content cannibalization is low.
Example 2: Same Keyword + Different Intents (Informational and Commercial)
As the image above shows, both pages target the keyword “creatine” but satisfy different intents.
Result #1 focuses on defining creatine and explaining the pros and cons of using one (informational). Meanwhile, result #2 satisfies a commercial intent by comparing different creatine supplements.
In this case, any chance of cannibalization between both pages is slim to none.
5 Ways Keyword Cannibalization Affects Google Indexing
Content cannibalization affects not just the search performance of conflicting pages but may even disrupt Google’s indexing process.
Below are five ways keyword cannibalization impacts how Google indexes and treats your pages, leading to potential drops in ranking and traffic:
1. Google may choose a cannibal page as canonical
In many ways, keyword cannibalization shares some similarities to duplicate content.
Duplicate content refers to multiple pages having identical or almost identical content. In most cases, when pages commit keyword cannibalization (same keyword + same intent), they are prone to share the same information, leaving no room for distinction between the two pages.
By extension, similar to duplicate content, keyword cannibalization confuses Google about which among the conflicting pages are best served on SERPs. For this, Google must select a canonical version.
Unfortunately, this may not be your preferred page.
Google’s algorithm might prioritize a less optimized, older, and irrelevant page as the main version, limiting the viability of your desired page.
This impacts indexing because the chosen canonical version might be indexed and shown in search results, while your desired content might remain unindexed and fall into utter obscurity.
2. Fluctuating or inconsistent rankings between cannibalizing pages
If two conflicting pages are not entirely duplicates of each other despite keyword cannibalization, Google may still index and serve both in SERPs.
However, this may result in unstable rankings.
When a website has two cannibalizing pages, Google struggles to determine the most relevant page to serve in a given query, causing rankings to fluctuate.
For example, a specific page might rank high one day, and the next, another cannibalizing page takes its place.
In addition to affecting indexing status, since Google’s algorithm is constantly reassessing which page to prioritize, the inconsistency might also confuse users.
Ultimately, this results in unpredictable search performance between the two pages, making it challenging to maintain a consistent search engine presence.
3. Wastes Googlebot’s crawl budget
Google assigns dedicated and distinct crawl budgets to different websites depending on their popularity, size, and update frequency.
A lower crawl budget means Googlebot will spend less time exploring a website’s content. This stresses the importance of managing the crawl budget properly, especially for large, seldomly updated, and less popular sites since they likely have a smaller crawl budget allocation.
Unfortunately, keyword cannibalization wastes the crawl budget because Googlebot will have to spend resources crawling redundant content. Cannibal pages steal resources that could have been used to discover and index newly published or recently updated pages.
4. Dilutes ranking signals across competing pages
Keyword cannibalization can undermine a website’s link-building efforts, especially when building backlinks or internal links to conflicting pages.
Multiple pages targeting the same keyword and intent could spread link equity and other ranking factors too thinly. Instead of concentrating the ranking factors and creating one strong page, you have multiple weaker ones.
This weakens the authority of each page and, by extension, the website’s overall domain authority.
5. May result in untimely deindexation of pages
While this is more commonly observed among duplicate content, if the extent of keyword cannibalization results in near-duplicates, Google may only index one and deindex the rest.
Obviously, deindexation impacts a website’s visibility, as unindexed pages won’t appear in search results.
This is an extreme consequence of cannibalization, underscoring the importance of having a well-defined content strategy to avoid overlaps in keywords and search intent.
How to Identify Keyword Cannibalization on a Website
While content cannibalization poses serious threats to a website, conflicting pages can be quickly resolved once identified.
Below, we’ll look at ways to spot keyword cannibalization on a website.
1. Use Google Search Operators
Doing a site search on Google is the easiest way to identify keyword cannibalization.
Use the following command on Google:
site:yourwebsite.com “keyword”
Analyze the site search results to see if the pages share similar keywords and intent. If they do, it’s probably an indication of keyword cannibalization. Review the content manually to make sure.
2. Use Google Search Console
Google Search Console can show keyword cannibalization by analyzing the Search results tab.
Enable the Filter option, then select query and insert your target keyword.
For instance:
Scroll to the bottom of the results to see which pages rank for the selected keyword.
If there are no overlaps, there is no cannibalization happening.
However, if you find multiple pages ranking for the same keyword, copy their URLs, add another filter, and compare the graphs of both pages.
If the older page’s SEO metrics dropped with the publication of the new content or both pages’ SEO performance has plateaued, you might be dealing with keyword cannibalization.
3. Use keyword cannibalization tools
Keyword cannibalization tools are specialized software designed to identify cannibal pages on your website. One good example of this is FeedMyRank.
After linking your website’s Google Search Console to the tool, it will list all cannibalized keywords found on your site.
You can then expand each query to show all the cannibal pages competing for that keyword, as shown below:
Unlike manually using site search and analyzing GSC, content cannibalization tools use specific algorithms, speeding up the process. This allows site owners to discover keyword cannibalization minus all the tedium.
FeedMyRank is currently offered FREE on their website. Check it out now!
4. Use SEO tools
Popular SEO tools like Ahrefs and Semrush have built-in features that let them identify keyword cannibalization on a website. However,
Ahrefs and Semrush explore the historical rankings of keywords, much like Google Search Console, to see which pages have ranked for that query in a given period. If multiple pages appeared on SERPs for a keyword, then these pages might be cannibalizing each other.
Here is an example using Ahrefs:
Here is an example using Semrush:
Both tools offer suggestive but not absolute indications of keyword cannibalization.
It is best to identify keyword cannibalization with either Ahrefs or Semrush if you are already using these tools in your SEO campaigns, in the first place. However, it might not be economical to invest in these premium tools for the sole purpose of finding cannibalization issues.
How to Fix Cannibalization to Prevent or Mitigate Indexing Problems
Finding cannibalization issues is the tricky part, but fixing them is pretty straightforward and can be done in either one of three ways:
- Add a rel=”canonical” tag to your preferred page: This is a strong signal that informs Google that a specified page should be canonical. However, there are cases when Google might choose a different canonical than specified if it detects more ranking signals and relevance in the cannibal page.
- Consolidate the content and set up 301 redirects: Gather all the essential information on the conflicting pages and combine them into one comprehensive piece. Then, set up 301 redirects from the cannibal pages to the preferred page.
- Diversify the content and search intents of cannibal pages. If you want to maintain the conflicting pages on your site, you can choose to diversify their content and search intent. This may create enough distinction between each page, allowing them to rank independently for separate queries.
By following the steps above, you can prevent your pages from cannibalizing each other and avoid or mitigate any indexing problems you might encounter due to keyword cannibalization.
Ready to get rid of cannibal pages?