Do you have a website full of high-quality content that meets the needs of your target audience, but you are still not getting the top search engine rankings you want? Could it be that your pages are competing with each other and blocking each other from ranking?
Then you should check your content for keyword cannibalism, an often overlooked SEO problem.
What is keyword cannibalism?
Keyword cannibalism, often referred to as keyword cannibalization, is a phenomenon that occurs in the world of search engine optimization (SEO). It describes a situation in which several pages of your website are optimised for the same or similar keywords and are therefore in competition with each other. This internal competition can lead to your pages canibalising each other in the search results and losing visibility.
Imagine you run an online sportswear shop. If you have several product pages that are all optimised for the keyword “running shoes”, these pages will compete with each other. Search engines like Google then have difficulty determining the most relevant page for this keyword, which can lead to a lower ranking in the search results.
Keyword canibalism can also occur if your website contains content with overlapping or very similar keywords. For example, you could have blog posts about ‘running shoes for beginners’ and ‘how to choose the right running shoes’, which overlap thematically and are therefore competing content.
Tools such as the Google Search Console or Sistrix can help you analyse which keywords your pages rank for and if there are any overlaps.
How to avoid keyword cannibalism using the overlap tool?
The Loyamo SERP Overlap tool analyses the search engine result pages (SERPs) of two keywords and shows how much the search results overlap. It helps to refine the SEO strategy by showing whether two keywords should be treated on separate or common landing pages.
The tool saves time when manually analysing SERPs and shows at a glance which URLs rank in the top 10 for both keywords. It provides insight into your competitors’ content strategy and helps you optimise your own pages for search queries.
The overlap score shows the number of overlaps, while the relevance score also takes into account the position of the overlaps. Higher positions in the search results are weighted more heavily. The Loyamo Overlap tool is useful to maximise the SEO strategy and increase visibility.
Why is keyword cannibalism a problem for your SEO strategy?
Keyword cannibalism can seriously harm your SEO efforts and should be avoided.
Here are some reasons why keyword canibalism is a serious problem for your SEO strategy:
- Confusion for search engines: Search engines like Google struggle to identify the most relevant page for a given keyword if several of your pages are optimised for it. This can lead to inconsistent rankings and a poor user experience.
- Inefficient use of resources: Optimising multiple pages for the same keywords wastes valuable time and resources. Instead, you should focus on creating and optimising a single, high-quality page for each relevant keyword.
Effects of keyword cannibalism
Keyword cannibalism can negatively affect your SEO efforts in a number of ways. Here are some of the most common effects:
- Lower rankings: If several of your pages are competing for the same keywords, it is likely that none of them will achieve a top position in the search results. Instead, your pages may end up in the lower positions, which will greatly reduce your visibility and traffic.
- Lower click-through rates: Even if one of your pages ranks highly in the search results, competition from other pages on your site can cause users to click on other results. This leads to lower click-through rates and less traffic to your site.
- Poor user experience: If users see multiple similar pages on your site that are optimised for the same keyword, this can lead to confusion and a poor user experience. Users may find your site cluttered and unstructured, which can have a negative impact on your reputation and conversion rates.
- Inefficient use of resources: As mentioned above, it is a waste of time and resources to optimise multiple pages for the same keywords. These resources could be better spent creating quality, relevant content that will increase your visibility and traffic.
Conclusion: Keyword cannibalism
Keyword cannibalisation can significantly affect your site’s SEO performance by diluting search rankings and reducing organic traffic. By recognising this problem and taking targeted action, such as merging content and redefining your keyword strategy, you can significantly improve your site’s visibility.
The Loyamo Overlap Tool offers a tailor-made solution. It helps you to identify and avoid keyword overlaps so that you can unleash the full SEO power of each of your pages. Rely on Loyamo’s expertise to position your website optimally and increase your traffic in the long term.
