Keyword Cannibalization in SEO
Websites can witness tremendous growth through constant rankings if proper efforts are done to turn them thoroughly sustainable in today’s cutthroat competition. Out of the many strategies to implement for fruitful results you can’t ignore the unique but highly effective medium named Link Building for the said purpose. It is indeed a major backbone of SEO that you can’t avoid in the current scenario. The strategy is the ultimate choice to secure the ranking of your website to come into the global limelight.
It is equally important to know while doing so, that whether it is worthwhile that few digital marketers knowingly or unknowingly start targeting many pages from a single keyword or a search term. Are such steps usable or vulnerable? There should be total awareness about such elements to make the best use of the keyword strategies to avail benefits to the best extent possible.
Related: Optimum Keyword Density for Better Ranking
Remember that targeting several pages from a single keyword ironically maintains an exactly opposite effect. Thus, you must remain cautious while taking these steps. It should be avoided to safeguard your website from being spammed in Google. Be sincere in your steps to ensure such blunders are avoided the most. Otherwise, such acts will end up doing more harm than good to your ranking efforts. Can you bear such long-term damages for the sake of gaining a short-term benefit?
Related: Link Farming is Bad for Your SEO
The Concept of Keyword Cannibalization in SEO?
The concept named Keyword cannibalization is a unique process to target various pages of a specific website from the same keyword (search term). Above mentioned descriptions thoroughly make both specialists and laymen understand that such a concept indicates that you are competing with none other than yourself. In such situations though, there is ample chance to witness lower CTR, reduce page authority and last but not the least you won’t have to encounter lower conversion rates.
So, you must learn how to identify keyword cannibalization. To do that, you may use tools as there are a number of keyword cannibalization checker tools available free on the online market.
The issue of keyword cannibalization takes place due to duplicate content. Such cases come into the limelight while content marketers create similar pages with this fabricated assumption that they would be capturing even ample traffic by having more than one page ranking on search engines to their primary keyword terms. Ironically, they forget that for such short-term benefits they indeed invite their bigger losses.
Why Keyword Cannibalization is Bad for SEO?
When you target several pages from a single search term or keyword, search engines won’t be able to detect it meticulously which page of yours is the most relevant one for a particular query especially in a scenario while all pages are aimed to be ranked for the same term. Google crawlers will stumble upon many pages being wished to rank for the same keyword—thus the resultant outcome would be a new set of delusions before the search engines. Google will choose the most relevant one in such situations. That is why it should be remembered that keyword cannibalization can literally mar your chances to improve ranking.
Negative Effects of Keyword Cannibalization on Your SEO
In a context of factors associated with several technical and ethical factors pertaining to managing SEO for websites, SEO marketing professionals should always avoid the keyword cannibalization steps to prevent unexpected spamming. In case you are one of the victims who have already done such blunders then look for the best suitable ways and means to find out the proper resolution of such vengeance.
It will definitely prove helpful to bring your website on the right track. It is an easily repairable problem thus you can resolve it through doing little effort. Below are some worst effects of keyword cannibalism that you must know.
- It diminishes page authority
- It dilutes links & anchors text
- It devalues more relevant pages
- It causes traffic conversion
- The bounce rate starts increasing
How to Avoid Keyword Cannibalization in SEO?
Recent researches which have been conducted until now and is applicable in all nook and corner of the world confirm that keyword cannibalization is not appropriate for the overall health of any website aimed to be brought into the global arena. So, what should you do in such circumstances then? The first and foremost step should be to find out the most appropriate ways and means to avoid keyword cannibalization. Let your website prosper in the search engines smoothly.
Content and SEO strategists associated with SEO Content India devised few effective and influential tips which can work to the best to avoid content cannibalization cases. Let’s have a look at them for their better assessment of where websites lack and how everything can be brought into order.
Internal Linking
With the dual benefit of boosting the page authority as well as improving SEO, the primary role of Internal Linking is indisputably effective. It is helpful for websites to combat the keyword cannibalization in SEO strategies. To resolve the issue, you must review the internal link structure thoroughly. Ensure doing that keenly and which is meant to entirely revamp the SEO plan with an aim to let the links target the most relevant pages.
Apart from helping you to combat keyword cannibalization issues, internal linking also improves organic ranking.
Restructure Your Website
Restructuring your website at regular intervals proves helpful to avoid several such reprehensible issues. You should ensure to target a page with similar (not exactly the same) keywords for a fruitful outcome. If you are selling books, then your keywords of a particular webpage should be like new books, books online, buy the latest books, etc., and not the irrelevant ones that would make no sense.
Find New Keywords
Finding new keywords to use for the specific pages would definitely solve your purpose. A poorly planned keyword strategy is enough to demotivate a website before the search engines. Thus, it will bound to lead to your doom. You must, therefore, ensure that your keyword strategy accurately describes the page’s content. And, each page should have sufficient or long-form content that can leave a greater impact and improve visibility.
Proper keyword density also plays a great role in a website.
Long Tail Keyword Optimization
While targeting a particular page, you should have deeper keyword research and try to use multiple sub-keywords or long-tail keywords. It will have a better impact before the search engines let you avail of the benefit sought. Long-tail keywords or relevant search term promotion strategies are helpful to create maximum unique and related pages, while they equally combat cannibalization.
And, thus you will save your website from Keyword Cannibalization in SEO.
Conclusion – Keyword Cannibalization in SEO
In conclusion, we highlight the unfortunate scenario that most victims of keyword cannibalization are webmasters who are even not aware of such scenes engulfing them over the period. It is crucial for them to keep reviewing the websites at regular intervals to keep noticing or finding out errors if there are any and to resolve them without wasting unnecessary time.
Keyword cannibalization damage isn’t permanent thus it should be handled easily. The most important factor is how proactively you take the rectification step and what are your action plans to resolve such issues. Website content rewriting services also help you to save your website from Keyword Cannibalization in SEO.
By using the appropriate tools and having a positive attitude towards running a website to operate and get noticed by potential users, you can give your SEO strategies a well-deserved boost. It would be possible with an effective action plan.
Need your suggestions on Keyword Cannibalization in SEO and how to fix the issue.
So should I use keywords other than that are already in my domain ? Right ?
Dear Mr. Gizmo,
You should target each page from different keywords. If you target multiple pages from same keywords, you will start competing from yourself. Hope you get your answer.