{"id":269,"date":"2020-06-03T20:27:51","date_gmt":"2020-06-03T14:57:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eglobalsoftsolutions.com\/blog\/?p=269"},"modified":"2020-06-03T20:27:51","modified_gmt":"2020-06-03T14:57:51","slug":"is-keyword-cannibalization-suppressing-your-websites-seo-rankings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eglobalsoftsolutions.com\/blog\/is-keyword-cannibalization-suppressing-your-websites-seo-rankings\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Keyword Cannibalization Suppressing Your Website\u2019s SEO Rankings?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Keyword cannibalization happens to be one of the most\nmisunderstood concepts of SEO. There are several myths and confusions about\nthis, and some say that it does not even exist!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, this is not the case at all. Keyword\ncannibalization is responsible for suppressing the SEO rankings of many\nwebsites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It does exist, but it may not be what you think it is.\nTo clarify your doubts about this and find out if it has been affecting your\nsite, let us discuss it in detail below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\nIs Keyword Cannibalization?<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n

Most of the time, it is explained as something that\noccurs when you have more than one page targeting the same keyword on your\nwebsite and that it suppresses the ability of either page to rank or perform\nthe way they should.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this is not true!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If two or more pages are optimized to rank for the same\nkeyword, that does not mean they would not rank automatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keyword\nCannibalization is actually all about intent.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will be understood better with the help of an\nexample.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s assume that two pages of website xyz.com are about\nthe same product, namely ABC – one has the product description while the other\nis the \u201cBuy\u201d page. But they are ranking for the same keyword i.e., ABC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is because the intent of both pages is different. Even though both have been optimized for the same keyword, they will rank. Because these two pages are not causing any confusion to users or the search engine as their intents are different. However, when two pages have the same intent, you will have the cannibalization issue. Because when this happens, you are basically competing against yourself. The search engine will get confused about which page to rank because both are serving the same purpose. Understand it as if you cannot decide which page to rank for one intent, how can the search engine do so? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How\nKeyword Cannibalization Hinders Your Website\u2019s Performance?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

There are a lot of ways in which keyword cannibalization\ncan impact your website\u2019s performance negatively. Some of the most common\nissues are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Ranked URLs often change in the\nSERPs<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    One of the most common signs of keyword cannibalization\nis that the ranked URLs keep on changing in the search engine result pages.\nThis is an indication that the search engine is having difficulty in figuring\nout which page it should rank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This fluctuating position is not only distracting for\nyour regular audience but also harms your SEO rankings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Your ranking position fluctuates often.<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      This occurs alongside the changing URLs. You would have\nnoticed that your ranking position keeps on fluctuating all the time. This is a\nresult of keyword cannibalization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      1. The wrong URL is ranking.<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        At times, you may find out that the wrong URL is ranking for a record. Even if your content is excellent, there is a confusion of intent, which is why the wrong URL ranks on the search engines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        How\nto Check If Your Site Has Keyword Cannibalization Issues?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

        There are several ways in which you can check if your\nwebsite has keyword cannibalization issues. There are several free as well as\npaid tools available online to assist you in this. Besides, there is another\ntrick to help you find it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Site: Search Operator – Input \u201cSite:[your\ndomain]keyword\u201d in Google search box to identify the list of pages that are\nconsidered relevant and optimized for the same keywords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        If you have found out that your site is suffering from\nkeyword cannibalization issues too, then you can continue reading below to find\nfixes for your problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        How\nto Fix Keyword Cannibalization Issue On Your Website?<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

        As soon as you have identified the keyword\ncannibalization issue on your website, its time to solve it. However, you must\nremember that not every issue is the same; therefore, not every issue can be\nresolved by the same method. Your solutions depend on your individual problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Below we have listed some very common keyword\ncannibalization fixes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        1. Removing and redirecting the\ncannibalized pages<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

          If you find that your website features more than one\npage that has the same intent, it would be best if you remove one of them. If\nyou only need to keep one of them online on your website, you can simply remove\nthem, and 301 redirect its URL to the remaining page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          This is the simplest method to fix the cannibalization\nissue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          1. Canonicalization <\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

            Sometimes, you don\u2019t really have the option to delete a\npage. This may be due to several reasons like it has great content from an\naudience perspective, or it might be an ideal PPC landing page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            With Canonicalization, you can select a primary page\nand, therefore, indicate that this is the page that should rank on the SERPs.\nIn this way, none of the pages will be removed, and your audience will be able\nto access both the pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            1. Re-Optimizing<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

              Typically cannibalization is caused at the metadata\nlevel because the owner didn\u2019t optimize the pages for keyword variations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              Let\u2019s assume that you have an e-commerce website, and\nyou are selling a product that comes in three colors. Now due to the same title\ntag and heading tag, there will be cannibalization because there are no clear\ndifferences except the images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              You can resolve this issue by reoptimizing the pages and\ntargeting variations clearly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              1. Merging and Unifying the pages<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                Another great trick is to merge the pages. When you find\nthat two or more pages are cannibalizing, you can combine them to solve this\nissue. Plus, it makes complete sense as you will be creating a stronger page by\nmerging the weaker ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                However, merging them might mean that you need to add\nsome new content also to finalize the page. Make sure to add 301 redirects to\nany pages that you are going to delete or URLs that you will be changing so\nthat the ranking signals can be passed over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                1. Developing new intent-focused content<\/strong><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

                  One of the most common cannibalization issues with\ne-commerce websites is that their one product page ranks for several search\nterms linked to their products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                  This happens because there is no range subcategory.\nHowever, fixing this problem will take as much effort as developing new\nintent-focused content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                  When there are no pages with the same intent, you will\nbe rewarded with better ranking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

                  Well, no doubt that fixing the keyword cannibalization\nissues is not only time-taking but is also exhausting. But it is always better\nto prevent something than to fix it. Therefore, for all the future content,\nmake sure you take proper measures to avoid this issue. Perform intent analysis\nto make sure none is repeated.\n\nThis\nwas all about the keyword cannibalization, how it impacts your site\u2019s\nperformance and SEO rankings, how to find it, and ways to fix it. Do yourself a\nfavor and conduct a quick test to make your website cannibalization free! Let\nus know your thoughts and experience on this in the comments below.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                  Keyword cannibalization happens to be one of the most misunderstood concepts of SEO. There are several myths and confusions about this, and some say that it does not even exist! However, this is not the case at all. Keyword cannibalization is responsible for suppressing the SEO rankings of many websites. It does exist, but it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[65],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eglobalsoftsolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eglobalsoftsolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eglobalsoftsolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eglobalsoftsolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eglobalsoftsolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eglobalsoftsolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":271,"href":"https:\/\/eglobalsoftsolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269\/revisions\/271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eglobalsoftsolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eglobalsoftsolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eglobalsoftsolutions.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}