Keyword cannibalism

Keyword cannibalism: -

• Most digital marketing teams rely on keyword optimization to rank their content high in search results.
• More keywords in the idea = better optimization.
• Due to keyword cannibalization, it is tempting to use the same keywords on multiple pages to increase ranking chances.
• However, this strategy can backfire if posts compete for the same keyword.
• Keep reading to find out what keyword cannibalism is, why it's bad for SEO, how to find keyword cannibalism and how to solve the problem.
• If multiple pages on a website are optimized for a single search query, be sure to compete, with which all pages will be poor.
• When this happens, call it keyword cannibalism.
• Examples of keyword cannibalism:
• If anyone is new to digital marketing and wants to learn more about link building.

So, he/she does a “link building” search on Google and the results are here:

At the top of the search results, he/she will see two posts covering almost the same topic from the same website.

Here is an example from the blog.

• The two posts compete for the same search query, “SEO Writing” and creating the keyword cannibalistic situation.
• This confuses readers and search engine algorithms, making it harder to rank content and attract audience attention.
• How do to find the keywords he/she has been cannibalized?
• Believe that there is some keyword cannibalism on the website, don't worry.
• They can be easily found and solved by following a few simple steps.

Here are some methods to find keyword cannibalism:

Search through the website:

• A straightforward way to search for keyword cannibalism is to search industry search queries.
• For example, if a company provides digital marketing services and frequently uploads content on marketing and SEO topics, do a Google search with some frequently used keywords.
• These look like SEO strategies or “marketing tips for beginners.
• Such a search pulls all the web pages that are ranked for this query.
• Check if two or more posts are competing for the position.

Google-specific site search:

To easily find keyword cannibalism, type a site name before entering a search query.

Here's what it looks like in a Google search engine:

Using External Tools:

• Use keyword research tools like Ubersuggest to simplify topics and get comprehensive data for better keyword planning.
• This will help to find the keyword cannibal faster and reduce the time, money and effort required to remove competing pages from the site.

Tips to Prevent Keyword Cannibalism:

• While it is possible to find and fix keyword cannibalism, sometimes it is better to avoid a problem than to spend time and money solving it.

Here are some expertly recommended strategies to prevent keyword cannibalism and improve the digital marketing plan.

1. Create a Targeted Keyword Strategy:

• If someone has been working in digital marketing for a while, the keyword strategy is to know things.
• One of the best ways to prevent keyword cannibalism is to improve the target keyword strategy, so there is no competition and problematic overlap.
• In short, it means optimizing different pages to target different keywords and search queries.
• So instead of having five pages competing for the search query "SEO Tips", each page can be optimized for a similar but specific query for "Digital Marketing Strategy," "Marketing Techniques," "SEO for Beginners" and so on.
• When providing different content for different search queries related to the industry.

Here are some free and paid tools that can be used for keyword research and planning:

• Ubersuggest
• Google Trends
• Answer people
• Google Search Console
• Moz Keyword Explorer

2. Track the keyword ranking and performance:

• Having a keyword strategy is not enough.
• Once has identified the keywords want to work with, also need to track their performance over time.
• Constant monitoring of keyword analysis will help to understand which keywords are ranking, which has too much competition, which can get caught in cannibalization, and which ones need a boost.
• Track keyword rankings, performance, and other analytics directly through the website's analytics tool, or one can use external tools like Google Analytics, Ubersuggest, SErush, Ahrefs, Moz, SEO monitor, and others.
• Track this data and use it to modify the keyword strategy to avoid keyword cannibalism or correct it when it happens.

3. Focus on topics first, keywords come second:

• Keyword cannibalization occurs because marketing teams focus more on optimizing keywords than creating content around relevant topics.
• If after keywords, there's a chance be neglecting the topics and quality of the content, eventually slowing down progress toward meeting the marketing goals.
• So instead of investing all the resources in keyword research, make it part of the marketing strategy to focus on topics as well.
• Find the topics that interest the audience and direct resources toward serving those interests.
• Let the keywords take second place.
• This will help increase audience loyalty, attract new readers, and establish brand authority in the industry.

Here are some ways to find what the audience wants:

• Conduct surveys.
• Ask for feedback.
• Conduct surveys on social media.
• Offer gifts in exchange for audience opinions.
• Reach out to long-time loyal readers for ideas.

Also, use tools like Quora, Google's "people also ask" feature, and Reddit to find out what people in the target demographic are talking about and what their pain points are.

When starting incorporating these ideas, the quality of the content will likely improve and the organic reach will increase without strictly relying on keywords.

4. Conduct regular content audits:

Outlined a strong keyword strategy, set up tools to track performance and put more effort into the audience's topics of interest.

Regular content audits are required to see if what is posted is still in line with readers' interests and marketing goals.

Content audits should ask the following:

• Are the topics still relevant?
• Is the information that is posted out of date?
• Are the statistics correct?
• Are prioritizing the right keywords?
• What topics and keywords best meet the marketing goals?

5. Create full pages:

• Some topics may seem too complex to cover in a single blog post, so content teams decide to break them up into multiple sub-posts.
• For example, "how to make money blogging" is a complex topic, so often find multiple posts that address different parts of the topic.
• A quick Google search for "how to make money blogging" immediately returns three different results.
• Speaking of blogging for beginners, the second talks about monetizing the blog and the third addresses the time concerns of monetizing a blog.
• Now imagine if they were all from the site instead of three separate sites.
• Since most of them address overlapping concepts, it creates a lot of unnecessary competition.
• Also, since most rank for a similar search query, it creates keyword cannibalization.
• Avoid creating a single full-page that addresses all relevant subtopics instead of posting a separate blog post for each question the audience may have.
• This is better for SEO as it allows to target long-tail keywords, add relevant headings, include multiple search queries on a single page, and avoid competition.
• This could result in a very long blog post, so consider a clickable table of contents so people can easily find the sections they need.

To fix keyword cannibalization:

• There are several ways to correct keyword cannibalization. Follow the steps to find which strategy works best.

Change content optimization:

• If multiple pages are ranked for the same keyword and search query, change the optimization settings.
• This could mean reducing the keywords, changing the keywords, or restructuring the content.

Consider deleting some posts:

• Simply re-optimizing posts may not be enough to correct keyword cannibalization.
• In this case, consider removing some of the overlay content.

Merge content:

• If two or more of the posts are ranked for the same keyword but don't want to remove them, consider merging them.
• Continuing with our previous example, this could mean sharing the "beginner blogs" and "how long does it take to monetize a blog" posts together to form a single comprehensive guide to monetizing a blog for new writers.

Is keyword cannibalization bad?

• Keyword cannibalization is bad for SEO as it forces two or more pages to compete with each other for a higher rank.
• One can lower the ranking of both pages and ultimately waste marketing efforts and resources.

Target long-tail keywords without cannibalizing the keywords:

• Target long-tail keywords without cannibalizing keywords by using separate long-tail keywords to optimize each post instead of creating multiple pieces of content ranked for the same search query.
• Also, consider creating a comprehensive guide to act as a landing page instead of many small competing subtopic pages.

Difference between keyword stuffing and keyword cannibalization:

• The first step in avoiding keyword cannibalization is to see where it occurs.
• Decide what is the best personal path.
• For example, we recommend creating a full post rather than running multiple posts competing for the same search query.
• Another option is to work with separate keywords for different posts.
• people believed that keyword stuffing and using the same keyword for multiple pages would help rank The content higher. However, this is no longer true.
• Now ranking multiple pages for the same keywords and search queries forces to compete with and reduce the success.
• Instead, it's much better to focus on specific keywords for specific posts, prioritize topics over keyword stuffing, and create comprehensive landing pages rather than mini blog posts.
• This can potentially help increase the ranking on the search engine results page and eventually help increase the organic reach.
• Even if have already experienced keyword cannibalization, fixing it is relatively easy. 
• Rework the optimization options, eliminate posts that increase competition but don't help to meet the marketing goals, and focus on merging competing content whenever possible.