Is Keyword Cannibalization Hurting Your Rankings?

It’s easy to fall into the trap of using keywords as much as you can in the pursuit of improving your search engine rankings. However, did you know using the same keyword across too many pages can actually damage your site rankings? In fact, when all of your pages are focusing on the same keywords, you are actually competing with yourself, dropping your own rankings. This is known as keyword Cannibalization.

What Is Keyword Cannibalization?

Most people have yet to hear this term and aren’t sure exactly what it means. In general terms, when you are using the same keyword on two pages, for instance, you are splitting your conversions, links, click-through rate and more between both those pages instead of focusing them on just one page. This can decrease your authority and will cause Google to compare your pages to each other, rather than your competitors’ pages. Basically, your site pages are eating the results from each other.

What Effects Does It Have

When you take part in keyword cannibalization, even unknowingly, you will create a number of negative effects on the performance of your site. Not only will you decrease your level of authority and dilute your links, but you may find your pages are devalued by Google, lowering your conversion rates. The search engines will see your pages as lesser quality than if you focused one page on a particular keyword and chose something more specific for each page. The more detailed your keywords are, the more likely they will trigger the success you’re looking for.

Fixing Keyword Cannibalization

The good news is this issue is relatively easy to fix. With a one-time SEO consultation from a digital marketing agency, you can restructure your website. They will also perform keyword identification to help you choose the most-effective keywords to reach your audience and improve your rankings. With consolidated content, new landing pages and a fresh list of keywords, you can elevate your site to greater heights.