Search engines like Google are a great source of qualified and recurring traffic for any business. Most marketers believe establishing their client’s business as an authoritative source for all relevant and niche keywords is the key to SEO success. While that is true, it’s just the tip of the iceberg.
True SEO campaign success involves making the right web pages rank higher on search engines for keywords that solve the user intent. The content on the web page must help close the information gap to drive users to take action, resulting in increased conversions.
Many times, conversion from organic research doesn’t result in increased impressions, an inquiry, sales, or engagement because the ranking page isn’t the one that’s supposed to appear in the SERPs. This usually occurs because of keyword cannibalization, where sometimes multiple pages on a website rank for the same keyword.
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The Impact of Keyword Cannibalization
Positioning multiple contents divides forces, confusing both users and search engines. This reduces effectiveness because while the keywords you want the client to rank for may differ, the query or search intent remains the same.
Moreover, multiple pages ranking for the same keyword forces them to compete with one another. It can do more harm than good to the SEO for that targeted keyword. Each page will have diminished authority, lower CTR, and decreased conversion rates compared to the consolidated counterparts.
Don’t Let Keyword Cannibalization Negatively Impact SEO
Some people feel happy when one page ranks in the top ten slots for the targeted keywords without understanding that a single authoritative page might rank higher or convert better.
On top of some clear, practical consequences, fluctuating SERP rankings, queries leading to incorrect pages, lost website traffic, and ultimately a dip in sales can also result, which are often more challenging to detect. Here’s why.
#1- Keyword Cannibalization Diminished Page Authority
Instead of a single highly authoritative web page, splitting the CTR among multiple pages that are moderately relevant converts them into competitors, resulting in a complex fight for SERP rankings and page views.
In this fast-paced world, users prefer a single source of information with in-depth information about the topic rather than multiple less complete ones, each leaving them searching for additional information.
#2- Keyword Cannibalization Dilutes Anchor Texts and Links
Backlinks that would’ve otherwise gone to a single consolidated information source are being split between multiple pages instead.
The outreach efforts that were spent on acquiring 15 links for one page and 20 for another could’ve been spent for a better-performing single page with 35 links. An in-depth, complete page is more likely to be linked to than the less comprehensive ones.
Similarly, the internal links and anchor text lead visitors to multiple pages rather than a single authoritative piece on the topic.
#3- Keyword Cannibalization May Cause Search Engines to Devalue Relevant Pages
Target keywords are one of the primary ways search engines like Google understand what web pages are about.
With the same keywords, Google deciphers which page may be a more accurate fit. When the content is very similar, the chances of Google getting it wrong increase invariably. For instance, if three pages are ranking for the same keywords, it could result in your client missing out on high-value traffic conversions if the higher-converting web page ranks lower.
#4- Keyword Cannibalization Confuses Users
When the search engine displays multiple pages of a business website in the SERP, it might not be presenting vital information the users intended to find. This produces a rebound effect that can significantly impact SEO efforts.
Higher bounce rates will reveal to Google that the content isn’t relevant to common queries. The users will perceive the quality of the content on the page as poor due to lower relevancy, which can be detrimental to user experience.
The negative image of your client’s site will presuppose a lack of creativity, ideas, and relevancy. In a nutshell, it will give an impression of poor competence, especially for services requiring high professionalism and in-depth knowledge.
#5- Keyword Cannibalization Squanders the Crawl Budget
The crawl budget refers to the number of times search engine spiders crawl a website in a given time period. Keyword cannibalization makes search engine spiders crawl URLs uselessly, which results in crawl budget wastage.
This might not be much of a problem for smaller websites. However, larger sites with thousands of references and URLs can not only exhaust the crawl budget but will also result in the indexing of irrelevant or less important web pages.
Top Solutions for Reversing Problems Associated with Keyword Cannibalization
#1- Website Restructuring
Our SEO experts at Rocket Driver recommend turning the most authoritative pages into landing pages that link to other unique variations falling under the umbrella of relevant target keywords.
If your client runs a bags business, it might make more sense to make ‘bags’ the canonical source page while linking all variations that are more specific back to it.
#2- New Landing Pages
If the client’s website lacks a landing page that effectively consolidates all the products or services cohesively in one place, it’s a good idea to create a unique one that serves as the authoritative source page. Then link the variations from there.
For instance, a page can be created for ‘leather bags’ and another for ‘bags for men’ or ‘bags for women.’ These will allow targeting broader keyword terms with long-tail keywords and consolidated pages on the variations.
#3- Content Consolidation
When the web pages are not unique enough to warrant various pages targeting the keywords, combine them into a single page. This way, two underperforming pages can be transformed into a single authoritative source. It’s a great way to solve concerns related to cookie-cutter or thin content.
Our experts use analytics to evaluate which pages perform best in terms of bounce rate, traffic, conversions, time on page, and more relevant KPIs. Sometimes one page receives higher traffic while the other offers content that converts users more successfully.
In this scenario, the goal could be to consolidate converting copies on a page with the highest traffic. Ideally, it would allow for maintaining the same ranking while converting more traffic.
#4- Fresh Set of Keywords
If you find that the website already has content-rich, diverse pages, it may indicate the site is suffering from a poor keyword strategy. Find new keywords that reflect the content of the page accurately.
Make sure visitors who search for the particular keyword will be satisfied with the content on pages that rank for it. If multiple pages rank well for broad keyword terms, determine if a related long-tail keyword could be focused on to capture more traffic for one of them.
When you find the keywords, optimize again and track performance.
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