Struggling to Rank on Google? Keyword Cannibalization Might Be the Culprit

You’ve put in the work—writing blog posts, publishing product pages, and updating your site regularly. But if your rankings still aren’t climbing, especially in competitive spaces like digital marketing on the Gold Coast, there’s a chance you’re running into a hidden SEO issue: keyword cannibalization.

Let’s break down what that means and how to fix it.

What Is Keyword Cannibalization?

Imagine writing two blog posts:

• Best Strawberry Cake Recipes

• How to Bake the Best Strawberry Cake

They sound different, but they’re targeting the same core keyword. Instead of working together to boost your visibility, they compete against each other. That’s keyword cannibalization—when multiple pages on your website unintentionally target the same or very similar keywords.

It can happen when:

• You publish content with overlapping topics over time
• Different pages aim for the same product or search intent
• Older pages aren’t updated or redirected properly

Why It Hurts Your SEO

Keyword cannibalization can quietly damage your organic performance in several ways:

• Search engines get confused about which page to rank
• Your ranking power is split between multiple pages
• Link authority is diluted, with backlinks spread across similar content
• User experience suffers when visitors land on outdated or irrelevant pages
• In some cases, it’s okay to target the same keyword—like when pages serve very different user intents. But most of the time, cannibalization needs fixing.

How to Identify Keyword Cannibalization

You can uncover these issues with a few simple steps:

• Google site search: Use site:yourdomain.com [keyword] to see if multiple pages show up for the same term.
• Google Search Console: Check the Performance tab, filter by a keyword, and review which URLs are receiving traffic.
• SEO tools like Ahrefs or Semrush: These platforms can highlight cannibalized keywords and offer dedicated reports.
• Content audits: Look for overlapping topics or similar long-tail keyword usage across different pages.
• Historic rankings: If different pages have ranked for the same keyword over time, that’s a strong sign they’re in competition.

How to Fix Keyword Cannibalization

Here’s what you can do to clean things up:

1. Choose your strongest page – usually the one with the best rankings or traffic.
2. Merge similar content into one high-value resource.
3. Redirect older pages with 301s to consolidate SEO authority.
4. Use canonical tags when you need to keep similar pages but want to guide Google to your preferred one.
5. Create new content with distinct keyword targeting to cover missed opportunities.
6. Update internal links to point to your preferred page and reinforce its authority.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Don’t delete pages outright – they might still rank for other keywords.
• Avoid noindexing useful pages, or you’ll remove them from all search results.
• Use canonical tags correctly – only when pages are nearly identical.
• Don’t strip keywords or internal links blindly, or you might weaken both pages.

Keyword cannibalization is a silent SEO killer, but it’s totally fixable. By spotting overlap early and streamlining your content, you’ll help search engines understand your site better—and give your top pages the boost they need to rank higher.

Source: BRANDCOM