Keyword cannibalisation

What it means

Keyword cannibalisation occurs when two or more pages of the same website target the same keyword and the same search intent. The search engine cannot tell which is best for the query, so it alternates between them, ranks them lower or picks a different one than the site owner would like.

It usually builds up over time: over the years a company writes several articles on the same topic, such as three guides to the tax return, or has a service page and a blog post with almost the same content. Each page gathers some of the links and signals, and none is strong enough to rank near the top.

Not every overlap is cannibalisation. If one page answers “what is a tax return” and another offers the service “preparing your tax return”, their intent differs and they can complement each other. The problem arises when two pages answer the same question in the same way.

How it works in practice

Cannibalisation shows up in a search analytics report: for one keyword, different URLs of the site alternate over time. A simple list of pages and their main topic also helps, as duplicates become obvious at a glance.

There are several fixes. Similar pages are merged into one strong page and the old URLs are redirected to it. If both must exist, one is focused on a different intent or narrower topic, and internal links make clear which is the main page. For technical duplicates a canonical URL helps.

In our glossary we prevent cannibalisation by giving each term one page and linking related terms rather than repeating them. We add a new term only when it has its own meaning, not as another name for a concept already explained.

What to watch out for

The most common mistake is creating a new page for every keyword variation, such as “accounting Bratislava”, “accountant Bratislava” and “accounting firm Bratislava” with almost identical text. Search engines read these as one intent, and the pages compete with each other.

When merging pages, beware of losing links and traffic. Without a redirect, the authority the old page built up is lost, and visitors from bookmarks or external links end up on a 404 error. Merging must be planned carefully and done with redirects.