In the following article, I (Reshaeel Sarwar) will be teaching how you can fix keyword cannibalization issues in SEO using simple and practical steps.
If you have ever seen multiple pages from your website showing up in search results for the same keyword but none of them are ranking well, you might be facing a keywords cannibalization problem.
Let me explain what this means in a simple way!
Keyword cannibalization happens when two or more pages on your website are targeting the same keyword. Instead of helping your SEO, this creates confusion for Google. The search engine does not know which page to rank for that keyword.
As a result, it may choose the wrong page or not rank any of them high enough.
Why Keyword Cannibalization Hurts SEO?
SEO keyword cannibalization weakens your overall search visibility. Instead of competing against other websites, your content is competing with itself. It gives rise to many problems, such that:
๐ Google Splits Your Authority
Instead of one strong page getting all the attention, Google divides value between similar pages. As a result, none of them perform well.
๐ Click-Through Rate (Ctr) Drops
When the wrong page ranks for a keyword, users may not click. Or, if two of your pages appear together, users might skip both if they do not look helpful.
๐ Backlinks Are Spread Thin
If other websites link to different pages for the same topic, those backlinks lose power. One solid page would get more authority if they were combined.
๐ It Wastes Crawl Budget
Google uses time and resources to crawl your pages. When several pages are similar, it may waste time crawling the wrong ones and miss the ones you want to prioritize.
๐ It Lowers Your Chances of Ranking High
Your main page does not get a chance to rank properly if a weaker or outdated one takes its place in search results.
Alarming though! Definitely!
But do not worry, as the following steps will help you remove the cannibalization problem easily.
How to Fix Keyword Cannibalization?
So once you find keyword cannibalization, you can fix it by following the right steps, which I have covered for you in the following guide.
Each of the following methods addresses a specific type of cannibalization issue. Depending on your situation, you may need to use just one or a combination of these fixes.
Using Ahrefs Tools
The first step you need to keep in mind is, โWhich page to keep and which one to be redirected or merged?โ
For this purpose, you need to check which page has the highest ranking in Google SERPs for a keyword. After that you have to look down to those pages that might be ranking at lower positions for the same keyword.
PIC
Once done, you can either redirect the low-ranking pages to the one with solid information and ranking at high position. Remember that it will be a 301 redirection.
Else, you can also merge content from low-ranking pages with the one ranking higher. Letโs learn it!
Merge Competing Pages
One of the most common solutions is to combine similar content into a single and stronger page.
When To Do This?
If you have two or more articles or pages that are ranking for the same keyword and have overlapping content, it is better to merge them.
For example, if you wrote one blog post about โSEO tools for beginnersโ and another on โtop free SEO tools,โ they are likely competing for the same terms.
How To Merge Them?
- Choose the page that has the most traffic or backlinks as your main page
- Copy over any useful content from the other page into the main one
- Edit the content so it flows naturally and does not repeat itself
- Remove the weaker or duplicate page
- Add a 301 redirect from the old page to the new combined one
|
What Is a 301 Redirect? It is a permanent redirect that tells search engines and visitors the content has moved to a new URL. You can set it up using your CMS (like WordPress) or via your siteโs .htaccess file or SEO plugin (like Rank Math or Yoast). |
This step ensures that any SEO value (like backlinks) from the old page is passed on to the new one.
Differentiate Search Intent
Sometimes, your pages are competing not because they are duplicates, but because they are too similar in purpose.
When To Do This?
If two pages target the same keyword but serve different types of users (for example, an informational blog post vs. a product page), you need to adjust their focus.
How To Do It?
- Identify the main intent behind each page. Check if it is to inform, sell, or compare?
- Update the content and headings so that each page clearly satisfies a different user intent
- Use more specific or long-tail keywords for each page to reduce overlap
Example
Instead of two pages targeting โbest protein powder,โ you can revise one to target โbest protein powder for weight lossโ and the other for โhow to choose the right protein powder.โ
This helps Google understand that your pages are unique and meant for different types of searches.
Use Canonical Tags
If you want to keep both pages live but still avoid cannibalization, canonical tags can help.
When To Do This?
Use a canonical tag when:
- You have similar versions of the same content
- You need both pages for users, but only want one to rank
How To Apply It?
- Go to the HTML <head> section of the page you do not want to rank.
- Add a canonical tag pointing to the main pageโs URL:
| <link rel=”canonical” href=”https://www.yoursite.com/main-page-url/” /> |
- If you use WordPress, most SEO plugins like Rank Math or Yoast allow you to set canonical URLs easily from the page editor.
This tells Google, โThis page exists, but please give SEO credit to the other one.โ
Noindex Low-Value Pages
If a page is outdated, thin, or does not bring value anymore, you can simply tell Google not to index it.
When To Do This?
Use the noindex tag when:
- The page is too weak to merge or update
- It is not worth keeping in search results (like old offers or tag pages)
- You want to keep it visible for users but remove it from Googleโs index
How To Apply It?
Add the following tag in the <head> section of the page:
| <meta name=”robots” content=”noindex” /> |
In WordPress, most SEO plugins offer a checkbox that says โnoindex this pageโ. So you have to just turn it on.
This will stop Google from indexing that page and solve the conflict with your more valuable one.
Internal Linking Optimization
Google pays attention to how you link between your pages. So use internal links to guide search engines toward your most important content.
How To Do It?
- Choose which page you want to rank for the keyword
- Go to your other related pages and update the anchor text links to point to that main page
- Use descriptive and keyword-relevant anchor text (like โlearn more about our SEO toolsโ rather than just โclick hereโ)
This signals to Google that the main page is the most relevant one for that topic and helps pass authority to it.
Keyword Mapping for Future Posts
Prevention is just as important as fixing. A keyword map helps you plan your content so that no two pages accidentally target the same keyword in the future.
How To Do It?
- Create a spreadsheet or use a content planning tool
- List out each page on your site with:
- The main target keyword
- The search intent
- URL
- Status (draft, live, updated)
- Before writing new content, check the map to make sure the keyword is not already being used
Solutions I Never Recommend to Fix Keyword Cannibalization
I have seen many SEO experts remove cannibalization in wrong ways. Thatโs why, I thought of covering these points here so that you can avoid them.
Deleting the Page
While deleting a page might seem like a quick fix, it is rarely the right move. The only time you should consider deleting a page is if it brings zero value to your business and ranks only for the keyword causing the conflict. But in most cases, the page will still have some usefulness, either for users or for other related keywords.
Because of that, simply removing it is usually not the best way to solve keyword cannibalization.
Trying to “De-Optimize” the Page
You might think about removing mentions of the overlapping keyword from the page or changing internal link anchor texts, but this is usually a poor strategy.
The problem is, you can not selectively remove a pageโs optimization for just one keyword without also affecting its ability to rank for others.
For example, removing the target keyword from the content or internal links could weaken the page’s performance overall.
In theory, de-optimizing might sound like a subtle fix. But in practice, it often hurts your SEO more than it helps.