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Website owners worldwide want the same thing: for their web pages to rank for specific keywords during an organic search. So, it’s totally natural to see them conduct keyword research, improve their content marketing, and optimize their pages for the best results.

One such standard practice is optimizing your web pages for the exact keywords. The rationale is that the more your web pages appear on SERPs, the greater your chances of attracting more visitors, right?

Well, that’s not the case. That’s simply the act of keyword cannibalization. It sounds ominous because it actually is. It spells doom for your SEO and your digital marketing campaign in general. Thus, if you discover it, you should take steps to rectify it.

This article explores everything you need to know on cannibalization definition, how to discover them, and how to go about fixing them.

What is Keyword Cannibalization in SEO?

Keyword cannibalization occurs when multiple pages of a website target the same keywords and rank against each other during an organic search. This simply means you have your website competing against itself. That’s usually a bad sign when SEO is involved.

Cannibalization in SEO poses more danger to your digital marketing strategy, as your click-through rates (CTR) and conversion will be split between multiple pages instead of one. Google and other search engine bots aren’t going to see the relevance of numerous pages.

Thus, these bots will weigh these pages against each other and choose the one suitable for that organic search.

Let’s say your eCommerce website sells boots; boots are the only keyword you optimize and target. Google will only assume all the pages of your website is about boots, even if they’re displaying rain boots, hiking boots, training boots, etc.

So, what happens when you engage in SEO cannibalization on your web pages?

● Diminished page authority. When you have multiple pages ranking for the exact keywords, their respective page authority gets diminished. This means your page views and conversion will be split.

● Diluted backlinks and anchor texts. You will earn backlinks from other websites when your web page is relevant. When your keywords are cannibalized, your backlinks will be split between less relevant pages.

● Search engines may devalue the more relevant page. The problem with content cannibalization is that Google may end up devaluing the more relevant web page.

● A signal of poor content. When multiple pages target the exact keywords, it sends a wrong signal to your readers that you lack great content.

Keywords cannibalization is terrible for your website. You should avoid it and fix it immediately. 

How to Check for Keyword Cannibalization

There are multiple ways on how to find cannibalized keywords. They include:

Run a Site Search

One of the easily identifiable ways to check for cannibalization is to run a site search. All you need to do is enter Google and search ‘site:yourwebsite.com “topic”’

Consider the example below for The Washington Post for the keyword “Biden.”

You can do the same for your website and see the number of pages that show up on organic results. From the results you find, you can tell which web pages are cannibalized and rectify them.

Run a Google Search and Remove Host Clustering

Another way you can identify content cannibalization is to remove host clustering. You can discover this by running a filtered search on Google.

You can simply choose a keyword search and search for your website when the results appear. 

Follow these steps:

● Type the keyword.

● Click Ctrl + F (windows) or command +F (Apple) and type ‘yourwebsite.com’

● Check how many times your website appears for that keyword.

With these keyword cannibalization checkers, you can discover if your web pages are cannibalized.

How to Fix Keyword Cannibalization

From what we’ve explored so far, keyword cannibalization poses a high risk to your website. If, after identifying your web pages have been cannibalized, you should take active steps to fix them.

Implement the following strategies:

Create New Landing Pages

One of the best ways to fix keyword cannibalization SEO for your website is to create new landing pages. Every website needs an authoritative landing page where all your content can be consolidated.

You can create different products and blog pages and implement broader keywords when you have a unique landing page. Your landing page should be a central point for all your content pages.

So, you can have a landing page that explores boots in general and product pages that address sports boots, hiking boots, rain boots, and others.

Merge Content

If you notice multiple pages are ranking for the exact keywords, you can merge them together in one post. You shouldn’t make the mistake of copying and pasting one content into another. 

Instead, take your time and rewrite the web pages into a fantastic article or blog post.

Let’s say you have one article about ‘content marketing for beginners’ and another about ‘benefits of content marketing’. You can combine both of them into one blog titled ‘Everything you need to know about content marketing’.

Google will see this as a comprehensive guide and rank it during an organic search.

Find New Keywords

Another foolproof way you can fix keyword cannibalization is to discover new keywords. 

Chances are your web pages are cannibalized because you’ve been implementing a poor keyword strategy.

You must ensure that the web content correctly describes the keywords you targeted. Put yourself into your readers’ shoes. Will they be satisfied after going through your content? If the answer is no, then you need to research suitable keywords that will uniquely optimize the page.

Some of the best keyword research tools include Ahrefs, Ubersuggest, SEMrush, Google Keyword Planner, SECockpit, Moz, KWFinder, and KeywordTool.

How to Avoid Keyword Cannibalization

From the previous, we can see that fixing keyword cannibalization is possible. But most times, prevention is better than cure.

Preventing content cannibalization will lower the risk of spending quality time fixing the issue. So, how do you avoid it? Follow these steps below:

Have a Targeted Keyword Strategy

Implementing a targeted keyword strategy is one of the best ways to prevent keyword cannibalization. It simply optimizes your web pages to rank for different keywords in SERPs.

Hence, you have multiple web pages ranking for different similar keywords instead of having them rank for the same thing. Thus, your audience is treated to different quality content while you stay on topic.

Do Regular Content Audits

After establishing a targeted keyword strategy, you need to monitor and track your progress using tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console.

But much more than that, you must conduct regular content audits to ensure your published content satisfies your readers and your marketing objectives.

Your content audit should provide answers to the following questions:

● Are your topics relevant and compelling?

● Are the facts in the article correct?

● Are you optimizing the right keywords?

● Are your keywords essential to your marketing goals?

You should ensure that your content suitably matches these questions to avoid keyword cannibalization.

Conclusion

Keyword cannibalization in SEO is not only dangerous for your website but for your brand. Now that you’ve discovered what it is, you can go ahead and avoid it entirely. You can also take steps to fix it when it occurs.

Search engine result pages (SERPs) are precious to digital marketers and website owners. It’s the first thing people see when they search for content online. Thus, it is commonplace to see several websites in fierce competition to rank for organic and paid searches.

Why? It’s highly competitive for websites to be ranked on SERPs. As Google constantly implements changes to ranking websites. Thus, it is increasingly becoming more sophisticated to anticipate and prepare for search engine and user needs.

Knowing how SERPs work and the steps to optimize your website for visibility and traffic is essential. This article explores all you need to know about SERP in digital marketing and its unique features.

Let’s dive right in.

What is SERP in SEO?

SERPs are a search engine’s response to a user query. These are the pages provided to users when searching for online content using any search engines available. When a user includes specific keywords, Google bots search for relevant content from millions of web pages and present these results to users.

SERPs website ranking is particularly unique to every user’s search query. Thus, two people can search for the same thing and get different results. Even when the results appear the same, there may be subtle differences in how each SERP will be displayed. But the interesting thing about it is that each result will be relevant to their needs and provide an excellent user experience.

For the sake of this article, we will be focusing on Google, as it takes over 80% of the market share of searches.

Components of a SERP

SERPs is a unique Google feature that comes in different components. Each of these components is particularly unique to user experience during searches. These components include:

Paid Search Ads

Paid search ads are result pages paid to be showcased by a digital marketer or an advertiser. Initially, these sections take limited ads and are only text-based. However, they can display several results and web forms.

The central results are considered the prime positions for search ads. Most digital marketers and web admins work to bid for the keywords and optimize their web copy to appear there and receive clicks.

There are image-based ads also displayed. Most of these shopping ads are from eCommerce retailers like Amazon. These special ads feature the products, their star reviews, product availability, and links leading to the product page on the retailer’s website.

Getting on these sections on SERPs would require you to have a high-quality website and a better bid than others bidding for the same SERP website ranking space. Why? It’s what people see when they search for a particular keyword before seeing organic results.

Organic Search Results

Organic search results are pages that appear as a result of the user search query. Digital marketers focus on their Google SERP analysis on this particular component. Thus, you’d see them conducting website optimization to rank better in organic searches.

Organic search results feature all the web pages that have been optimized and contain relevant SERP management on the search query. Organic search results feature several elements:

One such element is the Knowledge Box. This feature provides concise answers to user questions in a particular section of the SERP results. For instance, when you type a famous personality’s name, you will find information such as age, date of birth, height, name of their children, and links to websites where their biography is expressed in detail.

You should structure your website to be optimized for organic search results because it is long-lasting and cost-effective in the long run.

Local Search Results

Local search results (sometimes called Local SEO) is a SERPs review section that displays content based on your location. Most of the results are displayed in the form of Maps and search content.

Local search results come into full effect when people conduct ‘near me’ searches on Google. For instance, if you type ‘Fast food restaurants near me’ Google will provide customized results based on the device location.

Immediately Google detects that you’re performing a local search query, it will display Map Packs leading you to businesses close to your device. It will also display other SERP competitions such as Google My Business listings. You will typically find details such as business name, address, URL, contact number, photos, videos, and customer ratings and reviews.

If your website caters to a local audience, you should optimize it for local search results. The reason is that 30% of all searches are related to a location. 83% of people use Google search to learn about local businesses.

Related Searches

As the name suggests, related searches are SERP results that show queries related to your initial search. With this panel at the bottom of SERPs, you can conduct further searches and learn more about your original intent.

Your website should not only focus on SERP competition on organic and paid searches but include related searches. The reason is that users also find out information about those searches.

It also offers you a unique opportunity to know your target audience and what they’re looking for. Thus, you can prepare better SERP management by publishing high-quality content.

What is a SERP Feature?

A SERP feature is a unique search feature unrelated to organic search results. Some of the most common SERP analytics features include:

● Knowledge panel. This panel shows concise information about celebrities, weather, or other details. It is meant to feed the user with answers to their search query.

● Paid results. These results are typically displayed at the top of SERP competition pages and sponsored by brands looking to rank for specific searches.

● Universal results. These are additional results that are displayed alongside organic results. These include videos, news, and featured snippets.

● Rich snippets. This result shows a visual representation of a search query. Review stars and customer reviews are SERP examples of rich snippets.

● People Also Ask. This section of SERP pages reveals the questions people ask about your search.

How to Enable SERP Features for Your Website

While most people think it’s a complicated process, you can optimize your website to reveal SERP features. Follow these simple steps:

● Conduct SERP keyword research.

● Use schema.org to structure your website data. You can also follow the General Structured Data Guidelines to apply structured data on your website.

● Optimize your website for sitelinks.

● Submit your sitemap to Google.

● Use Google Analytics to track your website performance.

● Write high-quality content.  

How to Check SERP Ranking

Having your website appear on SERP is essential for generating leads, improving traffic, and boosting sales for your brand. There are several tools you can use for your SERP position analysis.

They include:

● AhrefsWhat’s My Serp

● Accuranker

● Serpwatch

● Serprobot

You need to include your URL and the keywords you’re looking to rank for, and you’ll see the results.

Rank in SERP With Abstrax Web

Ranking higher in SERPs require you to implement on-page and off-page optimization. Some of these strategies are quite technical. That’s why hiring an SEO agency is recommended to handle these strategies seamlessly.

Abstrax Web is a leading consultancy that helps small and big brands rank competitively on organic and paid search. Our services include keyword research, website optimization, web design and development, content marketing, and many more.

Reach out to us to see how we can help promote your business.

Beyond creating your website, getting it to rank for a targeted keyword is particularly essential. It’s one of the crucial aspects of digital marketing. People typically use search engines to look up information. And would visit the pages displayed on SERPs for the information.

For Google to display and rank your website above others, your web pages must be properly optimized for visibility and traffic. So, how will you be able to tell if your web pages are strategically optimized? That’s where an SEO audit comes in.

This article explores advanced SEO audit and its importance for your website. Let’s dive in!

What Is an SEO Audit?

An SEO Audit analyzes your website to spot the factors and metrics that might impact its SEO performance in SERPs. You can say it involves how your website works with SEO best practices, and you’d be absolutely correct.

An SEO audit aims to discover all the nominal and technical issues affecting your website’s visibility during organic searches. Some of the elements of an advanced SEO audit include:

● Onpage SEO audit issues.

● Website structure issues.

● User experience issues.

● Content gaps and opportunities.

● Competitive marketplace insights.

● Potential off-page issues.

● Technical SEO issues, and many others.  

As search engines are constantly changing the way web pages are ranked in SERPs, your website needs to be audited regularly for the best performance. Think of it like a regular checkup where illnesses can be quickly spotted and rectified before it causes serious damage to your system.

What are the Benefits of an SEO Audit?

Implementing an SEO audit of your website comes with several benefits. They include:

● Improved website performance. One of the benefits of an advanced SEO audit is improved website performance. The audit reveals if your web server is overloaded with too many requests. It will discover if your web content is loaded as quickly as possible to your target audience. You can rectify and improve your website performance with such information at your fingertips.

● Optimized content. An audit will reveal if your website content is optimized for SERPs. While each website is built for a different audience, it is essential to know the keywords to focus on. An SEO audit will reveal that to your digital marketing team.

● Improved user experience. An SEO audit will also lower your website’s bounce rates. If people are spending more time on your website, it’s a great sign. It means your user interface and experience are excellent.

● Better SEO performance. An SEO Audit exposes technical issues affecting your website’s inability to reach SEO success. With better SEO performance comes better traffic for your website.  

Types of SEO Audits

There are different types of SEO audit to implement for your website. They include:

On-Page SEO Audit

As the name suggests, on page SEO audit focuses on analyzing and optimizing elements and structures within your website that are affecting your SEO. These elements are under your control, and you can tweak them to your benefit.

It involves the following:

● Keyword research. One of the key elements of an on-page SEO audit is keyword research. This is an essential aspect of your SEO performance long term. Before creating and publishing content on your website, you need to research the keywords that will lead people to your website. You can check out your competitor’s websites to see what their content is focused on. You can use keyword research tools like SEMRush, KeywordTool, Ahrefs, and Keyword Kegs.

● Keyword Usage. Beyond keyword research, an on-page SEO audit also involves spreading those keywords across your meta tags, headers, and content. You should deploy this properly and avoid keyword stuffing. Google frowns at keyword stuffing and might penalize your website.

● Internal linking. An audit also checks if your web pages are interlinked. If you’re creating new content on your website, it should link to previous pages of your website. This will make people and search engines locate other pages faster.

● Sitemap. This is a file that contains all the important pages of your website. HTML and XML sitemaps help search crawlers and people to locate different sections of your page easily.

Off-Page SEO Audit

Off-page SEO deals with elements that are beyond your control but can’t still affect your SEO performance. This includes the following:

Backlinks.

These are links that direct people to your site from other websites. When a reputable website links to your website, some of its readers might land on your page for more information. Backlinks can also help you rank better for specific keywords. The reason is that search engines rate your website as valuable if other websites are linking to it.

You can use backlink checker tools like Ahrefs and Moz to see the website referencing your web pages.

Technical SEO Audit

Professional SEO audit also involves the technical aspect of your SEO performance. It deals with the inner workings of your website. It includes the following:

● Website security. Site security is also an essential aspect of your SEO performance. In fact, Google has confirmed that site security is a ranking factor. If your website isn’t secure, you risk having your content stolen. More so, users can interact freely with your content when they know that your website is secure.

● Mobile-friendliness. A record 63% of all organic searches come from mobile devices. Thus, your website should be optimized for smartphones. If your website isn’t, your website is going to experience higher bounce rates. Google focuses on mobile-friendliness when crawling and indexing web pages and considers it a ranking factor.

● Page speed. A web page that takes too long to load is bad for SEO. People want to click and access relevant content within the first 10 seconds. They will leave and seek the content elsewhere if your website’s slow loading speed. A Google Search Console SEO audit will ascertain if your page loading speed is satisfactory or not.

How to Do an SEO Audit

When it comes to SEO audits, there are several tips to deploy. They include:

● Conduct on-page technical SEO checks

● Manage your internal and external links

● Check your page speed with Ubersuggest.

● Perform a backlink audit.

● Manage your internal and external links.

A professional SEO agency can conduct all of these actions if you cannot handle these tasks efficiently.

How Long Does an SEO Audit Take?

An SEO audit is a comprehensive process that might take time to accomplish. If there are more on-page, off-page, and technical SEO errors, it will take longer to rectify and fix everything.

An SEO audit can take up to 6 weeks, depending on the changes and implementations.

What Are SEO Audit Tools?

SEO audit is a digital process, so there’d be tools to make the job easier. These tools include:

● Google Search Console

● GTmetrix

● Google Analytics

● Screaming FrogSEOmator

● SEMrush Site Audit

● Google PageSpeed Insights

Conduct an SEO Audit With Abstrax Web

If your website isn’t generating traffic and leads, then it’s due for an SEO audit. Some of the processes explored in the article may be too sophisticated if you don’t know how to perform an audit. Hiring an SEO expert to handle and fix these issues seamlessly is essential.

Abstrax Web is a leading SEO agency that helps businesses improve their visibility and performance from organic searches. Our services include web design and development, website architecture, content creation, digital marketing, website wireframing, and many more.

Reach out to us to learn how we can help your brand.