Keyword cannibalism means that you have multiple articles on your website that can be ranked for the same search query on Google. If you optimize publications or articles for similar search queries, they will erode each other's chances of ranking.
In this tutorial, I will explain to you why keyword cannibalism is bad for your SEO , how you can recognize keyword cannibalization and how to fix it.
But before, if you have never installed WordPress discover How to install a WordPress blog in 7 steps et How to search, install and activate a WordPress theme on your blog
Then back to why we are here.
What is keyword cannibalism?
If you optimize your articles with similar terms, you risk suffering from the cannibalization of keywords: you will devour your own chances of ranking in Google. Google will only display 1 or 2 results from the same domain in the search results for a specific query. If you have a domain of high authority, you could get away with up to 3.
Why is keyword cannibalism bad for SEO?
If you cannibalize your own keywords, you are competing with yourself for ranking on Google. Let's say you have two articles on the same topic. In this case, Google is unable to distinguish which article should be ranked first. Therefore, they will probably both be inferior. Thereby, SEO analysis (Yoast SEO) will display an alert each time you optimize an article with a main keyword that you have used before.
But, keyword cannibalism can also occur if you optimize articles for focus keywords that are not exactly, but almost the same thing.
See our article on How to optimize your publications before publishing them
For example, I wrote two articles on whether readability is a ranking factor. The first article is optimized for "readability ranking", while the second article is optimized for "readability factor" as the focus keyword.
The keywords have a slightly different angle but are still very similar. It is difficult for Google to determine which of the two articles is more important. Unfortunately, you could end up at the bottom of the ranking with both articles.
How to recognize the cannibalism of keywords?
Checking that your website is suffering from keyword cannibalism is pretty easy. You should search your website for any specific keyword that you think will have multiple results. In my case, I go to the google website: how to install a WordPress plugin on BlogPasCher. The first two results are the articles I suspected of suffering from cannibalization.
Solve cannibalization of keywords with internal links
You can help Google determine which item is most important, by setting up a decent internal liaison structure. You should link from the less important posts to the posts that interest you the most. In this way, Google can understand (by following the links) the ones you want to appear the highest in the search engines.
Your internal linking structure might solve part of your keyword cannibalism problems. You should think about which post is most important to you, and link the less important long-tailed posts to your most important post.
Solve the cannibalism of keywords by combining articles
In many cases, the best way to solve the problem of cannibalization is to combine items. Find articles that focus on similar search queries. If two articles attract the same audience and tell the same story, you should combine them.
Rewrite the two articles into a more detailed article. This will really help your rankings (Google loves long, well-written content) and solve your keyword cannibalism problem.
In the end, you will delete one of the two articles and adapt the other. And remember: don't just hit the delete button; always make sure to redirect the post you delete.
Cannibalism of Keywords Will Affect Growing Websites
If your website gets bigger, the chances increase to deal with keyword cannibalism on your own website. You are going to write about your favorite subjects and without even knowing it, you are going to write articles that talk about the same thing. From time to time, you should check the keywords that you want to rank the most. Make sure to check if you are suffering from keyword cannibalism. You will probably need to make some changes to the structure of your website or rewrite certain articles from time to time.
See also: How to make your WordPress blog faster by compressing its files
We hope this article will help you avoid keyword cannibalism. You can also see our list of essential WordPress plugins that you should install on your website.
Discover also some premium WordPress plugins
You can use other WordPress plugins to give a modern appearance and to optimize the handling of your blog or website.
We offer you here some premium WordPress plugins that will help you do that.
1. Google Analytics
Google Analytics is the most comprehensive website analysis tool on the market. It is free of whatever. To put it simply, it allows you to see where your visitors are coming from and what they are doing on your website.
You can then optimize your website accordingly to improve your income.
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2. MailChimp
MailChimp is the leading provider of email marketing services. It allows you to create mailing lists, and send emails to your subscribers.
The installation of this plugin is both quick and easy.
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Recommended Resources
Find out about other recommended resources to help you build and manage your website.
- How to search for and replace text on WordPress
- 5 WordPress plugins to add geolocation to a Blog
- 6 WordPress plugins to present your cooking recipes
- Some WordPress plugins to redirect
Conclusion
Here ! That's it for this tutorial, hope it helps you avoid keyword cannibalism. Feel free to share this article with your friends on your favorite social networks.
However, you will also be able to consult our resources, if you need more elements to carry out your projects of creation of Internet sites, by consulting our guide on the WordPress blog creation.
If you have suggestions or remarks, leave them in our section Comments.
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