How to Check Keyword Cannibalization with Ahrefs (And Fix It)

Keyword cannibalization is something that a lot of website owners have to deal with. It happens when you have a bunch of pages on your website that are all trying to rank for the keyword or something very similar.  

As a result, those pages are basically competing with each other to show up in search results.  

This means that by having one really strong page, you have a bunch of weaker pages that are splitting the ranking power between them. 

Your overall SEO performance is going to suffer because of this. The good thing is that you can fix this problem if you do it the right way. 

There are SEO tools like Ahrefs that can help you find out where the problem is. These tools can show you which keywords are overlapping across pages on your website.  

So you can use this information to fix the keyword cannibalization issue and make your rankings stronger, on purpose. 

Let’s learn about how to fix  

What Is Keyword Cannibalization Ahrefs? 

Multiple website pages targeting the same keyword result in Keyword Cannibalization.  

Hence, this occurs when many competing sites try to attract search engine attention for a keyword or phrase. 

The inability of search engine algorithms to identify which page should be listed in rank order results in decreased visibility (rankings) of the pages. 

Hence, this subsequently led to a decrease in traffic generated from organic searches. 

Additionally, people often get two or more hits on the same subject matter while doing a search query. 

Hence, the audience may become frustrated and confused because there is potential for overlap of information.  

Keyword Cannibalization can occur due to the following reasons: 

• Blog posts published multiple times on the same subjects or topics will likely cause cannibalism related to each other. 

• Product page SEO optimization is for almost identical keywords. 

• Multiple pages contain duplicated content.  

• Lack of internal links directing the search engines to the correct page. 

Why Does Keyword Cannibalization Ahrefs Matters?  

When you ignore keyword cannibalization, you will probably miss out on some chances, and your website will not do as well in search results. 

You are not fighting against websites. You are actually competing with your own website pages. This means that your website pages are fighting against each other. 

As time goes on, this fighting makes your website pages weaker. Your chances of making a sale go down, and people who visit your website get confused. 

Search engines and the people who visit your website have time figuring out which keyword cannibalization page is the right one to look at. 

Keyword cannibalization is a problem that makes things hard for search engines and visitors to choose the page on your website. 

How To Identify Keyword Cannibalization Ahrefs? 

Ahrefs stands out as a powerful SEO platform and simplifies detecting keyword cannibalization quickly. 

First, start with a site audit for a clear overview. Hence, log in and open the Site Explorer tool. Next, enter your website URL and click search to proceed. 

Then, move to the Organic Keywords report inside the Organic Search section. After that, begin filtering keywords carefully. You will now see every keyword your website currently ranks for. 

Use filters to reveal keywords triggering rankings for multiple URLs. For clarity, limit positions to the top twenty results. 

Additionally, search for specific keywords you suspect cause overlap. Now, focus on spotting multiple rankings. 

Check where several pages rank for identical keywords. Here, Ahrefs clearly lists overlapping URLs for easy comparison. 

Finally, analyze each page thoughtfully. Compare content quality and remove unnecessary repetition. 

Also, review user intent to ensure clear differentiation. Then, assess traffic, backlinks, and conversions to choose the strongest page. 

How To Fix Keyword Cannibalization Ahrefs? 

When you notice that your website has cannibalization problems, you can fix them using these strategies that are good for search engine optimization. 

1. Combine Similar Content 

First, you should put together all the pages that talk about the thing into one long article that has a lot of details. 

Then you need to redirect the pages that’re not as good to the best page using a 301 redirect. 

2. Strengthen Internal Linking 

Next, you should use links within your website to show which page is the important one. 

You should also pick the text for these links in a way that they match the keywords of the cannibalization problems on purpose. 

3. Separate Keywords And Intent 

At the time, you should give each page its own keyword or a variation of it that is clear. 

Then you should map out these keywords carefully so that each page has its purpose that is different, from the others. 

4. Refresh Or Repurpose Pages 

If some of your pages are causing problems, you should update them with new ideas or keywords. 

This way, you can make your content new again. Still support what you want to achieve with search engine optimization. 

5. Apply Canonical Tags 

Finally, you should use tags when you need to keep pages that are similar. 

This tells the search engines which page should be ranked higher which helps with the cannibalization problems. 

Monitoring And Prevention Of Keyword Cannibalization Ahrefs 

Keyword cannibalization correction is not a one-time fix but an ongoing effort. So, keep a regular check on your website using Ahrefs for new conflicts. 

New pages on your site can unintentionally create overlap. Also, develop a robust content strategy prior to publishing and more. 

Thoughtfully strategize keyword targets, clearly defining user intent for every page. This setup averts unwanted rivalry on the same site. 

If left unchecked, keyword cannibalization can slowly erode your SEO efforts. Nevertheless, with the right tools, we can detect and fix all this much more easily. 

When you merge similar content and clean up your internal links, you boost the authority signals. Also, it helps you ensure every page has a different function. 

Always actively manage your keywords, and do not leave anything. When your pages support one another, the overall performance improves steadily.