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How do you manage and correct cannibalisation in SEO?
Cannibalisation in SEO is a phenomenon that can harm your site's ranking and visibility on search engines, such as Google.
It is therefore essential to understand what cannibalisation is, to identify its causes and to find solutions to avoid this problem.
In this article, we'll look at 10 ways of managing and correcting cannibalisation in SEO.
1. Understanding the concept of cannibalisation in SEO
Cannibalisation occurs when a website has several pages dealing with the same subject or targeting the same people key wordsThis creates confusion for search engines and users alike.
Instead of having a top-ranked page for a keyword In this specific case, several pages are in competition with each other, which reduces the authority and SEO performance of the site as a whole.
2. Identifying the causes of cannibalisation in SEO
a. Content duplication
One of the main causes of cannibalisation is duplicate content, where several pages present the same information or deal with the same subject. This can be due to poor administration or management of URLThis may be due to frequent changes to products or services, or to errors in the creation of new pages.
b. Cannibalised keywords
Another cause of cannibalisation is the fact that several pages target the same keywords. This leads to a dilution of results, because the search engines are not sure which page to choose to respond to a user's query.
3. Analyse the content and architecture of the site
To detect cannibalisation, you need to analyse the content and architecture of your website. You can use SEO tools such as Google Analytics to identify pages targeting the same keywords and compare their performance. Next, examine the tree structure of your site and see if there is a way of restructuring or reorganising your pages to avoid cannibalisation..
4. Choose the most relevant page for each keyword
Decide which page should rank for each keyword based on its content and performance. It can be useful to use a hierarchical ranking to determine which pages have the content and authority to rank well. Your other articles should then link to this main page and not compete directly for the same keywords..
5. Optimising title and meta description tags
Optimising title and meta description can help solve cannibalisation problems by differentiating between pages and clearly indicating to search engines the purpose of each page. Make sure that each page has a unique title and a description tailored to its content, with relevant keywords to help target them better.
6. Create consistent internal links
Le internal networking plays an essential role in the navigation and referencing of your website. To avoid cannibalisation, it is important to create internal links between your pages, referring to complementary rather than competing subjects. This will not only improve theuser experiencebut also to help search engines understand the organisation and hierarchy of your site.
7. Merge or delete redundant pages
If you have several pages dealing with the same subject or with similar content, consider merging or deleting them. By combining relevant information on a single page, you can improve the authority and quality of that page to increase its chances of ranking well in search results.
8. Use canonical and noindex tags
The " canonical "and "noindex" are used to indicate to search engines which version of a page should be indexed and considered as the main one. The addition of the canonical tag to the preferred page avoids confusion and competition between similar pages.
9. Avoid over-optimising keywords
Don't forget that content "boosted" with too many keywords can have a negative impact on your SEO. Make sure that your pages target different and complementary key phrases, rather than simply repeating the same terms over and over again.
10. Regularly monitor performance and problems
Finally, it is essential to regularly monitor your website's performance and look for any cannibalisation problems using SEO tools. Correcting cannibalisation can take time, but with constant monitoring and strategic adjustments, your site will gain in authority, visibility and traffic.
With these 10 points, you now have the knowledge to identify, correct and avoid cannibalisation in SEO. Remember to always focus on the quality and added value of your content, in order to improve your ranking in the search engines and provide an optimal experience for visitors to your site.
