What is Cannibalization?

In digital marketing, cannibalization refers to a situation where multiple pages on a website compete against each other for the same keywords, resulting in a decrease in the overall search engine rankings of the website.

This can occur when multiple pages on a website target the same or similar keywords, making it difficult for search engines to determine which page is most relevant to a particular search query. When this happens, search engines may not rank any of the pages as highly, which can result in a decrease in organic traffic and overall visibility for the website.

Cannibalization can also occur when a website has multiple product pages that are very similar in terms of content and keywords, making it difficult for search engines to distinguish between them. In this case, search engines may consider the pages to be duplicate content, which can result in a penalty or decrease in search engine rankings.

To avoid cannibalization, it is important to ensure that each page on a website targets unique keywords and provides valuable and relevant content to visitors. It is also important to use internal linking strategically, so that search engines can understand the hierarchy of the website and which pages are most important. Regularly auditing and optimizing the content on a website can also help to avoid cannibalization and improve search engine rankings.