One of the most consistent problems I see when conducting site reviews for clients is keyword self-cannibalization - the practice of heavily targeting the same keyword phrase on multiple pages of a site. In my opinion, sites are shooting themselves in the foot when they do this. Let's look at a few quick examples:
It's pretty clear that they want to rank well for terms like "Seattle Real Estate" and "Seattle Real Estate Agent." In fact, they're trying so hard, they've got those exact phrases in the title tags of dozens of pages.
It's not just smaller sites with this problem. I note that a search for Ferris Bueller DVD brings up BarnesandNoble.com in the 28th and 29th position, and I'm guessing one of the reasons why is that they've split up their link pop, anchor text, and targeting between multiple pages targeting the same traffic (and one of those says the product is out of stock, when they've actually got plenty of copies with different cover art).
Why is this such a problem? Because multiple pages targeting the same phrases:
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Force the search engines to choose which page is the most "authoritative" or relevant to that subject on your site. In the case of Barnes and Noble, if the "out of stock" version shows up first, potential buyers will be very unhappy.
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Create additional competition for rankings - you're vying against yourself for position in the SERPs.
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Dilute the potential ranking ability of a single phrase by spreading link power, keyword targeting, and anchor text on your site across multiple pages.
There isn't a hard and fast rule that I apply to keyword self-cannibalization - sometimes it's important to have multiple pages with the same phrase in the title tag. I would, however, recommend that you take a careful look at your keyword targeting and determine if there's areas where a 301, a title tag change, or a better information architecture could create a more search-friendly and user-friendly site.
Repeating the same keywords throughout your website content can have an extremely negative effect. Randfish's advice - My strategy would be to remove the exact phrase from the title tag of all but one (maybe two) pages, so that every page on the site isn't trying to rank for the same query is extremely helpful. I too would recommend the same and would advise you to do your research on other competitor's sites.
Helpful, getting my head around this form the flag ups on the term target tool.
I'm a little confused. On a website with lots of content (say 2000+ posts), wouldn't you want many articles targeting the same keyphrase to gain critical mass in Google? A golf blog, for instance, could have dozens if not hundreds of articles all using "improve your golf swing" in the title. Wouldn't that help the site rank well overal for that phrase?
Would the same thing apply to the keyword being used in H1 tags across multiple pages? For example if you're using a CMS such as wordpress your going to have the same header on multiple pages. If you have a H1 tag such as "We sell Blue Widgets" across multiple pages does it self calibalize the targeted keyword and page?
When I select keyword phrases for my sites I look for terms that are searched for without alot of competition. Is this still good practice? Or should I not worry so much about competition? With this method sometimes there are only a few phrases for me to choose from and I can be guilty of keyword cannabalism. I foound a descent SEO newsletter. https://newsletter.blizzardinternet.com
I agree with EGOL. A pair of listings can really stand out on a SERP, and as long as you're not making the mistake of sharing all of a given page's target phrases with another page, you shouldn't run into any problems.
However, if your plan is to get page 1 and page 2 to show up in order, and only page 2 comes up, it would probably be smart to tweak that page down a bit.
Wow that is uncanny - just came to the same conclusion as to why some of my pages are floundering around the 3/4th page in GG - thanks to SEW forums - didn't actually get any help to my query - but the qwery itself got ranked immediately for the very keywords and url above my 'floundering' pages - one of those light bulb moments.
Just in the process of tweaking and already seeing an upturn.
I'm not sure there's a tremendous problem with self-cannibalization of keywords when done properly. If my site is #1 and #2 on a long-tail keyword, where is the problem?
Additionally, for more competitive keywords, do we need to consider relevance for the site overall? For example, for your Seattle Realtor site, wouldn't the content and site structure for "Seattle Real Estate" and "Seattle Real Estate Agent" be site wide?
My strategy would be to remove the exact phrase from the title tag of all but one (maybe two) pages, so that every page on the site isn't trying to rank for the same query.
As for the long-tail application, I don't think this problem usually applies, as most folks aren't targeting long-tail terms on multiple pages.
hmmm... I have lots of "Pairs" of pages with overlapping optimization - done intentionally to get the double listing. Works great and is good use of resources IMO - makes you The Man in that SERP - especially if you have what it takes to land #1 and #2.
These pages also rank separately for numerous terms. One page has strong optimization for the term to claim #1 - the other page has that term as secondary optimization so that the page does double duty.
The place where you get yourself in trouble here is if you have one page on main site and second page in the subdomain. Then these pages knock each other out of the SERPs unless your subdomain is extremely powerful.
EGOL - The double-listing is very powerful, and "pairs" is certainly a great advanced tactic... You should write a post on it!
Very interesting concept, I think many of us would be interested in a "Pairs" post. Seems like something you would not want to do on every keyword you are working with, but a select few.
Rand, I'm sure there is a simple and obvious answer but Amazon has 40 URLs pages (vs. B&N's 4) for the Bueller DVD query...yet they have results 1&2 in natural?
Is it just that the best SEO comes from Seattle?
I thought it was Canada... Amazon's clearly ranking well in spite of (and not because of) their mistake - causation is a funny thing like that.
BTW - Love your last two posts on landing page optimization
Hmmm...that may be the answer to why my home biz site never took off. In fact, I think it is. And when I couldn't get it to take off I went to black hat...wow. Thanks Rand!
Self-Cannibalization, huh? I've been explaining this situation to clients for years and have yet to come up with a phrase for it. I always just describe it as website infighting. Page vs. page...
Such a basic concept, but it flies right over the heads of most people regardless...
I think "self-cannibalization" is a good way to describe it. Spread the word!
"Keyword self-cannibalization" is a tad wordy, though. Would "keyword autophagy" be too obscure?
That's quite a $10 word.