Reasons for query cannibalization
Posted: Sun Jan 19, 2025 6:26 am
The reasons for cannibalization are often related to the semantic core - a list of key phrases by which the site is promoted. We described in detail how to collect it correctly in this article . Based on the collected semantics, the structure and content of the site are created. A competent strategy reduces the risk of competition between pages, but let's take a closer look at why it occurs.
Lack of semantic core
If semantics were not collected before the website development, the probability of similar pages appearing increases. Especially if pages are added without any strategy, there is no clear optimization for keywords, no analysis of queries and their intents was carried out.
The PromoPult blog has articles about types of search netherlands phone number material queries and how to distinguish an informational query from a commercial one .
Incorrect keyword clustering
It happens that the semantics are collected, but the clustering is done incorrectly. Similar queries that could be covered by one page are divided into two separate clusters. Because of this, two pages with similar content are created on the site, for example, “Pizza recipe” and “How to make pizza”. In the PromoPult SEO module, keywords are distributed into groups automatically and for free, but there is also a more advanced tool for professionals , instructions for working with it are here .
Incorrect structure
Incorrect structure can lead to duplicated sections and is often found in large online stores. For example, the site allocated two sections for choosing sneakers: by gender and purpose. As a result, two categories appeared: "Men's running shoes" and "Running shoes for men". The pages are aimed at one user request, so they can compete with each other, even if they have different meta tags and descriptions.
Lack of semantic core
If semantics were not collected before the website development, the probability of similar pages appearing increases. Especially if pages are added without any strategy, there is no clear optimization for keywords, no analysis of queries and their intents was carried out.
The PromoPult blog has articles about types of search netherlands phone number material queries and how to distinguish an informational query from a commercial one .
Incorrect keyword clustering
It happens that the semantics are collected, but the clustering is done incorrectly. Similar queries that could be covered by one page are divided into two separate clusters. Because of this, two pages with similar content are created on the site, for example, “Pizza recipe” and “How to make pizza”. In the PromoPult SEO module, keywords are distributed into groups automatically and for free, but there is also a more advanced tool for professionals , instructions for working with it are here .
Incorrect structure
Incorrect structure can lead to duplicated sections and is often found in large online stores. For example, the site allocated two sections for choosing sneakers: by gender and purpose. As a result, two categories appeared: "Men's running shoes" and "Running shoes for men". The pages are aimed at one user request, so they can compete with each other, even if they have different meta tags and descriptions.