Why Cannibalization Is Bad for SEO

[jakariabd@]

It seems that there is nothing wrong with optimizing two or more pages for one key phrase and thus occupying more places in the search results. But search engines usually select only one page of the site for a user's request. Therefore, such a strategy will not work and will even harm. Let's list what cannibalization leads to:

The landing page will not receive traffic. Search engines may show a less important page in the search results, so the landing page will not be able to receive maximum traffic and conversions. This reduces the netherlands phone number material overall effectiveness of the SEO strategy.
The relevance of pages will decrease . If several pages of the site are optimized for the same queries, the algorithms have to choose which of them is the most relevant. This leads to the dispersion of the "weight" of the key query between several pages, which reduces their positions.
Loss of organic traffic: Instead of one page consistently ranking high and attracting a significant number of users, several pages may rank lower, receiving less traffic overall.
Link profile dilution. Pages that compete for the same query may receive fewer external and internal links than a single target page. This reduces their potential link juice.
Deterioration of behavioral factors . Search engines may show a less relevant page to a user's request, which poorly meets the intent. This will reduce CTR and increase bounce rates. In addition, several similar pages on a site may confuse users.