Find keyword cannibalization in your Search Console data
When two of your pages compete for one query, Google splits the impressions between them and neither ranks as well as one would. Serplyze checks every tracked keyword for that and shows both pages side by side with the clicks a month at stake.
Sample data for example.com, an illustrative site.
01What it answers
The questions this is built for.
A blog post that outranks the category page
The query should land on the page that sells. You see which URL takes which share of the impressions and can decide what to merge, redirect or re-link.
After a migration or a redesign
Old and new URLs often rank for the same queries for weeks. The list shows where that is still happening.
Prioritising the fixes
Findings are sorted by the clicks a month at stake, so you start with the queries where consolidating would matter most.
02How it works
How cannibalized keywords are found
- 01
Ranking pages per keyword
For each tracked keyword we read which of your URLs Search Console reports, with each one’s impressions, clicks and position.
- 02
Split impressions
A keyword is flagged when several URLs share its impressions, for example 58% and 42%, instead of one page holding nearly all of them.
- 03
Clicks at stake
Each finding carries an estimate of the clicks a month involved and a recommendation.
- 04
The other three findings
Declining keywords, page-two keywords and CTR gaps sit in the same work list.
03In the product today
What you get.
- Cannibalized keywords with every competing URL and its share of impressions
- Query × page in Traffic: which URL earns each query, for the whole site
- Declining keywords, page-two keywords and CTR gaps in the same list
- A cannibalization section you can add to scheduled reports
Content findings are on every plan; cannibalization needs the ranking pages of each keyword, which come with paid plans. Pricing
Limits
What it doesn’t do.
- It checks the keywords you track, not every query the site has. Use Traffic → Query × page for the rest.
- Two URLs ranking for one query is not always a problem: a brand query with sitelinks is normal. The list is for review, not automatic action.
- Search Console hides very rare queries, so they can’t be checked.
04Questions
Keyword cannibalization: common questions.
Keyword cannibalization is when two or more pages of the same site rank for the same query and compete with each other. Google alternates between them or splits impressions, and each page usually ranks lower than a single consolidated page would.
Search Console reports which of your URLs Google actually showed for a query and how many impressions each one got. That is direct evidence of the split, rather than a guess from two pages having similar titles.
Usually one of three things: merge the two pages and redirect the weaker one, change the weaker page so it targets a different query, or point internal links at the page you want to rank. Log the change as an action in Serplyze and its before/after impact is measured for you.
The other content findings are. Cannibalization needs the ranking pages of each keyword, which are part of paid plans.
05Related
Works with the rest of Serplyze.
Connect Search Console and see your own data in about five minutes.
100 keywords free, no card needed.