Content
How to fix keyword cannibalisation
Find queries where the ranking URL changes over time in Search Console, decide which page should own each term, then consolidate, differentiate or canonicalise. The flapping URL is the symptom that identifies the problem precisely.
Before you start
- Search Console access
- A list of your pages and their target keywords
The steps
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Step 1: Open the Performance report
Filter by query, then compare two date ranges.
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Step 2: Look for flapping URLs
Queries where the ranking page changes between periods. That is the engine repeatedly reconsidering which of your pages is the answer.
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Step 3: Map query to intended page
For each affected term, decide which single URL should own it.
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Step 4: Choose a fix per case
Consolidate and 301 the weaker page, re-target one page at a genuinely different intent, or canonicalise near-duplicates.
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Step 5: Fix internal links
Point the anchor text for that term at the chosen page, and stop linking the other with it.
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Step 6: Record the allocation
Write down one primary keyword per URL so it cannot happen again by accident.
Why consolidation usually beats differentiation
Two mediocre pages competing for a term rarely become two good pages targeting different terms. More often one is genuinely better, and merging the other into it produces a single page stronger than either was.
Preventing it costs nothing
Allocate one primary keyword per URL before writing. This site enforces it in the build — two pages targeting the same term fails the build, which is far cheaper than diagnosing it in Search Console six months later.
Where it comes from most often
Blogging without a plan. Three posts written months apart about roughly the same subject, each targeting the same term because it was the obvious one. None is wrong individually and together they compete. The second source is a service page and a blog post covering identical ground, which is usually solved by making the post answer a narrower question and pointing it at the service page.
The background behind this
The 35 types of SEO, explained without the padding covers the reasoning in about 6 minutes — free, ungated, written from client work.
Who wrote this
Anas Bin Masud builds e-commerce sites and does technical SEO for businesses in the UK, Canada, Ireland and Pakistan. These procedures are the ones I run on client work, written down rather than invented — including the ones where the honest answer is that the fix is not available on your current hosting.