How to Avoid Cannibal Content and Improve SEO

Cannibal Content
#CannibalContent #BrightonSEO
Chris Green SEO & Content Manager

@chrisgreen87 www.strategiqmarketing.co.uk
I want you to take away
three things

1) To be aware of the
cannibals

2) The tools to fight
cannibalisation with

3) To spur you on to do
something about it

What is cannibal
content?

Content that eats itself

Like this...?

No

It is web pages that
compete with each
other in search

Or...

Sites (web properties)
that you own that
overlap

This can be very bad
news...

Most often it is pages
which are similar/ same
as other pages

Isn't this duplicate
content?

Yes and No

Cannibalisation can be
caused by duplication...

… but you can have
cannibalisation without
duplicate content

The key to
understanding it,
is to identify it

Which means tools

Rank Tracking

Track the URLs ranking
for specific key terms
over time

Google Analytics

Check ranking shifts
against organic landing
page traffic

Search Console
(Google Webmaster Tools)

Use search analytics
reports for ranked
pages insights

So you think you have a
cannibal content
problem?

Time to identify the
cause
(more tools!)

Screaming Frog*
*other site auditing tools are available

Full site audit -
introduce Google
Analytics data too

Majestic*
*you get the idea...

Backlink audit - which
are your most linked to
pages?

Social Crawlytics

Do the same as
backlinks,
but with social signals

All these will help you
understand your website,
what ranks & why

Or find a tool that does
all this for you
(Ask Jon)

Once you're armed and
ready, time to fight back

Canonical tags

Internal linking

Content

Off-page Signals

Lets put it all
together!

Step 1 : Rank tracking

Imagine this...

I have two pages ranking
for the same term over
the last week...

… but overall we're losing
ground!

Step 2: Site Audit

What are your pages
targeting?

Think Urls, Titles, <H1>s
etc

Then look at external
signals

Reflection - what are
you dealing with?

Do either of these sound
familiar?

My less important page
has more internal links

My less important page
has more inbound links &
social shares

Step 3: Fixing it

Change keyword
targeting

Change site structure

Add canonical tags
(or other duplication
control)

Change (or even add)
internal links

Give your preferred page
more marketinglove

Step 4: Track & Refine

Do more of what works,
less of what doesn't

But!

Prevention is MUCH better than a
cure!

Linking signals are hard
to change

Sister sites/brands
don't just go away over
night!

Re-structuring sites can
be a nightmare!

Do it right first time!

Thorough keyword research

Classify terms
(primary, secondary &
long-tail)

Assign them to your site
map

(Build it in Excel or
Google Docs)

But remember:
Logical keyword mapping!

Now take a step back

Look for potential
overlaps

For Example:
Sub-categories with
little difference

This page?
Workwear
Online
Shop by
Product
Shop by Sector
Construction Vests
Hi-Vis Hi-Vis

Or maybe this page?
Workwear
Online
Shop by
Product
Shop by Sector
Construction Vests
Hi-Vis Hi-Vis

For Example:
B2B & B2C pages
targeting same terms

This page?
Animal Control
Commercial
Animal Control
Domestic
Animal Control
Animal Removal Animal Removal

Or this page?
Animal Control
Commercial
Animal Control
Domestic
Animal Control
Animal Control
Commercial
Animal Control
Domestic
Animal Control

How do you avoid
these?

Restructure
(Maybe there's a better
way of doing it)

Content
(Because content
differentiates!)

Internal linking
(Make it clear what your
important pages are)

Canonical tags
(Where the pages are
needed for the user)

And Finally

Put your effort behind
those pages you want to
rank!

To wrap up

Cannibal content can
ruin your day

Be watchful of it, and
take a step back

There is a lot you can do
to fix it

But doing so is often
easier said than done!

Prevention is always
better than a cure!

What are you waiting
for?

Any Questions?

References:
AWR Cloud - www.awrcloud.com
Google Analytics - ww.google.com/analytics/
Google Search Console - www.google.com/webmasters/
Screaming Frog - www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/
Majestic - majestic.com
Social Crawlytyics - socialcrawlytics.com
Pi Datametrics - www.pi-datametrics.com
Get In touch:
chris@strategiqmarketing.co.uk
www.twitter.com/chrisgreen87

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