Repeatedly target a rolling list of kws..or is that cannibalization? Biggest Confusion in SEO Ive found

[RickyShockley]

Also suggesting a WBF topic. Ive read and researched with no luck here... would love a Moz staff reply too!

Is it better to blog repeatedly on the same topic (writing multiple blogs around the topic of "content marketing" for example in hopes Google sees you as an authority on the topic over time) OR is this keyword cannibalization? Is it better to have one powerful and comprehensive page on a topic if it makes sense.

Thanks!

[ronell-smith]

Ricky,

It's impossible to get around using the same and/or similar phrases in multiple pieces of content on a website. As long as your writing the content your audience craves, this should be of little concern.

To become an authority on/in a given topic or area, you will need to create a deep collection of similar but varied content.

In a nutshell, your worries about cannibalization in this sense, are unfounded.

RS

[RickyShockley]

Hi Ronell, definitely appreciate the insights but still not sure I have an answer!

My question is really on the most technical side of this issue as I mentioned above targeting the SAME keyword and not different variations of a keyword. I've heard two completely opposite schools of thought with one side insisting that creating blog posts (for example) regularly on a specific topic geared toward the same exact keyword phrase target can actually help SEO efforts. I assume that theory goes something like this: Google wants to see that you're an expert on the specific topic you're hoping to rank for, so writing about the exact topic (with essentially the same keyword target) several times can actually help establish the correlation that you may be an expert on the given topic/keyword phrase. On the other hand, I've always viewed this as cannibalization. If you have something to write about "link building" for example, it's better to have all of that content in one powerful, comprehensive page vs creating 3-4 posts per year about "link building" in general. Now, I understand that if you want to write about a specific aspect of link building, like "link building for local businesses" you may want a different page, but I'm referring to having several blogs targeting the exact same keyword phrase for SEO.

Thanks all! I actually heard back from Rand and he mentioned they may be adding this as a WBF topic so hoping we get some clarity soon.

Ricky

[ronell-smith]

Hi Ricky,

I'm going to break your question up:

1 - First, I'd like to see a brand creating and sharing content about/around and area they can own in the mind of prospects and customers. This means the brand has a staff that contains experts on the topic, and who can write with passion, depth and empathy for the audience. If you have this mindset and these people in place, you need not worry about writing too much about a given topic. For example, a plumbing site might want to rank for "Tulsa plumbers," "water leaks Tulsa" "emergency plumbers Tulsa" and "24 hour plumbers Tulsa." The competition will likely be fierce. But that same brand could focus on building the brand through creating recognizable personalities and creating educational content, such as videos. This way the content being shared gains the attention from a wide swath of prospects, and the brand personality - now associated with that shared information - is top of mind when an emergency repair occurs. Try this: (a) Pull your team together and brainstorm educational content ideas, with the idea of helping one person: Who is she? What does she desire in the way of worthwhile information? What information is you brand uniquely qualified to provide? Where should it be shared? Who can help you amplify it? After you build out four or five of these personas, you should have a long list of content ideas.

2 - At the page-level on your website, you don't want multiple pages competing for the same keywords. For example, that same plumber wouldn't want two main pages competing for "Tulsa Plumbers." However, it's unlikely you'll be able to avoid including some of the same keywords on other pages. An approach that I follow, and that is summed up here, is to have main pages be more generic - Tulsa Plumbers - and use subcategory pages be more specific, Tulsa Plumbers Emergency Repair.

Thanks for the question, Ricky. Please let me know if this helps.

[EGOL]

Yes, both of those pages earned a position on page one.  If you launch another version of the free CAD software or free CAD templates, vector files, etc. then you might earn three positions on the first page.   I have two, three and four positions on the first page for lots of small money terms.

[RickyShockley]

Hey Guys,

I understand where you're coming from in terms of competitive analysis and figuring out whether you'd be hard-pressed to have multiple pages ranking for more competitive terms. I also understand that there are certain aspects of a topic that may justify different pages (for example, water filters, home water filters and under sink filters may require different page urls while water filters vs. water filtration may not) but I'm more referring to the algorithmic aspect of this.

In general, does Google LIKE to see that you're creating multiple pieces of content on a topic to deem you an "expert", or is there no benefit to doing so from that standpoint? I've seen similar terms that I believe require different pages/urls competing against each other and hurting the top ranking page in the SERPS.

For example, I had a client who had sold CAD software. Their home page was optimized around that term and ranking middle of page one. They had ANOTHER page that was for a free CAD software (stripped down version) that initially didn't rank for the "CAD software" term. At some point, this free CAD page starting creeping up into the top 25 on Google, and as it did we saw a direct correlation with a drop off for our home page. Instead of having one page ranking at #4, we now had TWO pages ranking #10 and #11.

Make sense?

[Andy.Drinkwater]

Spot on as always Egol - and the biggest takeaway here...

Don't waste your time with the big comprehensive page if you can't beat the quality of the content that already exists.

Everyone could learn a lot just from remembering this.

-Andy

[EGOL]

I would not attack "content marketing" with repeated posts.  It is a difficult topic to rank for and the sites that you will be competing against are very strong.   There are tons of sites competing.

I would not attack "content marketing" with a big comprehensive page but for other less competitive subjects I would attack with a big comprehensive page if I can beat the other content that is already out there.  Don't waste your time with the big comprehensive page if you can't beat the quality of the content that already exists.

....  Now... about KW cannibalization....

Saturating a market niche with content works well in tiny niches with naive competitors.  You can have three pages from one domain on the first page of the SERPs - each presenting different content to read or different products for sale.  Saturating a market niche doesn't work well if multiple big brands are your competitors.  It's too hard to produce two or three pages on the same topic that are good enough to earn the first page of the SERPs.  (Lots of people think that KW cannibalization is bad because you are "eating your own"... but in my view you are "eating your competitors" with same-keyword content.  :|)  <-- that pipe is a bone in the nose.   Kick them out of profitable SERPs by loading the top three positions with your own pages.

So, making the decision to produce multiple pages of content for the same keyword or keyword niche should not be guided by generic advice.  You must consider the niche, the strength of sites in the niche, the amount of content already out there in that niche, your ability to compete with the quality of the content already in the niche.  Being able to make money from the traffic that you do get is the crux move that determines profitability and the only reason to do this other than vanity or proselytization.  The people giving generic advice about this topic (or just about any topic) are blathering.

(My post above discusses keyword cannibalization on a single domain that you control.  See Rand's Whiteboard Friday from last week and on August 28. He does not mention "keyword cannibalization" in those videos (putting up multiple pages about the same topic), but, in my view, it  is doing it through the use of multiple domains that other people control.  Often they are very strong or very popular domains that earn your content visibility or authority.)

Other recommended activities for cannibals between early May and late October.