SERP cannibalization

[znotes]

Hi Moz Community,

Recently I've been seeing multiple pages from my eCommerce site pop up in the SERPS for a couple of queries. Usually I would count this as a good thing but since both pages that generally pop up are so similar I'm starting to wonder if we would rank better with just one page.

My example is the query "birthday gifts" Both of the URL's below show up in the search results one after the other on the first page. The URL on the top is our family page and the one below it is our subcat page, you can find both in the top nav. of our site.

www.uncommongoods.com/gifts/birthday-gifts/birthday-gifts (family)

www.uncommongoods.com/gifts/birthday-gifts (subcat)

Both of these pages have different PA's and the subcat page that currently lives in our site nav is actually: **www.uncommongoods.com/gifts/birthday-**gifts?view=all. ****This url doesn't show up in the serps and is rel=canonicaled to the subcat page without the parameter listed above. We use this page in the nav because we think it's a better user experience than the actual subcat page.

If we were to condense all three pages into one would we rank higher?

Any thoughts here would be appreciated.

Thanks

[Everett]

Zack,

A change like this on a money term ranking page is always going to incur some risk. But here's what I think after your update.

/gifts/birthday-gifts ---> Better user engagement metrics, higher Page Authority, closer to the root.This curated landing page is best for a user who doesn't know which gift to buy, or even which type, but knows who they are buying it for a her or a him. I would say this describes an good (though it could be better) experience for someone searching for a short-tail, generic phrase like "Birthday Gifts" on Google.

/gifts/birthday-gifts/birthday-gifts
This landing page is more like a typical category page with filters and facets to narrow down the search by gender, price and other features.

They aren't the same page right now so I wouldn't use the Rel Canonical tag as a way to consolidate them. The View All category page is good for crawling, but the Curated Landing Page is better for users.

I would come up with a layout that combines the best of both pages and test that option against a percentage of the traffic to the /gifts/birthday-gifts. Basically create a B version of that page, which includes the filtering options available on the category page. These options can affect what shows up in the first carousel for "all birthday gifts" while the curated sections remain on the page for easy self-select (i.e. For Him / For Her).

Assuming that page converts at least as well as the existing A version, I would give serious thought to combining these two pages to see if you can get your highest performing landing page into the #1 spot. Given the relatively lower authority of the existing #1 spot, I think this is definitely doable.

You do risk losing some traffic that would have been more inclined to click on your listing after seeing more than one in the SERPs, but you can offset that with PPC, as you're doing now.

Collect your baselines first. Combine the totals from both pages to see if the consolidation results in more sales.

[znotes]

Hi Everett,

Thanks for your response here, I've looked at both pages and our /gifts/birthday-gifts page has way more impressions, higher CTR and higher conversion than our /gifts/birthday-gifts/birthday-gifts version of the page.

So would you still recommend not changing anything or consolidating both pages?

Thanks!

[EGOL]

If we were to condense all three pages into one would we rank higher?

I would count these as two pages because one points to another with canonical.  My first effort would be to improve both of these pages.

I see these pages as #2 and #3 in the organic competition.  That is awesome, just absolutely awesome.  Nice work!

If you think that your merchandise is distinctly different from the site above you or if you have better prices or better shipping or anykind of a competitive advantage, then I would think twice about sacrificing a page.  Instead I would work to improve both pages, making them extremely unique, extremely sticky, extremely clickable in the SERPs, highly optimized for the visitor and  highly optimized for the query.   I would want to defeat the site above me, hold the competition down at #4 and work to double my money from current traffic.  In my opinion and experience, being at #2 and #3 with real potential to move up and improve is more valuable than risking #3 to try to get #1.

I would try to beat them straight out rather than sacrifice a good page and a SERP position for the hope of moving up.

The only time that I would not say that is if the #1 site is clearly superior in every way... visitor experience, prices, value propositions, ranking strength, clickability and more. Amazon above me is an example... but with your competitor, I would mount the attack.