What is keyword cannibalisation in eCommerce?
In the context of eCommerce, keyword cannibalisation refers to a situation in which multiple pages or products on a website compete for the same search terms, resulting in confusion for search engines and a diluted presence in search results. This can occur when there are multiple pages (sometimes thousands) or products on a website that use the same or similar keywords in their titles, descriptions, or other metadata. It can also occur when multiple pages or products on a website target the same broad topic or theme.
For example, an eCommerce website – let’s call them Onpoint.com – sells shoes. There are multiple pages or products that are optimised for the same keywords, such as “men’s sneakers” or “women’s running shoes”. search engines may have difficulty determining which page or product is most relevant to a particular search query. This can lead to lower search rankings and reduced traffic for the affected pages or products.
To avoid keyword cannibalisation in eCommerce, it is important to ensure that each page or product on a website targets unique keywords and topics and that there is a clear hierarchy and organisation among the pages and products. This can help search engines understand the content and relevance of each page or product and properly rank them in search results.
How does Longtail UX avoid keyword cannibalisation on Smart Pages?
LUX avoids keyword cannibalisation by only targeting keywords that your site isn’t currently ranking in the first five positions on Google search results for.
Our campaigns have historically delivered significant uplifts in overall traffic, both to native sites and LUX Smart Pages, due to strong internal linking.
The standard monthly reporting we issue to all LUX customers almost always indicates LUX traffic comes from new users who don’t know their brand or haven’t visited their native site before. This is generally where companies will see increased revenue from.
FAQ#1 Why should we add a LUX page when we already have an existing page targeting that Keyword?
Even though your site may have a similar page for a keyword suggested by LUX, a LUX Smart Page is a unique page with entirely unique content. See here for more information.
We only target pages that you’re not currently ranking in the top five positions on Google search results, as these are the pages that aren’t receiving significant traffic. However, we run regular tests to gauge the performance of each page, so when traffic does increase, we’ll be able to determine if they’re having any adverse effects on your pages and overall site traffic.
Previous campaigns have proven that when our Smart Pages drive revenue, your native site’s pages will also experience an increase in revenue.
FAQ#2 Why would LUX create a Smart Page for head terms if we're already targeting them?
How are you currently going with these specific head terms? How are they currently performing?
If there is room for improvement and these head terms aren’t currently ranking in the top five positions on Google, we may propose testing LUX Smart Pages and then reviewing the results to see how they compare to the pages on your native site.
FAQ#3 Our SEO Agency is focused on improving the ranking of those terms. Shouldn't we focus our efforts on other opportunities?
How long have you been working on optimising these keywords? Have you seen any significant results? If not, when do you expect to see results?
Rather than having to wait, LUX Smart Pages have been purposely designed to garner quick results and track easily. We always suggest testing the LUX Smart Pages, and then reviewing the results and seeing how they compare to your other pages.
