In brief: Keyword cannibalisation occurs when several of a website's own pages compete for the same search intent and the website does not clearly indicate which URL should be primary. Not every overlap of queries is a problem.
How I use keyword cannibalisation in practice
With keyword cannibalisation, I first separate reach from real benefit. I determine the audience, situation, offer, and next step after a click or impression. I launch a campaign or content with one main hypothesis and measurement that reaches beyond a visit. I increase the budget only when I understand the quality of enquiries and their connection to sales.
What to watch out for
The most common mistake is to apply keyword cannibalisation to an unclear offer and expect the channel to solve the product. Another is attributing the entire result to the last contact. A person may have assembled their decision from several visits, recommendations, and sales work.
Questions for the decision
- Whom do we want to address, and whom do we want to exclude?
- Which hypothesis about the offer or message are we testing?
- What happens after the first response, and who owns that step?
- Are we measuring customer quality, or only activity in the channel?