The Keyword Cannibalization Checklist: What to Verify Before You Publish

Run through this before you consider keyword cannibalization actually done:

1. When you find two pages targeting the same query, pick the stronger one (more backlinks, more traffic) and consolidate the weaker page into it with a 301 redirect.
2. If both pages should genuinely exist, differentiate their targeting clearly — one broad, one specific — and adjust titles/headers so search engines can tell them apart.
3. Check Search Console's Performance report filtered by query — multiple URLs from your own site appearing for the same query is the clearest sign of cannibalization.
4. Audit for cannibalization after any large content push — it's easy for a new post to unintentionally overlap with something written months earlier.
5. Double-check this after any site migration or major redesign, not just at launch.

None of these individually take long. The value is in doing all of them, every time, instead of remembering most of them most of the time.

Pair this with the 301 redirect chains checklist if you're doing a fuller pre-launch pass.

Keyword Cannibalization Checker runs through most of this automatically.

Everything in this guide runs directly in your browser — no signup, no install.