On-page optimization for closely related keywords or acronyms of keywords

[seo_1234b]

We are in the process of on-page optimization for a site that sells one kind of software. We are trying to optimize each page for a target keyword and variations of the keyword, however we have more pages than keyword variation types, so I'm looking for feedback on whether the below plan would be keyword cannibalization.

Examples:

URL: www.domain.com/product  
Tarket Keyword: device imaging software
Title Tag: Device Imaging Software | Company Name

URL: www.domain.com/solutions
Target Keyword: device imaging solutions
Title Tag: Device Imaging Solutions | Company Name

URL: www.domain.com/products/product-name
Target Keyword: dis (acronym)
Title Tag: DIS Software | Product Name | Company Name

My question is are these keyword too closely related for each of the pages? Will they be considered duplicate title tags? Keyword cannibalization? etc.

Thanks!

[JaredCarrizales]

My suggestion would be to reevaluate the strategy of having that amount of pages in the first place. If you're dealing with a single type of software you're more than likely going to be working against yourself, not only in terms of cannibalization, but user experience as well.

Instead, beef up the content on a single page (ie, www.domain.com/product) and make sure to include as much coherent information, as well as the variations, that you can. The engines look for these variations anyway, so as long as you're spoon feeding the information to them on this page, they should be able to pick up that it's the same product and rank it accordingly once there are other signals in place (links, anchor text, etc).

Having said that, if you do have significant enough differences in the software to warrant multiple pages, then you simply need to come up with better descriptors/keywords, and build out the their specific. Make sure that the content is unique enough, but not spilling over into what the other, similar pieces of software do. Otherwise you might still run into your cannibalization issue. Ranking these in the beginning may be tough, but as Google recrawls these pages over and over they will start to pick up more differences and "understand" them better. I'll also echo my earlier suggestion - make sure the necessary signals are in place here too. You might be able to help Google understand the differences in these pages quicker by being a little deliberate as far as anchor text is concerned.

Hope that helps!

[copyjack]

Totally agree with Jared.

If you're only selling one product, it doesn't make sense from a user perspective to have a different page for each keyword variation. Google is smart enough to figure this out. Just use those variations naturally on one juicy page describing all the features and benefits of the product.

If you want to go into more detail about a specific feature or benefit of the product, there's your opportunity to create a new page. Catch a prospective customer at an earlier stage in the sales funnel. Maybe they don't know about Digital Imaging Software. Maybe they just have a problem, and they're searching for a solution. Your subpages could target those more specific search queries.

Check out this post from Matt Gratt for ideas for expanding your keyword research.

[AMHC]

If you optimize your content properly, you should be able to rank all of those keywords with 1 page (with great content and links). Those keywords are semantically the same. Hummingbird is a awesome if you know how to leverage it.

One trick is to use parentheses. For example, your opening sentence could be "ImageCo is the world leader in Device Imagery Software (DIS) Solutions."

I would use "DIS Software" and "DIS Solutions" a few times in the document, and I would place those keywords in close proximity to the non-abbreviated keywords so Google links them semantically. I would also use all 3 Keywords in their own H2s.

The trick is not to overdo it and make it look natural. No need to spam it.

I would also be mixing in Proof Terms and Relevant Terms throughout the document with the most important going in the first 2 paragraphs.

For a title tag, I would use:

Device Imagery Software | DIS Solutions | Company Name

It's much easier and cheaper to write 1 page of killer content and build links to it than to build 3.