Keyword cannibalisation - Any way to find out who is eating who?

[Kuruto]

I have a question regarding some keywords in my site.

For some reason, I am ranking for the wrong keyword in some SERPs or my top page is ranking instead.

Example: graphic design is ranking for web design

Is there any tool or way to figure out how, why or who is eating each other up so to speak?

Would you have any advice or links to good sources on how to resolve this issue so that the correct page shows in search for it's particular keyword?

Thanks in advance!

[Andy.Drinkwater]

Hi,

Keyword cannibalisation is a problem that many sites face and it is normally down to pages not being targeted enough, or being too similar to one another.

The example that you used there, Graphic Design and Web Design, if either is talking about the other, makes too many references or doesn't include the words and phrases that Google would expect to see, then you are likely to face this problem.

Rand went over this a while ago and suggested that if the wrong pages are ranking for the wrong pages, then you need to devalue the wrong pages by removing those words and phrases that are causing you these issues.

I hope this helps.

-Andy

[BlueCorona]

Hi,

Andy is absolutely correct! It is likely that your pages are not different enough from each other to avoid ranking for the same keywords.

One tool that you can use is Moz's On-Page Grader. This tool will give you very specific feedback about how you can better optimize a page for the specific keyword you want it to rank for.

Hope this helps!

[MeganSingley]

Hi Kuruto! Do these responses help to answer your question or are you looking for more information? If you're good to go, please mark this as answered. Thanks!

[Kuruto]

Hi Andy,

Thanks! Was just the help I was chasing. Makes sense - thanks for the link too.

Cheers,
K

[Kuruto]

Thanks! On-page grader is great!

[Kuruto]

Hi Megan, 
Bit slow on responses sorry - thanks to the festive season haha.
The answers were exactly what I was looking for. 
Marked as answered.
Cheers,
K