How to Prevent Keyword Cannibalization

How to Prevent Keyword Cannibalization in Paid Search and SEO Campaigns

Keyword cannibalization occurs when your paid search ads and organic SEO efforts compete for the same keywords, undermining both strategies. This issue can lead to wasted budgets and decreased SEO performance, especially in competitive industries like healthcare. Sometimes, this overlap is unavoidable. But where possible, you should structure your paid campaigns and your organic campaigns to target different terms, search intent and specific keywords to best maximize your overall digital strategy.

What Is Keyword Cannibalization?

In digital marketing, keyword cannibalization happens when both paid search ads and organic search results target the same keywords. This overlap can confuse search engines and split click-through rates, ultimately harming your SEO results while inflating paid media costs.

Why Keyword Cannibalization is Harmful

Identifying Keyword Cannibalization Issues

Is your paid search campaign cannibalizing SEO efforts? The key is to monitor the performance of both channels. If a boost in paid search spending results in a dip in SEO traffic, this could indicate cannibalization. Testing and adjusting your campaigns can help identify whether paid ads are generating incremental leads or just eating into your organic traffic.

Case Study Insights

In our analysis, reducing branded paid search ads led to a 38% increase in organic traffic and a 19% rise in impressions, without losing visibility. Meanwhile, paid search clicks decreased by 21%, showing that SEO could handle the traffic without paid media.

Conclusion

To avoid keyword cannibalization, regularly audit your paid and organic campaigns, test different approaches, and focus on incremental value rather than overlapping keywords. By doing so, you can optimize your budget and enhance both your paid and organic search results.

For a more detailed breakdown on keyword cannibalization, check out Cardinal Digital Marketing's excellent write-up here.

About the Author

Sean Brady, Director of Marketing

Sean oversees all campaign strategy at E-dreamz. As a paid media expert with nearly 20 years experience conceptualizing and crafting high-performing paid search search campaigns, Sean ensures success for all of our marketing clients. Whether the goal is patient acquisition, brand visibility or awareness, Sean and his team deliver the results our clients expect. Sean knows the Google Ads platform inside-and-out, and is our chief thought leader for recognizing and adapting to industry changes as they relate to healthcare ad management.