If two pages rank (dwelling web page and careers web page) however serve totally different functions, that’s superb, but when there’s overlap, you must repair it.
Consolidate, canonicalize, or redirect overlapping pages
When key phrase overlap exhibits up, you’ve bought three choices:
- Merge content material into the stronger web page and 301 redirect the weaker one
- Canonicalize if the content material should keep dwell however shouldn’t rank
- Go away each dwell in the event that they serve totally different intents or funnel levels
In a single case, we discovered pages rating at positions 12 and 35 for a similar key phrase. Neither was on web page one, so we merged them and redirected the lower-performing web page to consolidate authority and enhance the general rating.
Keep away from the temptation to deoptimize content material as a result of it weakens each pages. As an alternative, put that mixed firepower to higher use.
Construct a clear redirect technique
Redirects are a key a part of the repair, particularly throughout migrations or CMS adjustments.
For instance, in Shopify, URLs usually default to /merchandise,/pages, or /collections. Once we transfer shoppers to headless setups or rebuild their URL construction, we arrange 301s to protect authority.
Finest practices embrace:
- Use 301 redirects for everlasting adjustments
- Use 302 redirects for momentary updates (e.g., seasonal exams)
- Use Screaming Frog to search out and flatten redirect chains
- Manually evaluation all redirect guidelines earlier than launch
