← DictionaryCannibalisation
also called keyword cannibalization
Multiple pages competing for the same search term and weakening each other.
Two of your pages fighting over one search.
What It Is
You will find Cannibalisation in the Content layer, alongside the rest of Planning. The working definition is simple: multiple pages competing for the same search term and weakening each other.
It is a label with a settled working definition, so the value is in using it the same way every time. Once it is defined that clearly, arguments about it usually stop.
How It's Used
Cannibalisation comes up in editorial planning, briefs and the day-to-day work of publishing. It normally appears alongside Keyword Mapping and Content Audit. The practical test is whether everyone in the room means the same thing by it.
Why It Matters
Getting Cannibalisation wrong is expensive in a quiet way. When it is unclear, output goes up and effect goes sideways. Clarity here removes a surprising amount of downstream argument.
Picture a word everyone in the room has agreed to use the same way. Two of your pages fighting over one search.
Termshift™
How the meaning shifts depending on who is using it, and where.
Professionally, Cannibalisation carries the narrow meaning: multiple pages competing for the same search term and weakening each other.
Explained to someone with no marketing background, Cannibalisation is two of your pages fighting over one search.
The Bottom Line
If you only keep one thing about Cannibalisation: two of your pages fighting over one search. Everything after that is detail.