Two pages targeting the same keyword means two competitors on the same podium. Except that here, both competitors are you. Google cannot decide which to favour, so it hesitates and often ends up ranking neither of them well. This phenomenon is called keyword cannibalisation, and it is far more common than people think on small company websites.
Why Google hesitates between your pages
When Google crawls your site, it assesses each page to understand its main subject. If two pages cover the same subject with the same keywords, it gives them divided authority. Semrush describes this mechanism: Google may rank one page and then the other alternately in its results, which creates ranking volatility that is hard to diagnose unless you know what you are looking for.
How to detect cannibalisation on your site
Free tool: in Google Search Console, go to Performance and filter by query. If one query returns several different URLs among your pages, you potentially have cannibalisation. Another quick method: type site:yourdomain.com "your keyword" into Google and count how many pages come up.
The most frequent cases on small company websites
- A service page and a blog article targeting the same keyword without differentiating themselves.
- Several variants of the same page (URL parameters, filters) badly handled on the technical side.
- Articles published at different times covering the same subject without referencing each other.
- Category pages and product pages sharing the same generic terms.
How to fix the problem and avoid it in future
Once you have identified two competing pages, you have three options: merge their content into a single, more complete page, apply a 301 redirect to consolidate their authority on the page you want ranked, or differentiate their targeting by answering distinct search intents. To prevent the problem at source, Screaming Frog lets you map all your pages and their keywords in a few minutes. Combine that view with solid internal linking: pointing your internal links at the page you want ranked sends Google a clear signal about which one you consider the reference.
Rule worth remembering: one page, one main keyword. Before creating a new article or a new service page, check that no existing page already targets the same term. A simple table of your pages and their target keywords is enough to avoid competing with yourself.