I keep reading that cannibalization is killing my rankings but I’m not sure how to confirm it vs just normal ranking fluctuation.
Site is a personal finance blog, about 180 articles. I noticed one query where the ranking URL keeps switching between two of my posts every few days. One is a guide, the other is a listicle that covers a lot of the same ground. Neither goes higher than position 12.
How do you all diagnose this properly and what’s the fix? Merge, redirect, noindex, or just rewrite one?
GSC performance report, filter by that query, then click the Pages tab. If you see 2+ URLs splitting impressions for the same query over time, that’s your answer. Swapping URLs every few days like you describe is pretty much the textbook sign.
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