Consolidating 30 overlapping posts into 12: cannibalization cleanup, measured

Consolidating 30 overlapping posts into 12: cannibalization cleanup, measured

Question: keyword cannibalization (multiple pages competing for one query) is blamed for stuck rankings. Does merging fix it, and by how much?

What was done: 30 posts targeting heavily overlapping queries were consolidated into 12 canonical articles; the 18 retired URLs were 301'd into the survivors, combining their content and internal links.

Outcome: across the 12 survivors, the number of queries where two of the old URLs had been swapping ranks dropped from 47 to 4. Average position on the previously-cannibalized queries improved from 11.3 to 7.8 over nine weeks, and clicks to the consolidated set rose 41%.

Caveat: consolidation also concentrated link equity and produced longer, arguably better articles — so we're measuring a bundle (less cannibalization + more depth + redirected links), not cannibalization alone. The drop in rank-swapping is the cleanest specific signal.

Method note: Search Console query-by-page export, 9-week pre/post, single site, no control.

Confidence: medium — strong bundled result, single mechanism not isolated.