How to Use Keyword Mapping to Prevent Overlap

The Importance of Keyword Mapping

Keyword mapping is a valuable strategy, organising your website pages, while ensuring every new page has a purpose. Keyword mapping is important as it:

• Helps to create an organised content strategy – identify missing keywords
• Provides you with a view of your SEO strategy – identify keywords that are too competitive, broad, or don't match search intent
• Assists with internal linking strategies – send correct signals to match targeted keyword
• Prevents keyword overlapping – organise your keywords to prevent keyword cannibalisation

How to Use Keyword Mapping

The first step to creating a keyword map is to open the spreadsheet document you prefer using. This should include columns covering keyword, organic search volume, keyword difficulty, and what page should rank for it.

With your spreadsheet set up and ready with a list of relevant keywords, you can organise them to create URLs.

Keyword Research and Planning

There are numerous free keyword planning tools you can use to carry out your keyword research. Common options include Google free keyword planner, available to Google Ads Account holders, SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Moz.

Analyse your niche relevant keywords, along with conducting a comprehensive competitor analysis. 

Group Similar Keywords and Match to Search Intent

Group similar keywords together, along with search intents before generating any content. Each page can have a primary keyword, along with secondary keywords.

Secondary keywords are often long-tail variations, subtopics, or synonyms. While you can map multiple keywords to a single page, ensure you do not have multiple pages ranking for the same keyword.

Create Potential URLs and Title Tags

Create your potential URLs and title tags, taking a close look at your competitors page structures for ideas. Title tags can include both the primary and secondary keyword. When creating your title tag, keep the following in mind:

• Write naturally
• Include an exact match of your selected primary keyword at the start of your title
• Do not repeat keywords
• Do not exceed sixty characters

Identify Keyword Overlaps and Duplicates

When creating your keyword map, you will want to audit your current websites to ensure you avoid duplicate content, along with avoiding the risk of your pages competing against one another. 

Keyword cannibalisation is when two or more of your web pages use the same primary keyword, showing up in the same search results. This means your pages are probably struggling to rank to their full potential, as you confuse Google, sending negative signals.

This is why keyword mapping is essential. It helps prevent multiple pages competing for the same keyword. So rather than having multiple pages ranking on the second or third page of Google results, you have one page ranking on the first page, boosting online visibility and website traffic. 

Map Customers Purchasing Journey

When you map out your customer's purchasing journey, you can judge the value of your keywords. This maps out from your buyer being unaware of your product or service to making a purchase.

Purchasing journeys include the following steps:

• Awareness – informal content, 
• Interest and consideration
• Conversion

Conclusion

Keyword mapping is a valuable way to avoid keyword overlaps and cannibalisation, targeting your audience at each stage of their purchasing journey. Get in touch with Genie Crawl today to assist you with your keyword mapping journey.