{"id":172167,"date":"2024-02-14T06:38:55","date_gmt":"2024-02-14T11:38:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/?p=172167"},"modified":"2024-11-06T07:06:52","modified_gmt":"2024-11-06T12:06:52","slug":"multiple-rankings-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/multiple-rankings-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Keyword Diversification: Cannibalization\u2019s Good Twin (SEO&nbsp;Study)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"intro-txt\">At Ahrefs.com we\u2019ve got 9.7k cases of multiple rankings. It\u2019s when a site ranks for a keyword with more than one&nbsp;page.<\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1910\" height=\"1056\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/how-to-find-multiple-rankings-in-ahrefs-.jpg\" alt=\"How to find multiple rankings in Ahrefs.\" class=\"wp-image-172168\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/how-to-find-multiple-rankings-in-ahrefs-.jpg 1910w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/how-to-find-multiple-rankings-in-ahrefs--680x376.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/how-to-find-multiple-rankings-in-ahrefs--768x425.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/how-to-find-multiple-rankings-in-ahrefs--1536x849.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1910px) 100vw, 1910px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, classic SEO theory says that if you rank with more than one page for a keyword, it\u2019s a <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/keyword-cannibalization\/\">cannibalization issue<\/a>, and you should fix&nbsp;it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But when I spent a day carefully reviewing a sample of 80 keywords with multiple rankings, I found only one case that needed action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So if all other cases were not bad, maybe they were actually good? Moreover, maybe you <em>should <\/em>target keywords with more than one page to squeeze out more traffic from a keyword?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"intro-tok\" id=\"intro_tok\" style=\"display:none;\"><div class=\"intro-title\">Contents<\/div><a href=\"#\" class=\"expand-dots\"><span><\/span><span><\/span><span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"Good vs. bad multiple rankings\" data-section=\"good-vs-bad-multiple-rankings\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-172167-_60xf499ef489\"><\/a>Good vs. bad multiple rankings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s time to rethink the classic SEO theory on cannibalization. Multiple rankings can bring both bad <em>and <\/em>good results for your&nbsp;site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-172167-_k7fga3239n5y\"><\/a>Keyword cannibalization: bad multiple rankings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Keyword cannibalization is when a search engine constantly exchanges ranking between multiple pages or when multiple pages rank simultaneously for the same keyword but are similar enough to be consolidated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1236\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/how-cannibalization-looks-on-a-position-history-ch.png\" alt=\"How cannibalization looks on a position history chart. \" class=\"wp-image-172169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/how-cannibalization-looks-on-a-position-history-ch.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/how-cannibalization-looks-on-a-position-history-ch-550x425.png 550w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/how-cannibalization-looks-on-a-position-history-ch-768x593.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/how-cannibalization-looks-on-a-position-history-ch-1536x1187.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>These cases need fixing because Google will display only one page at a time or you could get more traffic by rolling content under one&nbsp;page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Example: \u201cseo case studies\u201d&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>For the keywords \u201cseo case studies\u201d and \u201cseo case study\u201d, we saw a group of blog posts constantly exchanging rankings in the&nbsp;SERPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although each case study had a different URL, the phrase \u201ccase study\u201d in each title and URL may have triggered cannibalization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"980\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-for-seo-case-studies-.jpg\" alt=\"Position history for &quot;seo case studies&quot;.\" class=\"wp-image-172170\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-for-seo-case-studies-.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-for-seo-case-studies--680x325.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-for-seo-case-studies--768x368.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-for-seo-case-studies--1536x735.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This meant that whenever we published a new case study, the old one was dropped from the SERPs and substituted with the new&nbsp;one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We fixed the issue by creating a <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/seo-case-studies\/\">bare-bones pillar page<\/a> with internal links to all of our case studies. Google ranked the pillar page as the main result with a selection of case studies as site&nbsp;links.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a result of consolidating, we rank better with one page than we ever did with several. We almost instantly ranked in the top 10 and have remained in the top 3, most of the time giving way only to Google\u2019s page on the same topic. Some of the case studies even ranked as site links to the pillar page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-after-creating-a-pillar-page-.png\" alt=\"Position history after creating a pillar page. \" class=\"wp-image-172171\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-after-creating-a-pillar-page-.png 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-after-creating-a-pillar-page--680x191.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-after-creating-a-pillar-page--768x216.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-after-creating-a-pillar-page--1536x432.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Example: \u201cbroken link building\u201d&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>For this keyword, we used to have two guides. As you can see below, these rankings didn\u2019t swap, they ranked simultaneously in the top 10 for a long&nbsp;time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"520\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-for-broken-link-building-.png\" alt=\"Position history for &quot;broken link building&quot;.\" class=\"wp-image-172172\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-for-broken-link-building-.png 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-for-broken-link-building--680x173.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-for-broken-link-building--768x195.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-for-broken-link-building--1536x390.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>However, we managed to improve that result with a new guide that consolidated information from the old guides \u2014 this is the long pink line you can see in the chart&nbsp;below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"523\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-for-broken-link-building-afte.png\" alt=\"Position history for &quot;broken link building&quot; - after consolidating. \" class=\"wp-image-172173\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-for-broken-link-building-afte.png 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-for-broken-link-building-afte-680x174.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-for-broken-link-building-afte-768x196.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-for-broken-link-building-afte-1536x392.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>So, this was a case of cannibalization because these pages were close enough in terms of content. In such cases, consolidating content can bring better results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"further-reading\"><div class=\"reading-title\">Further reading<\/div><div class=\"reading-content\">\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/keyword-cannibalization\/\">Keyword Cannibalization: What It (Really) Is &amp; How to Fix&nbsp;It<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-172167-_nqemhe1ot8l5\"><\/a>Keyword diversification: good multiple rankings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Keyword diversification is when two or more pages rank for the same keyword simultaneously, and there is likely no benefit in consolidating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1236\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/how-diversification-looks-on-a-position-history-ch.png\" alt=\"How diversification looks on a position history chart. \" class=\"wp-image-172174\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/how-diversification-looks-on-a-position-history-ch.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/how-diversification-looks-on-a-position-history-ch-550x425.png 550w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/how-diversification-looks-on-a-position-history-ch-768x593.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/how-diversification-looks-on-a-position-history-ch-1536x1187.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s nothing to be fixed here. If Google ranked your site more than once, the system rewarded your content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Example: \u201ckeyword rankings\u201d&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>For this keyword, we rank&nbsp;with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A glossary article ranking in the featured snippet.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A landing page for a tool at #4 .<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"729\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/serp-overview-for-keyword-rankings-.jpg\" alt=\"SERP overview for &quot;keyword rankings&quot;.\" class=\"wp-image-172175\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/serp-overview-for-keyword-rankings-.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/serp-overview-for-keyword-rankings--680x242.jpg 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/serp-overview-for-keyword-rankings--768x273.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/serp-overview-for-keyword-rankings--1536x547.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Do the pages swap rankings? No, they\u2019ve been ranking simultaneously for over half a&nbsp;year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"589\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-for-keyword-rankings-.png\" alt=\"Position history for &quot;keyword rankings&quot;.\" class=\"wp-image-172176\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-for-keyword-rankings-.png 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-for-keyword-rankings--680x196.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-for-keyword-rankings--768x221.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-for-keyword-rankings--1536x442.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Is there any benefit to consolidating? Unlikely. This way, we serve two kinds of intent: we cater to people who want to get a definition of the term as well as those who want to check their keyword rankings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Example: \u201cSEO&nbsp;audit\u201d&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>For this keyword, we rank&nbsp;with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A blog article at #4.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A landing page for a tool at #7.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"557\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/serp-overview-for-seo-audit-.png\" alt=\"SERP overview for &quot;seo audit&quot;.\" class=\"wp-image-172177\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/serp-overview-for-seo-audit-.png 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/serp-overview-for-seo-audit--680x185.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/serp-overview-for-seo-audit--768x209.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/serp-overview-for-seo-audit--1536x418.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>None of the pages swap rankings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"704\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-for-seo-audit-.png\" alt=\"Position history for &quot;seo audit&quot;. \" class=\"wp-image-172178\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-for-seo-audit-.png 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-for-seo-audit--680x234.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-for-seo-audit--768x264.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-for-seo-audit--1536x528.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Consolidating them would make no sense because we would need to choose between catering to searchers who want a tool and those who want a&nbsp;guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"Can diversification squeeze more traffic out of a keyword?\" data-section=\"diversification-more-traffic\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-172167-_91l1fmueo7k8\"><\/a>Can diversification squeeze more traffic out of a keyword?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Why rank once when you can rank twice, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sure, if you rank two times in the top 10, you get traffic from both positions (as shown in traffic uplift in the table below). This may seem like an absolute gain in traffic, but it\u2019s a bit tricky. In practice, the new traffic may not be worth it, and you\u2019re also risking pushing down another valuable page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Let me illustrate this. I took a bunch of keywords where we ranked with 2 URLs in the top ten (otherwise, we\u2019d hardly get any traffic) and looked at the click distribution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Traffic uplift<\/strong> \u2014 the traffic we gained via ranking another page in top 10 (traffic to new page\/traffic to old&nbsp;page).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Traffic share of the old page<\/strong> \u2014 traffic share of the page that ranked first for the keyword.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Traffic share of the new page<\/strong> \u2014 traffic share of the page that came later, i.e., the page that created diversification.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-285\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-285 tablepress-responsive tablepress-ahrefs-width-720px\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1 odd\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Keyword<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">Traffic uplift<\/th><th class=\"column-3\">Traffic share of the old page<\/th><th class=\"column-4\">Traffic share of the new&nbsp;page<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr class=\"row-2 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">keyword search<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">1.94%<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">98.10%<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">1.90%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3 odd\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">seo audit<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">37.74%<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">72.60%<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">27.40%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">free seo&nbsp;tools<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">296.13%<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">25.24%<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">74.76%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5 odd\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">affiliate marketing for beginners<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">6.63%<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">93.78%<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">6.22%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-6 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">free keyword research tool<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">677.69%<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">12.86%<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">87.14%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-7 odd\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">keyword rankings<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">60.71%<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">62.22%<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">37.78%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-8 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">how to become an affiliate marketer<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">2.39%<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">97.67%<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">2.33%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-9 odd\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">keyword difficulty<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">9233.33%<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">1.07%<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">98.93%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-285 from cache -->\n\n\n<p>As you can see, pages that come later to the SERPs do not always get a bigger traffic share. Just by looking at this small sample, we can see that there are at least three possible scenarios:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The new page can outrank the old page, either by jumping into a higher position than the original page or <em>pushing the old page lower<\/em>. More traffic will go to the new page, and in <em>some<\/em> cases (because that also depends on the CTR), you will gain significantly more traffic.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The new page will outrank the old, but will get lower CTR, and less traffic. This is what happened in the case of \u201ckeyword rankings\u201d \u2014 the featured snippet with a definition of a term ranked higher than a landing page with the free tool but got fewer clicks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The new page won\u2019t outrank the old page or will rank in site links. Then your diversification efforts will add a few percent of new traffic at&nbsp;best.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep in mind&nbsp;that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>All newly added pages ranked for their unique set of keywords, bringing in additional traffic not listed above.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>We\u2019re only talking about the <em>quantity<\/em> of traffic here. How qualified that traffic was is a different story.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"Should you target keywords with more than one page?\" data-section=\"should-you-target-keywords-with-multiple-pages\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-172167-_edz4s7mpf5d3\"><\/a>So should you target keywords with more than one&nbsp;page?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>First off, it\u2019s not something you can fully control. In our case, most of those instances were accidents \u2014 Google\u2019s hard-coded propensity to rank some sites multiple times on the same&nbsp;SERP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But let\u2019s say you see this great opportunity to rank twice in the top 10. It\u2019s definitely possible, but again, a bit tricky. Based on my observations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The disparity in clicks between two ranking pages can be significant. Oftentimes, introducing a second page might result in only a marginal increase in traffic while potentially reducing clicks on the originally ranking page.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It\u2019s more challenging than the good ol\u2019 one-keyword-one-page tactic because the odds are against you since the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/searchliaison\/status\/1136739062843432960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1136739064193998848%7Ctwgr%5E106316b443674bbbd0e777b1c4a36d6f996f0e20%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.searchmetrics.com%2Fus%2Fsite-diversity-update-analysis%2F\">site diversity update<\/a>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You may need more expensive types of content than what you already have ranking. For instance, a free tool that serves the intent better than an article that already ranks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Maintaining top organic rankings for two pages is more difficult than sustaining a single high-ranking spot. In the case of ahrefs.com, situations where a second page maintains a long stable position in the top 10 are rare (see image&nbsp;below).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"609\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-with-volatile-multiple-rankings-.png\" alt=\"Position history with volatile multiple rankings. \" class=\"wp-image-172179\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-with-volatile-multiple-rankings-.png 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-with-volatile-multiple-rankings--680x202.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-with-volatile-multiple-rankings--768x228.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-with-volatile-multiple-rankings--1536x457.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Most looked like this or worse \u2014 ranking and then dropping for months only to reappear for some reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"611\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-with-even-more-volatile-multiple.png\" alt=\"Position history with even more volatile multiple rankings. \" class=\"wp-image-172180\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-with-even-more-volatile-multiple.png 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-with-even-more-volatile-multiple-680x203.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-with-even-more-volatile-multiple-768x229.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/position-history-with-even-more-volatile-multiple-1536x458.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Another thing you might try is to double dip in a keyword by <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/video-seo\/\">ranking videos<\/a> for keywords with video SERP features or create a hub of definition pages (like <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/pl\/seo\/glossary\">our glossary<\/a>) to rank for <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/featured-snippets\/\">featured snippets<\/a> that require a definition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But there\u2019s a hack for diversification, too: buy or launch another website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Google may claim that they are very cautious about ranking the same <em>site<\/em> twice, but that does not seem to apply to the same <em>business.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To illustrate, when our competitor acquired a popular SEO blog, Google didn\u2019t care about the connection. It has been treating them as two different sites despite being the same business. As a result of diversification, that play allowed them to \u201cdouble dip\u201d on 8700 keywords ranking in the top&nbsp;10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1674\" height=\"968\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/content-gap-analysis-from-ahrefs-.png\" alt=\"Content gap analysis from Ahrefs. \" class=\"wp-image-172181\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/content-gap-analysis-from-ahrefs-.png 1674w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/content-gap-analysis-from-ahrefs--680x393.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/content-gap-analysis-from-ahrefs--768x444.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/content-gap-analysis-from-ahrefs--1536x888.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1674px) 100vw, 1674px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Naturally, they\u2019re not the only example. Glen Allsopp does <a href=\"https:\/\/detailed.com\/google-control\/\">a fantastic job at following the works of media giants<\/a> who diversified so well that they literally dominated the SERPs within their niches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"post-nav-link clearfix\" id=\"section1\"><a class=\"subhead-anchor\" data-tip=\"tooltip__copielink\" rel=\"#section1\"><svg width=\"19\" height=\"19\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 14\" style><g fill=\"none\" fill-rule=\"evenodd\"><path d=\"M0 0h14v14H0z\" \/><path d=\"M7.45 9.887l-1.62 1.621c-.92.92-2.418.92-3.338 0a2.364 2.364 0 0 1 0-3.339l1.62-1.62-1.273-1.272-1.62 1.62a4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.885 5.884l1.62-1.62L7.45 9.886zM5.527 5.135L7.17 3.492c.92-.92 2.418-.92 3.339 0 .92.92.92 2.418 0 3.339L8.866 8.473l1.272 1.273 1.644-1.643A4.161 4.161 0 1 0 5.897 2.22L4.254 3.863l1.272 1.272zm-.66 3.998a.749.749 0 0 1 0-1.06l2.208-2.206a.749.749 0 1 1 1.06 1.06L5.928 9.133a.75.75 0 0 1-1.061 0z\" style \/><\/g><\/svg><\/a><div class=\"link-text\" data-anchor=\"Are some keywords better choices for diversification?\" data-section=\"are-some-keywords-better-for-diversification\">\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-172167-_59xvjsc6h7fm\"><\/a>Are some keywords better choices for diversification?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Obviously, more popular keywords will have enough volume to distribute considerable traffic across the top 10. However, that traffic will largely depend on the CTRs, and these are different for each keyword.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re using Ahrefs, open the <strong>Traffic share by page<\/strong> report in <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/keywords-explorer\"><strong>Keywords Explorer<\/strong><\/a> and you\u2019ll get an estimation of how much traffic you can get from each position in the&nbsp;SERPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1588\" height=\"998\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/traffic-share-by-page-report-in-ahrefs-.png\" alt=\"Traffic share by page report in Ahrefs. \" class=\"wp-image-172182\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/traffic-share-by-page-report-in-ahrefs-.png 1588w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/traffic-share-by-page-report-in-ahrefs--676x425.png 676w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/traffic-share-by-page-report-in-ahrefs--768x483.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/traffic-share-by-page-report-in-ahrefs--1536x965.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1588px) 100vw, 1588px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>This should give you a good idea of whether taking another position is worth the&nbsp;fight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Going further, I checked if the metrics and characteristics below had any relation to keyword diversification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-172167-_m5i0wyvvsnn\"><\/a>No keyword is too popular for diversification<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The median search volume for cannibalized keywords is virtually the same as for our single rankings (50 vs. 40), so we can infer that search volume doesn\u2019t play a determining role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"917\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/distribution-of-keyword-volumes-and-median-for-sin.png\" alt=\"Distribution of keyword volumes and median for single rankings and multiple rankings. \" class=\"wp-image-172183\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/distribution-of-keyword-volumes-and-median-for-sin.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/distribution-of-keyword-volumes-and-median-for-sin-680x390.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/distribution-of-keyword-volumes-and-median-for-sin-768x440.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/distribution-of-keyword-volumes-and-median-for-sin-1536x880.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-172167-_w2b3lykr4ocr\"><\/a>Diversify but make sure to align with search intent<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Theoretically, you could rank multiple pages either by aligning with search intents already present on the SERPs or creating something unique but extremely valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If I had to answer this question having only our data, I\u2019d say \u201cfollow the crowd\u201d. As you will see in a bit, multiple rankings can happen both with keywords with a single dominant search intent as well as those with a more mixed intent but none of our pages broke outside of already existing types and formats of content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To illustrate my point, here\u2019s a breakdown of the same top 10 keywords you saw earlier, but this time with a search intent analysis (using our <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/search-intent\/#how-to-find-and-optimize-for-search-intent\">3C\u2019s framework<\/a>). In all cases, our ranking content aligns with the existing content types:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<table id=\"tablepress-284\" class=\"tablepress tablepress-id-284 tablepress-responsive tablepress-ahrefs-width-720px\">\n<thead>\n<tr class=\"row-1 odd\">\n\t<th class=\"column-1\">Keyword<\/th><th class=\"column-2\">Content types in top 10<\/th><th class=\"column-3\">Content format (if article) in top 10<\/th><th class=\"column-4\">Our ranking content (on Dec 5,&nbsp;2023)<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr class=\"row-2 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">keyword search<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">Landing pages (free and premium tools)<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">-<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">#8, #10 (both free&nbsp;tools)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-3 odd\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">seo audit<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">7 articles, 2 landing pages,<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">Guides<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">#5 (guide), #6 (landing page premium tool)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-4 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">free seo&nbsp;tools<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">7 articles, 2 landing pages (free&nbsp;tools)<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">Listicles<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">#4 (listicle), #7 (free tools landing page)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-5 odd\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">affiliate marketing for beginners<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">9 blog&nbsp;posts<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">Guides<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">#3 with 3 site links (all guides)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-6 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">free keyword research tool<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">8 landing pages, 2 articles<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">Listicles<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">#2 (listicle), #4 (free&nbsp;tool)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-7 odd\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">keyword rankings<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">7 articles, 2 landing pages (free&nbsp;tools)<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">5 guides, 1 definition post, 1 listicle<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">#1 (article), #4 (free&nbsp;tool)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-8 even\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">how to become an affiliate marketer<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">Articles<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">Guides<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">#3 with 3 site links (all guides)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"row-9 odd\">\n\t<td class=\"column-1\">keyword difficulty<\/td><td class=\"column-2\">5 articles, 2 forum posts, 2 landing pages (free and premium tools)<\/td><td class=\"column-3\">Guides<\/td><td class=\"column-4\">#1 (free tool), #5 (guide)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<!-- #tablepress-284 from cache -->\n\n\n<p>So when there are only article ranking, your best chances might be by diversifying with articles. And if you see different types of pages ranking, say an article and a landing page, there\u2019s a chance of ranking by creating both these&nbsp;types.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"recommendation\"><div class=\"recommendation-title\">Tip<\/div><div class=\"recommendation-content\">\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re an Ahrefs user, there\u2019s a nifty AI feature in Keywords Explorer and Site Explorer that estimates the traffic share to each type of intent in the top 10. Check it&nbsp;out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2048\" height=\"837\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/ai-feature-in-ahrefs-for-identifying-search-intent.png\" alt=\"AI feature in Ahrefs for identifying search intents. \" class=\"wp-image-172184\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/ai-feature-in-ahrefs-for-identifying-search-intent.png 2048w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/ai-feature-in-ahrefs-for-identifying-search-intent-680x278.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/ai-feature-in-ahrefs-for-identifying-search-intent-768x314.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/ai-feature-in-ahrefs-for-identifying-search-intent-1536x628.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-172167-_wzjt3yd2r4w\"><\/a>You don\u2019t need less specific keywords to diversify<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019d expect long-tail keywords to have fewer multiple ranking instances (be it cannibalization or diversification) because the intent would be more defined from the&nbsp;query.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To measure this, I compared word count distribution in keywords with single rankings and multiple rankings using boxplots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"964\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/distribution-of-word-count-in-keywords-and-median.png\" alt=\"Distribution of word count in keywords and median for single rankings and multiple rankings. \" class=\"wp-image-172185\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/distribution-of-word-count-in-keywords-and-median.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/distribution-of-word-count-in-keywords-and-median-680x410.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/distribution-of-word-count-in-keywords-and-median-768x463.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/distribution-of-word-count-in-keywords-and-median-1536x925.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>As you can see, the boxplots are almost identical, so no correlation could be at play&nbsp;here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, an interesting takeaway here is that if we look at a histogram of word count frequency in the multiple URL data set, we see that most keywords occupied the 3\u20134 word count range. That indicates ranking multiple times for quite specific search queries is definitely possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1720\" height=\"852\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/word-count-histogram-for-multiple-rankings-.png\" alt=\"Word count histogram for multiple rankings. \" class=\"wp-image-172186\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/word-count-histogram-for-multiple-rankings-.png 1720w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/word-count-histogram-for-multiple-rankings--680x337.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/word-count-histogram-for-multiple-rankings--768x380.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/word-count-histogram-for-multiple-rankings--1536x761.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1720px) 100vw, 1720px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-172167-_tmuuv5v7r7ud\"><\/a>Surprisingly, multiple rankings were more common for high KD keywords<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>I also wanted to see if it would be harder to get multiple rankings for keywords with high <a href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/seo\/glossary\/keyword-difficulty\">KD value (Ahrefs metric)<\/a>, i.e., keywords with SERPs dominated by pages with a strong backlink profile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Again, I compared multiple rankings with single rankings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1600\" height=\"925\" src=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/distribution-of-keyword-difficulty-and-median-for.png\" alt=\"Distribution of keyword difficulty and median for single rankings and multiple rankings. \" class=\"wp-image-172187\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/distribution-of-keyword-difficulty-and-median-for.png 1600w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/distribution-of-keyword-difficulty-and-median-for-680x393.png 680w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/distribution-of-keyword-difficulty-and-median-for-768x444.png 768w, https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/distribution-of-keyword-difficulty-and-median-for-1536x888.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\"><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Here, we can see a clear difference. The median of multiple rankings is way higher than single rankings (64 vs.&nbsp;37).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One thing is for sure with such a result\u2014you can rank multiple times, even for highly competitive keywords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a id=\"post-172167-_ag001rp2fnzb\"><\/a>Final thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Let\u2019s sum&nbsp;up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Multiple rankings in Google create two effects: cannibalization and diversification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This means that classic SEO theory is wrong\u2014you don\u2019t need to go and fix each keyword with multiple rankings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This also means that you can potentially take advantage of Google\u2019s propensity for multiple rankings and can get more traffic out of a keyword. That said, I\u2019d consider it a pro move, which may have a high opportunity cost compared to targeting some other keyword with just one page. That\u2019s because:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The additional rankings may not last&nbsp;long.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You may \u201coutrank yourself\u201d, and the page you outrank will get fewer clicks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You may need more expensive types of content than what you already have. For instance, a free tool that serves the intent better than an article that already ranks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks for reading! If you have any questions or comments, find me on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/m_makosiewicz\">X<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/mateusz-makosiewicz-38154b67\/\">LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Now, classic SEO theory says that if you rank with more than one page for a keyword, it\u2019s a cannibalization issue, and you should fix&nbsp;it. But when I spent a day carefully reviewing a sample of 80 keywords with multiple<span class=\"ellipsis\">\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more\">Read more \u203a<\/div>\n<p><!-- end of .read-more --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":159,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[414],"tags":[],"coauthors":[412],"class_list":["post-172167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-data-studies","odd"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Keyword Diversification: Cannibalization&#039;s Good Twin (SEO Study)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"At Ahrefs.com we\u2019ve got 9.7k cases of &quot;keyword cannibalization&quot;\u2014but almost none of them need fixing.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/multiple-rankings-study\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Keyword Diversification: Cannibalization&#039;s Good Twin (SEO Study)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When keyword cannibalization is a good thing.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/multiple-rankings-study\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SEO Blog by Ahrefs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Ahrefs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-14T11:38:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-11-06T12:06:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ahrefs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/how-to-find-multiple-rankings-in-ahrefs-.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1910\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1056\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mateusz Makosiewicz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@m_makosiewicz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ahrefs\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/multiple-rankings-study\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/multiple-rankings-study\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Mateusz Makosiewicz\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c7e64c851ecc4eabb77eaefae90a440c\"},\"headline\":\"Keyword Diversification: Cannibalization\u2019s Good Twin (SEO&nbsp;Study)\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-14T11:38:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-11-06T12:06:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/multiple-rankings-study\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":2199,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/multiple-rankings-study\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ahrefs.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/02\\\/keyword-diversification-cannibalization8217s-good-twin-seo-by-mateusz-makosiewicz-data-studies.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Data &amp; 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