One of the more common SEO problems we see with our client’s websites is that they target the same keyword phrase on multiple pages. Many people think that the more a keyword in placed on a website, the better the organic search results – wrong. SEOmoz recently referred to this as “Keyword Self-Cannibalization”, an appropriate term I think. They broke down 3 major issues with targeting the same keyword phrase on multiple pages:

• Forces the search engines to choose which page is the most “authoritative” or relevant to that subject on your site.
• Creates additional competition for rankings – you’re vying against yourself for position in the SERPs.
• Dilutes the potential ranking ability of a single phrase by spreading link power, keyword targeting, and anchor text on your site across multiple pages.

Speaking of keywords, an interesting new service called HitTail was recently brought to my attention. This free service (for low to medium traffic sites) tracks every search hit that leads to your site and then pulls out the keywords. The underperforming, or long tail, keywords are given to you as suggestions to incorporate in your editorial content, such as blogs. The idea is that the collective demand for the less popular keywords (the long tail) can exceed the most popular terms added together. By using these under performing keywords, you can help out your natural search results and bring more qualified traffic to your site. These less competitive long tail keywords could also be very beneficial to a PPC campaign and likely result in a higher click through rate, lower cost per click, and more pre-qualified traffic.

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