Content pruning
Systematically removing, merging or noindexing low-value pages so a site's indexed footprint reflects only content worth ranking.
ContentCannibalization
Keyword cannibalisation
Multiple pages on a site competing for the same query, so search engines alternate between them and none establishes a strong position.
In full
The symptom is usually visible in Search Console as a query whose landing page flips between URLs, with volatile position. Causes include publishing near-duplicate articles, category and blog pages targeting the same term, and location or variant pages with no real differentiation. Fixes are consolidation with a 301, clear differentiation of intent per page, or deliberate canonicalisation — not simply noindexing the weaker page if it holds links.
Example
Three posts about 'invoice templates' swap positions weekly; merging them into one page stabilises the ranking.
Related terms
Internal linking
Links between pages on the same site, which control crawl paths, distribute link equity, and communicate topical relationships and page…
Canonicalization
The process by which a search engine groups duplicate or near-duplicate URLs into a cluster and picks one representative URL to index and…
Topic cluster
A content model where one broad pillar page links to and from many specific supporting pages covering subtopics of the same subject.
Rank tracking
Regularly querying search engines from defined locations and devices to record where specific URLs rank for a keyword set.