blog-cannibalization
Detect keyword cannibalization across blog posts by extracting primary keywords from titles and headings, clustering semantically similar targets, and flagging posts competing for the same search intent. Supports local-only mode (grep-based) and DataForSEO API mode (Page Intersection endpoint at ~$0
By agricidaniel · 2,083 installs
npx skills add agricidaniel/claude-blog --skill blog-cannibalization
Source repository · Upstream listing
Blog Cannibalization Keyword Overlap Detection
Detect when multiple blog posts compete for the same search keywords. Two modes:
local only analysis (default) and DataForSEO API mode for SERP level data.
Two Modes
Mode Flag Cost Data Source
Local (default) Free File content analysis via Grep/Read
API api ~$0.01/call DataForSEO Page Intersection + Ranked Keywords
Local mode works without any API keys. API mode requires DataForSEO credentials
set as environment variables: DATAFORSEO LOGIN and DATAFORSEO PASSWORD .
Local Mode Workflow
Step 1: Scan Blog Files
Use Glob to find all content files in the target directory:
Patterns: / .md , / .mdx , / .html
Skip files in node modules/ , .git/ , drafts/
Step 2: Extract Primary Keywords
For each file, read and extract keyword signals from:
Title tag or H1 heading (highest weight)
H2 headings (medium weight)
First paragraph (supporting signal)
Meta description if present in frontmatter
Primary keyword extraction method:
1. Tokenize title, H1, H2s, meta description, and first paragraph into 1 gram,
2 gram, and 3 gram phrases.
2. Normalize deterministically: lowercase, remove locale aware stop words,
lemmatize or stem consistently, preserve product names, and keep intent
modifiers such as "best", "pricing", "vs", "review", "template", and year.
3. Score sections separately: title/H1 highest, meta description and H2s medium,
first paragraph supporting.
4. Select the top scoring 2 3 word phrase as the primary keyword and record
secondary keywords from H2 headings.
Step 3: Cluster by Similarity
Group posts into clusters using these matching rules (in priority order):
1. Exact match identical primary keyword across 2+ posts
2. Stem match same root word (e.g., "optimize" vs "optimization")
3. Semantic overlap Assign explicit intent labels such as informational,
commercial, transactional, comparison, or troubleshooting. Include confidence
and a one sentence rationale, or use an embeddings workflow with a documented
threshold.
4. Subset match one keyword contains another (e.g., "email marketing"
vs "email marketing for startups")
Step 4: Score and Flag
For each cluster with 2+ posts, assess severity and generate a recommendation.
Step 5: Output Report
Display the results table and per cluster recommendations.
API Mode Workflow (DataForSEO)
Requires the api flag and a dedicated local CLI wrapper that reads
DATAFORSEO LOGIN and DATAFORSEO PASSWORD from the environment and emits
JSON. Do not use WebFetch for DataForSEO POST calls and never expose Basic auth
headers, login, password, or encoded credentials in prompts or reports. If no
wrapper exists in the project, report SKIPPED: DataForSEO wrapper unavailable
and run local mode.
Endpoints Used
Page Intersection find keywords where multiple URLs rank:
Cost: ~$0.01 per call. Returns overlapping keywords with position, volume, CPC.
Ranked Keywords get all keywords a single URL ranks for:
The wrapper sends DataForSEO auth headers from environment variables and never
prints them.
API Analysis Steps
1. Collect all published URLs from the user (or sitemap)
2. Run Ranked Keywords for each URL to build keyword profiles
3. Run Page Intersection for URL pairs that share keyword clusters
4. Calculate severity using the formula below
5. Output enriched report with search volume and position data
Severity Scoring
Four severity levels based on overlap signals:
Level Criteria Action Urgency
Critical Same exact keyword, both pages in top 20 Immediate
High Same keyword cluster, one page outranks the other This week
Medium Related keywords with partial SERP overlap This month
Low Semantic similarity but different confirmed intents Monitor
Severity Formula (API Mode)
Where:
overlap count = number of shared ranking keywords
avg search volume = mean monthly volume of shared keywords
position gap = absolute difference in average ranking position (min 1)
Higher score = more urgent cannibalization problem.
Severity Heuristic (Local Mode)
Without SERP data, use a simplified scoring:
Critical : Exact primary keyword match between posts
High : Stem match on primary keyword, or 3+ shared H2 keywords
Medium : Semantic overlap on primary keyword
Low : Subset match only, or shared secondary keywords
Output Format
Summary Table
Per Cluster Detail
For each flagged cluster, provide:
Both post titles and URLs
Full list of overlapping keywords (with volume if API mode)
Which post is stronger (more comprehensive, better structured)
Specific recommendation with rationale
Recommendations
Four possible actions for each cannibalization cluster:
MERGE
When both pages are thin or cover the same intent with similar depth.
Combine the best content from both into one comprehensive post
301 redirect the weaker URL to the merged post
Preserve all internal links pointing to either URL
DIFFERENTIATE
When pages serve different intents but keyword targeting overlaps.
Shift the primary keyword of the weaker post to a related long tail
Update the title, H1, and meta description to reflect the new focus
Add internal links between the two posts to signal distinct topics
CANONICAL
When one post is clearly the authority and the other is a lesser duplicate.
Add rel="canonical" on the weaker page pointing to the authority
Do not combine canonical and noindex casually. Use noindex only when removal
from search is intended
Link from the weaker page to the authority page
NOINDEX
When a page should be removed from search results but still exist for users.
Confirm the page has no meaningful unique search demand or business value
Keep it crawlable until the noindex directive is observed
Do not use as the default duplicate content fix
NO ACTION
When intent is genuinely different despite surface level keyword similarity.
Document the reasoning for future audits
Monitor rankings quarterly for any position changes
Re evaluate if either post drops in rankings
Error Handling
No blog files found : If the directory contains no .md, .mdx, or .html files, report "No blog files found in [directory]" and suggest checking the path
DataForSEO credentials missing : In API mode, if credentials are not configured, fall back to local mode automatically and notify the user
API rate limits : DataForSEO has per minute rate limits. If a 429 response is received, wait and retry once. If it persists, switch to local mode for remaining URLs
API request failures : If DataForSEO returns an error, retry once within
rate limits. If it still fails, switch to local mode for remaining URLs and
report the failed endpoint without credentials
Single post directory : If only one blog post exists, report "Cannibalization analysis requires at least 2 posts" and exit gracefully