SEO Content Architecture for intent-led content architecture.

It is several pages on one site targeting the same intent, so search engines split signals between them and rank none as well as a single consolidated page would. It matters where the pages genuinely compete for one query. Pages covering related but distinct intents are not cannibalising, they are covering a topic.

In Search Console, look for queries where the ranking URL changes over time, or where several URLs receive impressions for the same query. That flip-flopping is the clearest signal that the site is offering multiple answers to one question and search engines cannot decide between them.

Merge where the weaker page contains genuinely useful content or has earned links, redirecting it to the consolidated URL so that value is preserved. Delete and redirect where it adds nothing. Removing a page without a redirect discards whatever authority and traffic it had for no benefit.

A broad page covering a topic at overview depth, linking to specific pages that treat each subtopic properly, with those pages linking back. The structure makes the relationship between pages explicit rather than leaving it to be inferred, which helps both readers and search systems navigate the topic.

There is no target worth chasing. Link where a reader would genuinely benefit from the related page, using anchor text that describes the destination. A page with three well-placed contextual links usually outperforms one with thirty in a footer block nobody reads or clicks.

It carries no information about the destination, for readers or search systems, and it is poor for screen reader users navigating by link. Descriptive anchors are better for all three. It does not need eliminating everywhere, but important internal links should say what they lead to.

Important pages should be reachable within about three clicks from the homepage. Depth correlates with how often a page is crawled and how much internal authority reaches it. Pages buried under several layers of pagination or filters are frequently crawled rarely and rank accordingly.

There is short-term risk with any URL change, which is why consolidation needs a complete redirect map, a pre-change crawl to compare against, and staged rollout rather than a single large change. Done carefully the medium-term result is usually improvement, because signals stop being divided.