How do you keep track of keyword content & avoid cannibalizing?

Hey folks, very new to SEO.
I have a list of keywords that' i've made articles from for my site - do you have any tips for how to avoid duplicates / cannibalizing?

Eg. Best microphone covers vs What are the best covers for your microphone?

I know Semrush and tools like that can help with this but how do you avoid it in the first place?
At the moment, I've put my keywords in a google spreadsheet and with make.com have it run through this scenario :

Sheets : watch rows > Sheets: search rows (Filter column range to reduce the amount of data it looks at) > Iterator > OpenAI (look for similarities) Router > Filter if Yes update sheet with duplicate found tag and show the duplicate ID number.

I have this automation working but right now i just have 17 articles.. not sure how, practical or costly it would end up if i have 1000x articles up..

Ty <3

I keep a simple spreadsheet or Notion board with target keywords, URLs, and content type so this helps spot overlaps before they happen. Also run occasional site audits with tools like Ahrefs or Screaming Frog to catch any sneaky cannibalization. It’s not fancy, but it works

To avoid duplicates and keyword cannibalization, you don’t need any special software. What matters is clearly understanding the intent of each article and making sure it doesn’t overlap with others. In other words, every article should be optimized for specific search queries that aren’t repeated across your other content.

You also need to plan your internal linking carefully, grouping pages into thematic clusters. A well-thought-out site structure will naturally prevent content cannibalization.

IvanRF said:

To avoid duplicates and keyword cannibalization, you don’t need any special software. What matters is clearly understanding the intent of each article and making sure it doesn’t overlap with others. In other words, every article should be optimized for specific search queries that aren’t repeated across your other content.

You also need to plan your internal linking carefully, grouping pages into thematic clusters. A well-thought-out site structure will naturally prevent content cannibalization.

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To avoid keyword cannibalization, ensure each article targets a unique intent and query, and use strategic internal linking with clear content clusters.

I keep track by mapping keywords to specific content pages, using tools like spreadsheets or SEO platforms to monitor keyword usage, and regularly auditing content to ensure each page targets unique keywords to avoid overlap and cannibalization.

You seem to have a good start with your keyword spreadsheet and automation process. As you scale up to more articles, you may consider using tools like Screaming Frog or Sitebulb to help identify duplicate content on a larger scale. These tools can crawl your site and highlight any potential issues with keyword cannibalization. Keep exploring and learning, and you'll improve over time.

A manual setup like a spreadsheet is enough if your website doesn't have thousands of article

Perform keyword clustering to avoid cannibalization.

You’re on the right track already. One trick I use: map keywords to search intent in the sheet — helps avoid overlap. Also, group similar topics under one pillar page if they’re too close. Keeps it cleaner long term.

Cool setup! For scale, consider clustering keywords by topic early on. Helps reduce overlap later. I also tag each keyword with search intent — makes it easier to spot cannibal risks before writing.