Choose the decision the visitor needs to make
A phrase list is not a page brief. Write the customer’s decision in one sentence: compare adjustable office chairs, choose a chair for a small desk, or find replacement chair wheels. Those tasks share a product category but need different information. A category page should not become a repair manual just to accommodate another phrase.
Inspect a few search results in the target country and language. Record the page types you encounter. A shopping category, a comparison guide and a spare-parts product page are meaningful differences. Treat this observation as evidence for your brief; a single snapshot does not permanently define intent.
Keep variants when the answer stays the same
Word order, singular forms and close descriptions can belong to the same page. The page still needs readable headings, useful product information and answers to real objections. Repeating every phrase in a separate heading creates an awkward document without adding a useful decision.
Preserve the original queries in your working list. Give the group one primary phrase for planning and retain secondary phrases for coverage and monitoring. The primary phrase is an editorial anchor, not a rule that prevents the URL from ranking for anything else.
A worked example for a small furniture shop
This example is invented to show the decision, not an observed customer result. A shop has a chair category and a guide about fitting a chair under a shallow desk. “Adjustable office chairs” and “height adjustable desk chairs” initially belong to the category. A question about a 60 cm desk belongs to the guide because measurements and a checking method are central to the answer.
Keep “chair for small office” unresolved until you inspect the results and available products. It could express shopping intent or a planning question. Writing two pages immediately would turn uncertainty into duplicate work.
Split a page when there is a distinct useful answer
A separate page earns its place when it changes the offer, the next step, or the evidence required. A genuinely different spare-part selection can justify another category. A second page whose only difference is a keyword spelling usually cannot.
Before creating the URL, state what it will contain that the existing page cannot explain comfortably. Decide how the pages will link to each other. If you cannot describe their different purposes, revise the brief before publishing.
Check the page that actually appears
After publication, save the query group and compare ranking URLs in the same market, language and device context. A different URL appearing is a reason to inspect the page’s fit. It is not automatically proof of cannibalization or a reason to remove a page.
Use the record below for each group. SEODatum can keep queries and position checks together in a project; the editorial choice of which page should answer a task remains yours. Open a project when maintaining the list by hand stops being dependable.
Primary intent:
Main query:
Useful variants:
Chosen URL:
Why this page fits:
Unresolved query:
Next review date: