What are Canonical URLs?
A canonical URL (also known as a “canonical tag” or “rel=canonical”) is an HTML element used to avoid duplicate content issues by specifying the “preferred” version of a webpage when multiple URLs have similar or identical content.
It tells search engines which version of the URL should be indexed, thereby consolidating ranking signals and preventing duplicate content penalties.
Why are Canonical URLs important?
- Avoiding Duplicate Content Penalties: When a site has multiple pages with similar content, it can dilute ranking signals, but a canonical tag ensures only one version is indexed.
- Consolidating Link Equity: It helps ensure that link equity (ranking power from inbound links) goes to the correct URL.
- Improving SEO: By using canonical tags, you maintain a clear, preferred URL, improving search engine optimization (SEO) and making it easier for search engines to understand the structure of your website.
How to create canonical tags?
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to create and implement canonical tags:
Identify the Preferred URL: Determine the primary version of a page that you want search engines to index. This should be the most important or the “clean” version of the URL without unnecessary parameters.
Example: If you have several versions of a product page:
https://example.com/product?color=redhttps://example.com/product?size=large
The preferred URL might be:
https://example.com/product
Add the Canonical Tag: Once you’ve identified the preferred URL, add the canonical tag in the
<head>section of your webpage’s HTML code.Make sure the
hrefattribute points to the preferred URL.Use Absolute URLs:
Always use absolute URLs (i.e., the full URL includinghttps://orhttp://and the domain) in the canonical tag, even if the canonical URL is the same as the current page.Test the Implementation:
After adding the canonical tag, you can test the implementation by viewing the page source in a browser (right-click → “View Page Source”) to ensure that the<link rel="canonical">tag is present and correct.
Best Practices of Canonical Tags?
Only Use One Canonical Tag per Page: Ensure that each page has only one canonical tag. Multiple canonical tags can confuse search engines.
Self-Referencing Canonical Tags: It’s a good practice to add canonical tags to all pages, even if they are self-referencing (i.e., pointing to the same URL).
Ensure Consistency: Be consistent with your canonical tags across the site to avoid conflicting signals to search engines.
You can use tools like:
- Google Search Console: To verify how Google interprets the canonical tags on your site.
- Screaming Frog SEO Spider: To crawl your website and check the implementation of canonical tags.
Explore Our Services in Vijayawada, Guntur, Visakhapatnam, and Amaravati.