A canonical URL is the preferred version of a webpage among a set of duplicate or similar pages. A canonical URL is the URL that search engines, like Google, will index and display in search results. By specifying a canonical URL, you can guide search engines to treat one version of a page as the “master” version, this helps to avoid issues with duplicate content.
Example: Html CopyEdit
<link rel=”canonical” ref=”https://example.com/preferred-page/”>
Why Are Canonical URLs Important? Canonical URLs help:
- Avoid Duplicate Content: If multiple pages contain similar or identical content, the canonical URL ensures that only the preferred version is indexed by search engines.
- Improve SEO: By consolidating link signals from duplicate pages, the canonical URL helps boost the ranking of the preferred page.
- Prevent Indexing Issues: Without a specified canonical URL, Google may choose the wrong version of a page, potentially affecting your site’s SEO performance.
How to Set a Canonical URL You can set a canonical URL by adding a canonical tag to the HTML <head> of the page:
Html CopyEdit
<link rel=”canonical” ref=”https://example.com/page/”>
This tag tells search engines which version of a page should be considered the primary one.
Best Practices for Canonical URLs
- Use Self-Referencing Canonicals: Always add a canonical tag to a page that points to itself. This clarifies to Google that the page is the preferred version for indexing.
- Avoid Non-Canonical URLs in Sitemaps: Don’t include non-canonical URLs in your sitemap. This helps Google understand and navigate your preferred URLs.
- Don’t Set 404s as Canonical: Ensure that your canonical URLs are valid and not pointing to pages that are not working or return a 404 error.
