A canonical tag is an HTML element included in a page's webpage or source code typically (i.e. rel=canonical). The tag is meant to signal to search engines that the indicated page is the authoritative or preferred version. In situations where there are several pages with similar or identical content, the canonical tag directs search engines to prefer one URL among others; this helps in avoiding any SEO issues related to duplicate content. The tag ensures the correct page is indexed and ranked over alternatives thereby enhancing on-site SEO.
As a site has increasingly more content and similar content published across mulitple websites, canonical tags become increasingly important for SEO. Without them, search engines might get confused by multiple URLs with similar content, potentially splitting the ranking power between these pages. This may result in lower and fewer rankings overall. Employing canonical tags ensure that search spiders acknowledge the main version of the content. This helps to consolidate ranking for and enhancing page visibility of the original version.
Add canonical tags by updating the HTML on a site. Although editing HTML can feel daunting, implementing canonical tags is relatively straightforward. Add an HTML snippet as follows:
<link rel="canonical" href="URL" />
to the tag in the <head> section of the page's HTML code, directing to the master URL. Some sites will have a UI that allows the user to update the master URL without directly editing the HTML.
Note that an incorrect implementation can lead to SEO issues. Double-check to ensure that the canonical URL specified is correct.
Sometimes, canonical tags can fail to achieve the intended result. Search engines can then choose which version to rank higher or split the traffic.
These issues can occur because of incorrect URLs, missing tags, or other technical issues with how the canonical tag was created.
Creators can and should periodically audit the website for issues. For Chrome users, this can be done by going to:
From there, users can resolve issues and perform a continuous review to ensure canonical tag implementation is done appropriately. Taking the audit one step further, tools like Google Search Console can help determine how search engines interpret the HTML elements.
Use canonical tags for maximum results by following best practices:
Do not use canonical tags for completely different content. The only situation for canonical tags is if the content is either duplicate or almost identical.
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