The Canonical URL is one of the most important tags in SEO because it helps manage content duplication. Many websites, especially e-commerce sites, have the same content accessible through multiple different URLs.
In such cases, the same content competes across different URLs in search results, and link equity gets divided between two or more pages. Search engines may struggle to decide which page to rank, or in some cases, it may lead to a penalty.
To address this, Google introduced the Canonical URL tag, allowing webmasters to specify which URL should be considered the “original” content, the one to be indexed, and the one to receive all the link equity. However, it’s important to note that this is merely a suggestion to the search engine, and Google may override it if necessary.
Here’s how a Canonical URL tag appears in the source code of a webpage:
<link rel=”canonical” href=”https://www.example.com/original” />
You can read more about the Canonical Tag in this post.
Why is the canonical URL important?
- Managing Duplicate Content: Search engines penalize duplicate content. By using the Canonical URL, website owners can specify the preferred URL for indexing and ranking, thus minimizing the issues caused by duplicated content.
- Focusing Link Equity: When multiple URLs point to the same content, links and references are spread out. Setting a Canonical URL consolidates the link equity to a single URL, maximizing its efficiency and gaining the search engine’s attention.
- Ranking and Organic Traffic: Correctly implementing the Canonical URL can help websites achieve better rankings in search engine results, which can increase visitor numbers and improve conversion rates.
The Canonical URL tag is a critical tool in SEO. It helps manage content duplication, consolidate link equity, and improve rankings. Defining a Canonical URL allows website owners to choose the preferred URL for indexing and displaying to users.
It’s important to note that the Canonical URL is not simply a redirect mechanism, but a way to signal the original version of content to search engines.
For this reason, the Canonical URL should be set as accurately as possible to ensure search engines correctly interpret and rank the content.