What is Canonical? In the field of SEO, this is a fairly familiar term. Thanks to canonical tags, we can solve the problem of duplicate content on the website. In today’s article, Vietbros Team will learn with you guys about canonical URLs, canonical tags as well as how to use tags appropriately. Let’s get started!
What is Canonical in SEO?
In SEO (Search Engine Optimization), the term “Canonical” refers to the concept of specifying the preferred version of a webpage when there are multiple versions of that page available. Canonicalization helps search engines understand which version of the page should be considered as the authoritative or primary version. This is particularly important when duplicate or similar content exists across different URLs, such as when using parameters, session IDs, or multiple subdomains.
What is Canonical in SEO?
Canonical tags, also known as rel=”canonical” tags, are HTML elements that are added to the head section of a webpage. The canonical tag specifies the canonical URL for that particular page, indicating the preferred version to search engines. It helps consolidate the ranking signals and avoid duplicate content issues.
Canonical tags are typically used in the following cases:
- Duplicate content: When you have identical or substantially similar content accessible through different URLs, canonical tags should be used to specify the preferred version. This can occur due to URL variations, session IDs, sorting parameters, or other factors.
Canonical tags are typically used
- Similar content across multiple pages: If you have multiple pages that contain similar content but are not necessarily duplicates, you can use canonical tags to indicate the preferred or main version. This can be helpful when you have different URLs serving similar products or variations of a single piece of content.
- Syndicated content: If you syndicate your content to other websites or platforms, and it appears on multiple sites, you can use canonical tags to specify the original or preferred source of the content. This helps search engines understand the content’s origin and attribute the appropriate SEO signals to the canonical URL.
- Print versions of webpages: If you provide print-friendly versions of your webpages, it’s advisable to use canonical tags to indicate the preferred URL for search engines to index. This ensures that search engines focus on the primary version of the content instead of indexing the print versions.
How you can use canonical tags effectively:
- Identify duplicate content: Determine if there are multiple versions of the same content accessible through different URLs on your website.
- Choose the preferred version: Decide which version of the content should be considered as the canonical version, the one you want search engines to index and rank.
- Implement the canonical tag: Add the canonical tag to the head section of each duplicate version of the page, pointing to the preferred version’s URL. The canonical tag’s format is <link rel=”canonical” href=”https://www.example.com/preferred-version”>.
- Verify implementation: Ensure that the canonical tags are correctly implemented on all duplicate versions of the page you identified.
- Consistent internal linking: When linking internally within your website, use the canonical URL as the target link to maintain consistency and reinforce the preferred version.
- Monitor and update: Regularly monitor your website for new instances of duplicate content and implement canonical tags as necessary.
How you can use canonical tags effectively
By properly implementing canonical tags, you can consolidate the ranking signals for your preferred version of the page, improve crawl efficiency, and avoid dilution of SEO authority due to duplicate content.
Summary
The canonical tag plays an important role in solving the problem of duplicate content and optimizing the website for search engines. Adopting canonical tags will help you avoid losing points in SEO due to duplicate content, improve site performance, and create a better user experience. Hopefully, Vietbros‘ article has helped you understand what canonical is and provided useful information.
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