Canonical Tag: What is it and why it matters

Last Updated April 22, 2024

Today, we are going to talk about a term that is crucial for your blog’s SEO – the Canonical Tag.

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What is a Canonical Tag?

A canonical tag, also known as rel=canonical, is a piece of HTML code that helps search engines identify the main version of a page when there are multiple pages with identical or very similar content.

In simpler terms, it’s a way to tell search engines, “Hey, this is the main version of this page that I want you to index and show in the search results.”

For example, the canonical tag for your main blog page might look like this:

<link rel="canonical" href="https://yourblog.com/main-page/" />

Why Are Canonical Tags Important?

Avoid Duplicate Content: Search engines, like Google, don’t like duplicate content. It confuses them, and they might end up indexing and ranking the wrong version of your page. Canonical tags help you specify which version of the page you want to be considered as the main one.
Consolidate Link Equity: If there are multiple versions of a page, the backlinks to those pages will be divided among them. By using a canonical tag, you consolidate the link equity to the main page, which can help improve its ranking.
Improve Crawling Efficiency: Search engines have a crawl budget, which is the number of pages they will crawl on your site in a given time. By using canonical tags, you can help search engines to not waste their crawl budget on duplicate pages.

Best Practices for Using Canonical Tags

Use Absolute URLs: Always use the absolute URL in the canonical tag, not the relative URL. For example, use https://yourblog.com/main-page/ instead of /main-page/.
Self-Canonicalize: Even if a page doesn’t have any duplicates, it’s still a good practice to include a self-referencing canonical tag. This helps to avoid any confusion for search engines.
Be Consistent: Make sure that the URL used in the canonical tag is consistent across the site. For example, if your site uses https, make sure that the canonical tag also uses https.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Canonical Chains: A canonical chain occurs when Page A references Page B as the canonical, and Page B references Page C as the canonical. Always point the canonical tag directly to the main version of the page.
Multiple Canonical Tags: There should only be one canonical tag on a page. If there are multiple canonical tags, search engines might ignore them.
Non-Similar Content: Don’t use the canonical tag on pages with completely different content. It should only be used on pages with identical or very similar content.

Conclusion

Canonical tags are an essential tool for bloggers to manage duplicate content, consolidate link equity, and improve crawling efficiency. By using them correctly, you can help search engines understand your content better and improve your blog’s SEO.

When should I use a canonical tag?

Use a canonical tag when you have two or more pages that are the same, or almost the same, and you want Google to treat one page as the main version.

This often happens with product pages, blog posts that can be reached through different URLs, or pages with tracking parameters like ?utm_source=.

A good habit is to add a self-canonical tag to every important page, even if you think it has no duplicates. It helps prevent future SEO issues if your site structure changes.

Can canonical tags fix duplicate URLs caused by https, www, or URL parameters?

Yes, canonical tags can help when the same content shows up under different URLs. The canonical tells search engines which URL should get the credit.

For example, you might have the same page loading as http and https, or with and without www, or with extra parameters. Your canonical should point to the clean, preferred version.

Use absolute URLs and be consistent with your site setup. If your site uses https, make sure the canonical also uses https.

If you are also cleaning up messy URLs, a consistent permalink structure helps a lot. You can plan better slugs with the Permalink tool.

Should I use a canonical tag or a 301 redirect?

Use a canonical tag when you need multiple versions to exist, but you want one version to be the “main” one for SEO.

Use a 301 redirect when you do not want the extra version to exist at all. A redirect sends people and search engines to the new URL automatically.

If users could land on the duplicate page and get confused, a redirect is usually better. If the duplicate page must stay live for tracking, filtering, or sorting, canonical is often the better choice.

What is the difference between a canonical tag and a noindex tag?

A canonical tag says, “Index this other page instead.” A noindex tag says, “Do not index this page at all.”

Canonical is best when pages are very similar and you want to combine ranking signals into one main page. Noindex is better for pages you do not want in Google, like thin pages, internal search results, or private-looking pages.

You can learn more about when to use noindex in the Noindex tag guide. When in doubt, do not mix signals unless you have a clear reason and you have tested the results.

How can RightBlogger help me improve pages that need canonicals?

RightBlogger can help you spot SEO problems that often go with duplicate content, like messy internal links, weak titles, and pages that compete for the same keyword.

Start by running an audit with SEO Reports. It gives you clear items to fix, so you spend less time guessing.

After that, you can improve the main page so it earns the ranking. For example, you can tighten the headline, update sections, and make the page more complete before you Submit URL to Google for faster re-crawling.