Find out what canonicals are and how to use them in SEO to avoid duplicate content and improve your web positioning. Complete guide.
Canonical links, also known as canonical tags, are a fundamental tool in SEO that allows you to manage duplicate content existing on your website, being one of the most relevant elements present within the world of digital marketing.
When the same page or content appears on multiple URLs, search engines may become confused when determining which version is the primary version, which can subsequently negatively impact search engine rankings.
Canonicals allow you to tell search engines which URL is the preferred URL, which should be considered the original and authoritative version of the content, thus helping to consolidate the authority of the page and avoid penalties for duplicate content. If you want to know more, I invite you to delve into this new experience!
What is the canonical tag?
The canonical tag, also known as canonical tag, is an HTML element that is used in web development and search engine optimization (SEO) that tells engines which is the “canonical” (or main) version of a web page when there are multiple URLs that contain similar or duplicate content.
For example, a canonical URL for a blog might be:
- https://example.com/blog/
On the other hand, an alternative URL to the same could be a pagination, such as:
- https://example.com/blog/?page=1
In simple terms, it is a way of telling Google and other search engines that this is the main and original content of your site, which should be indexed with priority and be the first thing shown to the user when they search for the keyword related to said content.
Purpose of the canonicals tag
The main purpose of the canonical tag is to prevent duplicate content issues. When multiple versions of a page on a website are accessible via different URLs, such as with tracking parameters, mobile versions, or different product categories, search engines may have difficulty determining which version is the most relevant to display in search results.
This can obviously dilute the authority of the page and negatively affect SEO rankings. By using the canonical tag, authority and relevance are unified into a single URL, which helps to:
- Build link authority: All SEO signals, such as backlinks, are channeled to the canonical URL, improving its ranking.
- Avoid penalties: Google may view duplicate content as an attempt to manipulate search results, so implementing the canonical tag helps protect your site from potential penalties.
- Improve user experience: Obviously, users are directed to the correct version of the page, which improves the consistency and quality of navigation on the website.
Importance of its correct implementation
For a canonical tag to work, it needs to be implemented correctly so that search engines understand what the original version of a page or URL is. If implemented incorrectly, it can cause problems such as:
- Keyword cannibalization: If multiple versions of a page compete with each other in search results, none of them may rank well.
- Loss of authority: Page authority can become dispersed across different versions, negatively impacting the site’s overall SEO.
Therefore, when designing or maintaining a website, it is essential that you can ensure that the canonical tag is correctly set on all pages that may generate duplicate content.
Not only will this improve search engine performance, but it will also contribute to a better user experience and greater effectiveness in the digital marketing strategy.
Usually, the canonical URL usually appears indicating where the alternative URL is located, so that Google robots or spiders understand that the initial URL found is not the main one, but rather another one.
How to use the canonical tag?
The canonical tag is an essential tool in search engine optimization (SEO), allowing you to consolidate the authority of duplicate or similar content under a single URL. If you can implement it correctly, it will make a huge difference in the performance of your website, as search engines will be able to detect and index the most important content more quickly and efficiently.
Below, I will explain how to use it step by step, along with best practices for its implementation.
Implementing the canonical tag
Implementing the canonical tag is simple and is done directly in the HTML code of the website. Below, I share a step-by-step guide on how to implement this canonical tag:
- Identify the canonical URL: First, you need to determine which is the relevant version of the page you want search engines to index. This will be the URL that will appear in the canonical tag. While this is an easy task, it is key that you are able to correctly choose the valid link for this tag.
- You need to add the canonical tag in the <head> of your HTML: Inside the <head> section of your HTML page, you need to add the <link> tag with the rel=”canonical” attribute and the href value that points to the canonical URL.
Code example:
- <link rel=”canonical” href=”https://www.yoursite.com/favorite-page” />
In this case, the URL https://www.yoursite.com/preferred-page is considered the most relevant, therefore, it is the one we will select as canonical.
- Check its implementation: You need to make sure that the canonical tag is correctly used on all versions of the page that can be considered duplicates, or that Google considers them as such. That way, you can use tools like Google Search Console to verify that the canonical URLs are being recognized and indexed correctly by Google.
Common mistakes when using the canonical tag
Although implementing the canonical tag is relatively simple, it is possible to make mistakes that can negatively impact the SEO effectiveness of your website. Here are some of the most common mistakes and how you can avoid them:
Do not set a unique canonical URL
You should make sure that all duplicate versions of a page point to the same canonical URL. It is important to avoid having a canonical URL point to another page that also has a canonical URL, as this would be a serious contradiction and may confuse search engines.
How do you fix this? You need to check each duplicate page (or page with similar content) and make sure they all point to the same URL declared as canonical.
Canonicalization in chains
A common mistake is to create a chain of canonical tags, where the canonical URL points to another page that in turn has its own canonical tag pointing to a third page. The solution to this, which is also not at all complex, is to make sure that the canonical tag points directly to the final URL that you want search engines to index, avoiding chain links.
Implementing the canonical tag on the wrong pages
It is very important that you avoid placing canonical tags on pages that are not duplicates or that are significantly different, as this could exclude relevant content from search engines, affecting your site’s traffic and, in the case of an e-commerce site, sales.
What is the solution for this? Only use the canonical tag in situations where there is duplicate or very similar content. For unique content, allow the page to be indexed independently.
Canonicalization of the wrong page
In many cases, the wrong URL may be selected as the canonical URL, which can cause search engines to ignore the most relevant page. To help fix this, you should be able to look at and decide which is the most relevant version of the content before setting the canonical URL.
By following these steps, you can avoid common mistakes, ensure your website is effectively optimized, avoid duplicate content issues, and improve your search engine performance.
Examples of using the canonical tag
The canonical tag is an indispensable tool for managing duplicate or similar content on a website. Below, I present concrete examples of how you can apply it in different scenarios, such as e-commerce, blogs and other types of websites, so that you can understand its importance and practical application:
Using the canonical tag in an e-commerce
E-commerce sites often have a large number of similar pages, especially when a product is presented in different versions, such as colors, sizes or models.
Let’s say you sell a t-shirt in three colors: red, blue, and green. Each color has its own URL, but the content of the pages is essentially identical since they belong to the same category, except for the image and the brief description of the color.
Let’s share some examples of individual URLs for this case:
https://www.yoursite.com/green-shirt
https://www.yoursite.com/red-shirt
https://www.yoursite.com/blue-shirt
With this setup, all three pages point to a canonical URL (https://www.yourstore.com/t-shirt ), which is the main version that you want search engines to index and display.
Using the canonical tag in a blog
If you have a blog, it is common to have content that is displayed in multiple formats or locations, such as an article that is displayed on both the home page and the category page or in the direct URL of the post.
Some examples of URLs to apply the canonical of a blog would be:
https://www.yoursite.com/interesting-article
https://www.yoursite.com/home/interesting-article
https://www.yoursite.com/category/interesting-article
This way, if you make sure to tell search engines that the main URL for the article is, for example, “ https://www.yoursite.com/interesting-article ”, you can consolidate the authority of the content.
Using the canonical tag on a site with paginated content
On many websites, such as those featuring long articles or extensive catalogs, it is common to split the content into multiple pages. However, even though the additional pages (page 2, page 3, etc.) contain relevant content, it is crucial that the main page is the one that receives the most attention from search engines.
The links to use as a reference are the following:
https://www.yoursite.com/article?page=1
https://www.yoursite.com/article?page=2
https://www.yoursite.com/article?page=3
This way you can ensure that the first page of your article is the one that is indexed first, while the other pages will continue to be accessible to other users who choose to view the full content.
Using the canonical tag on websites with tracking parameters
It is common to see tracking parameters used in URLs in marketing campaigns to track the origin of traffic. These parameters can create duplicate versions of the same page, which could negatively impact SEO.
Finally, I share with you two URLs with tracking parameters for Facebook and Google so that the example can be understood:
https://www.yoursite.com/product?utm_source=google
https://www.yoursite.com/product?utm_source=facebook
By doing this, you will tell search engines to ignore the tracking parameters and focus on the main canonical URL, which in this case would be: https://www.yoursite.com/product.
Tools to generate canonical tag
Knowing how to implement and monitor canonical tags is necessary to improve the optimization of your website. There are several tools that can facilitate this process, which you can use to ensure that the tags are implemented correctly and that your site is well indexed by search engines.
Google Search Console
Google Search Console is a free tool provided by Google that allows you to monitor and maintain your site’s presence in search results. While it does not generate canonical tags directly, it is invaluable in checking whether Google is correctly interpreting and indexing the canonical URLs you have set. Some of the main key features of GSC are as follows:
- Monitor indexing coverage and review the canonical URLs that Google has chosen for your site.
- Identify content duplication issues and receive alerts if Google detects inconsistencies in your canonical tags.
- View the performance of your pages and how canonical URLs influence their visibility in search results.
How to use it? Being an essential SEO tool, we will share a brief step-by-step guide so you know how to use GSC:
1- Enter Google Search Console, select your web property, and navigate to the “Coverage” or “Performance” section.
2- In order to see the indexed URLs and review the canonical tags, you can go to the “
Indexing” > “Pages” section to make sure they are configured correctly.
3- Once this is done, you will be able to view a series of errors/recommendations that GSC usually makes in relation to indexing, canonicals, error codes and other issues related to SEO.
Yoast SEO (for WordPress)
Yoast SEO is one of the most popular SEO plugins that WordPress can offer you. Boasting a wide range of optimization features, Yoast SEO makes it easy to create canonical tags without having to manually edit the HTML code of your pages.
Yoast SEO for WordPress has the following features:
- Automatically generate canonical tags for your pages and posts.
- Allows you to customize canonical URLs for any page or post if you wish.
- Provides SEO recommendations including proper canonical tag configuration.
Now, how do you use Yoast SEO for WordPress and in relation to canonicals? First, I recommend you navigate to the SEO section within your WP , go to your “ Posts ”.
Here, you have to select some of your content and click on the
“Edit” option and, once inside it, at the end of the
“Advanced” options , where you can see the slot to place the label:
Screaming Frog SEO Spider
Screaming Frog SEO Spider is a desktop tool that crawls websites and provides detailed information about link structure, metadata, and tags, including canonical tags, although there are many more options. It is ideal for auditing large websites and making sure all canonical URLs are set up correctly.
You will find in Screaming Frog a complete tool, with multiple possibilities, even with a very complete free version, which will allow you to crawl up to 500 URLs for free (with the paid version, you can crawl larger sites).
In addition to the above, you will be able to quickly identify pages that lack a canonical tag or have misconfigured tags. You will get a detailed analysis of how canonical tags are distributed on your site.
In order to start working with this tool and discover your canonical problems, you first need to download and install it. Once this is done, open the application and enter the URL of the site to be tracked:
Once the crawl is complete, in the right section of the application, under “Overview” you can find the “Canonicals” subsection and there you can filter the results to see the canonical tags and review any problems or inconsistencies.
Ahrefs
Now I’ll introduce you to Ahrefs, which is a powerful SEO tool known primarily for its backlink analysis capabilities. However, its “Site Audit” feature is extremely useful for identifying issues with canonical tags and other technical SEO aspects.
With Ahrefs, you can perform comprehensive audits on your website, detecting all kinds of backlinks, structural and technical errors, and of course, detecting which canonical tags are missing, incorrect, or misconfigured. It also offers suggestions for optimizing the implementation of your canonical tags.
With this tool, you can see and continuously monitor the performance of your canonical URLs and be alerted to any changes or issues.
To start using this feature, you must log in to the site with your username and go to the “Site Audit” section, leaving the URL of your site and starting the analysis.
Thanks to this, Ahrefs can crawl your site for various errors and points of improvement, including problems with the canonical tags you have (or don’t have) on your site. You should head over to the “All Issues” section and you will be able to see these types of alerts in the “Indexability” subsection.
Semrush
Semrush is another comprehensive SEO tool, the direct competitor of Ahrefs, which offers you a very useful website auditor to verify the correct implementation of canonical tags. Its Site Audit tool analyzes all technical aspects of SEO, including the presence and correct use of canonical tags.
Among the main features of Semrush, it is worth mentioning:
- Detects missing, incorrect, or duplicate canonical tags.
- Provides detailed reports and suggestions to improve your canonical tag settings.
- Monitor the status of your canonical URLs over time.
To start working on your website’s canonical tags, you need to log into Semrush and select “Site Audit” from the options bar on the left side.
The next step is to place the URL of the site to be analyzed in the advanced screen of the Site Audit option:
Semrush will crawl your site and provide you with a detailed report on the status of canonical tags, along with other SEO recommendations.
Ryte
Last but not least, it’s worth mentioning Ryte, which is a new tool that comes to compete with other big players in the market. It has multiple functionalities, nothing that SEMrush or Ahrefs don’t offer, although it seems to be at a much more competitive price.
It is ideal for those looking for a more specific solution focused on the technical optimization of websites.
Among its main features in relation to canonical tags, I can detect that, thanks to this plugin, you can correctly check the use of them on your website. In addition, it will provide you with alerts and suggestions to correct incorrectly configured or missing canonical tags. It is possible to integrate it with Google Search Console for more in-depth monitoring.
Honestly, I have never used this platform, nor can I find any users or tutorials on YouTube that show how to interact with it in relation to the canonical tag.
However, I have been able to find reports that indicate that the tool is responsible for auditing a site and provides reports on the configurations that a site’s canonical tags have (if any), allowing you to make adjustments from within the platform itself.
I have requested a free demo, but I have not received a response yet. I promise to update the article in the future to add this missing information. But you, who are reading this, did you know about this tool? Have you used it? It would be great if you could leave us a comment about it!
Have you understood the importance of the Canonical tag on your site?
In summary, it is possible to confirm that canonical tags are essential to optimize the SEO of your website, especially when there are problems with duplicate or similar content, which many tools can help you detect. These tags help search engines identify the correct version of a page, which improves positioning and ensures a better experience for users visiting your site.
If you have had any experience with canonical tags or have questions about how to implement them on your site, feel free to leave a comment. We are here to help!
At Enjoy Minder we can help you with your site!
We understand that correctly implementing canonical tags on a website may not be easy for everyone, as it is necessary to create a sitemap and fully study all the content and URLs that exist. For this, we can offer you our services, since at Enjoy Minder we have a team of professionals specialized in all areas of SEO, SEM and digital marketing.
We invite you to leave a comment and/or contact us so we can help you get your content indexed and distinguished by search engines!
