Canonical tag

What is a Canonical Tag?

A Canonical tag specifies the sourceURL (or the original content page) of a particular page for a Search Engine like Google. Canonical tags are used to declare a single page as its own source or to duplicate pages to point to their source/origin page. Search engines use the canonical tag to combat duplicate content issues and assign the page that is declared as "sourceURL" is referred to as a search engineRanking-value for this content.

Why are canonical tags important?

Duplicate content is a big no-go for search engines. Pages with identical or very similar content on your website are considered negative. This can be used by Google to devalue your website when determining rankings. If you use https on your website, a Content-management system such as WordPress or Drupal or run an eCommerce website, you have the option of combining different URLs.

These can be used by people to access your website. By properly using canonical tags for pages on your website, you can avoid these pitfalls and reap the benefits of a robust website and streamlined practices for Search engine optimization to the full.

How do I apply a Canonical Tag?

On the pages that Google considers to be Canonical tag should recognize, appends a link tag to the head of the HTML code. For example, to link www.wolf-of-seo.de with the Canonical tag the code would look like this:

Repeat this step for every page on your website that you want to make "canonical". Here, too, the use of a Content Management Systems like WordPress optimize this effort.

On which pages should I apply the Canonical Tag?

As many as needed. Social media visits, internal site searches, referral links, and other inbound referrals all have the potential to create a unique URL that could have a negative impact on your website's rankings. In addition, many allow Content-Management systems several URL-paths provide access to the same content. All of these paths can be searched, and Google could potentially identify them as separate pages with duplicate content.

If you're not sure if duplicate content issues are affecting your SEO, we can perform a full SEO audit of your site to identify issues that are affecting how your site is searched and where it ranks. Once you know what the issues are, you can start fixing them.

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FAQ

What are canonical tags in SEO?

What is a canonical tag? A canonical tag (also known as "rel canonical") tells search engines that a particular URL is the main copy of a page. Using the canonical tag prevents problems caused by identical or "duplicate" content under multiple URLs.

Do canonical tags affect SEO?

Canonical tags affect search engine optimization in two ways. First, they directly influence the display of search results. They can also influence the overall rankings of a website based on several factors such as structure, user experience, and PageRank flow.

How important is the canonical day?

Canonical tags are an effective way to tell Google and other search engines which URLs to index. You can prevent duplicate content problems if you have different versions of the same page: for example, an original and a print version of the same page, session IDs, or color variants of the same product.

How to add a canonical tag?

By redirecting from the HTTP page to the HTTPS page. Add a rel="canonical" link from the HTTP page to the HTTPS page.

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Niels Stuck

Niels Stuck has 10 years of SEO experience and is the founder of the SEO agency "WOLF OF SEO". He gained practical experience by building 20+ affiliate sites alongside his marketing studies. Finally, he wrote his bachelor thesis about the influence of SEO on Google rankings, traffic and sales development in the form of a case study. Today, he specializes in e-commerce SEO and helps more than 80 companies build a sustainable organic revenue channel through SEO. Niels advises startups, established brands and corporations in search engine optimization of their online stores and primarily focuses on data-based content strategies and link building. He shares his knowledge about SEO and online marketing in this blog, as a speaker at conferences, in podcasts and as a guest author for OMT, Forbes, Starting Up and many more platforms.

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