Canonical URL Tag in SEO

Posted by Zaheer Abbas on Sep 17, 2011 in SEO Tips | 49 comments

Recently, I had a client who was using different URLs of the same websites for his internet marketing strategy, including PPC campaign etc and as you know these days the SEO clients have first-hand knowledge of SEO and they understand such things could be a potential issue in their SEO campaign, and for the same reason, when this client asked me how to get over with this issue and what’s the best practice in SEO for using multiple pages of the same version of a domain, the only answer I had was the canonical URL tag use.

What is a Canonical URL tag?

Introduced by all search engines (Google, Yahoo & MSN) together in early 2009, a canonical URL tag is a tag code that you place in your HTML source of your page that tells Google and other search engines that this page is an identical copy of the URL placed in that tag. What this means exactly is that Google will not consider it as a duplicate page and this page will not be ranking well as compared to its canonical URL in Google. Simply put this gives an indication to Google about your preferred version of the similar content pages on the same domain.

Here is the canonical tag code,

So where do you place canonical URL tag in your code? Normally the canonical URL tag is placed in your <head> section of the duplicate content URL.

Canonical URL Tag vs a 301 redirect?

Canonical URL tag is for search engines and not for the human site visitors which means you can still track unique visits to that page.
The URL having canonical URL tag gets indexed and has its own slow ranking but it doesn’t disappear from the search engines as compared to a 301 redirect where the page is no longer ranking or visible to your visitors.
You can make a 301 redirect to a different domain, but canonical URL tag can only be referred to another URL on the same domain.
Both 301 redirect and canonical URL tag transfer their link juice and other URL properties like page ranking, authority and related signals to the pointing URL.

Why to use a canonical URL tag?

If you are using multiple pages of duplicate content on your domain for whatever reason (print version, a copy for PPC, or a different URL as your landing page), the best practice to follow is placing a canonical URL tag, as this tag tell search engines that you are not trying to duplicate different URLs and hence reducing the quality of your website due to repeated content, but rather, you are using these pages for certain purposes for your own internet marketing strategy. This way, search engines have to worry no longer on which page is the “real” page. So, instead of leaving a search engine to decide which of these multiple duplicate content pages needs to be indexed properly, you make this decision by putting canonical URL tag and making things clear and smooth.

Canonical URL tag fair usage policy and SEO best practice:

Canonical URL tag is used if you are using different URLs having the same content page (duplicate copy) for the purposes like running PPC campaign, a print version of the same page etc. This sends signals to search engines on what version of a page you want them to consider during their ranking process.
It’s imperative that the pages with canonical URL tag must be similar to the page they are referring to. If not 100%, they have to be nearly 100% duplicate copy of the referring page. A small variation for the sake of use of that page in your print version or anything else you want to use that page is okay with search engines, but if you are using a totally different content and putting a canonical URL tag, then it doesn’t serve the purpose and rather makes Google feel as if you were cheating, means you are using a non-relevant page to strengthen another page by giving signals to search engines that they are of similar nature.

49 Responses to “Canonical URL Tag in SEO”

Melvina says:

November 11, 2011 at 7:50 am

Whoever edits and publishes these atilrces really knows what they’re doing.

Reply
admin says:

December 28, 2011 at 8:53 pm

Thanks Melvina. I write them all.

Reply
windmills energy says:

February 28, 2012 at 4:16 pm

I like the valuable information you supply in your articles. I will bookmark your blog and check again here frequently. I’m quite sure I’ll learn many new stuff right here! Best of luck for the next!

Reply

SEO Consultation & Strategy

SEO Junky carries over 10 years of hands on experience of all aspect of internet marketing & branding. I can work closely with you to create and maintain your corporate identity. I do provide a full range of corporate branding and SEO consultation together with technical support. I will create an internet marketing strategy that WILL work for you including search engine optimization, social media marketing & banner advertisement. Please click here to send me an email about your requirements and I will get back to you ASAP.

With the recent Google updates and algorithm changes designing your internet marketing & SE0 strategy has become extremely important. What worked last year, won\'t work now and what works now is not going to work tomorrow. The best way is to get your website analyzed and researched by an SEO expert and lay down the strategy that doesn\'t make any issue with search engines. There is a considerable amount of initial effort required to draw a basic structure of your SEO foundation based on your niche, keywords and conversion goals. This will include keyword research, competitors\' analysis, targeted regions, conversion goals, URL structure and other on-page SEO. All this is primary job of an SEO consultant. Once a strategy is in place then you can start the actual work on both on-page and off-page optimization of your site.

SEOJunky provides latest trends in SEO including updates and changes in Google strategy, so please tune yourself with our blog through RSS or email and get regular updates on search engines and SEO strategies.

Please contact us should you have any question or queries regarding our SEO consultation.

random posts