What is link Rel=Canonical?

Rel=Canonical Another Important_ Google Ranking Factor_.pacelab - seo agency london

The rel=canonical element often called the “canonical link”, is an HTML element that helps webmasters prevent duplicate content issues. It does this by specifying the “Canonical URL”, the “preferred” version of an internet page – the initial source, even. Using it well improves a site’s SEO.

What is a Rel=Canonical  URL?

A Canonical URL element, or canonical tag, is found within the HTML header of a webpage and tells search engines if there’s a more important version of the page. The canonical tag appears as rel=” canonical”.

For example, this line of HTML code tells search engines that the URL “https://shoestore.org” is that the original version of the page that this tag occurs on:

<link rel=”canonical” href=”https://shoestore.org” />

What is a Canonical URL? A way to Master the Rel=Canonical Tag!

A canonical URL is the preferred version of an internet page. It appears in a very small piece of code found on a page that tells search engines a way to crawl the page and rank the importance of the content.

within the event that you just have a similar content found on different URLs, using this code— stated as rel=canonical tag—will help search crawlers better understand what content is vital, resolve duplicate content issues, improve the ranking of that content, and ultimately, can lead more customers to your site.

The tag is vital because search engines regularly crawl websites to appear for information to assist them to decide a way to rank pages and posts.

If the search crawler finds two pages with identical content, it doesn’t know how to rank them.

It can’t decide which page should rank; therefore the two pages cannibalize the ranking potential of the other. As a result, it’s possible that neither piece of SEO content will rank.

A canonical URL should be found out if you’ve got two pages of similar content on your website or if you’ve got content on your site that’s also used on another site.

You’ll be able to use a canonical tag to point Google to the first content and make certain the primary piece gets all of the credit and SEO benefits.

This tag was introduced in 2009 when Google worked with Microsoft (Bing) and Yahoo to make a consensus to just accept the canonical terms.

While this text will likely concentrate on using canonicals to assist Google crawlers, know that the overwhelming majority of search engines accept these tags.

What Is a Rel=Canonical Tag, and how Can It Help Your SEO?

It would be nice if Google provided a full report on why a web site ranks where it does. Unfortunately, even the foremost experienced SEO professionals don’t have the complete answer sheet.

Over time, however, Google and therefore the other search engines provide the general public with information on how they will improve their search ranking by implementing technical changes to their website.

One among the most important evolutions to come back out of those releases, and still one of the most misunderstood, is the development of the canonical tag.

What does a Rel=Canonical tag do?

A Rel=Canonical tag specifies the source URL (or original content page) of a given page to a research engine like Google.

Canonical tags are used to declare one page as its own source or for duplicate pages to reference their source / originating page.

Search Engines use the canonical tag to combat duplicate content issues and assign search engine ranking value for that content to the page designated as the “source” URL.

How do I apply a canonical tag?

On the pages that you just want Google to recognize as canonical, add a link tag to the top of the HTML code. For instance, to designate www.LTnow.com with the canonical tag, the code would look like:

<link rel=”canonical href=”https://www.ltnow.com” />

Rinse and repeat for each page on your site you want to form canonical. Again, the use of a Content Management System like Word Press can streamline this effort.

Why do Rel=Canonical tags matter?

Duplicate content is a big no-no to search engines. Having pages of identical or very similar content on your website is seen as a negative and should be utilized by Google to devalue your website when determining rankings.

If you utilize https on your site, utilize a content management system like Word Press or Drupal, or run an e-commerce website, the combination of various URLs people can use to access your website opens you up to a major SEO vulnerability if not properly addressed.

By properly employing canonical tags to pages on your site, you can avoid this pitfall and take full advantage of both a strong site and streamlined Search engine Optimization practices.

Why is Rel=Canonical Good for SEO?

Simply put, duplicate content confuses search engines. When search engines check out multiple pages with equivalent content and no clear keyword optimization signals they:

  • Don’t know which piece to assign credit to
  • Don’t know what to index
  • Don’t know which pages should rank

A rel=canonical tag clarifies this, helps search engines understand the content, prevents them from ignoring the page and improves the possibilities the content will going to be ranked.

CONCLUSION-

Rel=Canonical, When used properly, use of this tag may prevent Google from penalizing your site for duplicate content.