In HTML, the rel=canonical tag indicates which web pages are likely to be mistaken for duplicates. Search engines are able to discern which page is the original via this tag, and which subsequent copies, by using it in pages with similar or identical content.
This method avoids duplicate content issues by ranking the canonical version higher than the copies. SEO is all about content. The core of your digital marketing strategy should be creating new, fresh, relevant content for your blog or website. It can happen from time to time, though, that a website will need to repeat the exact same content or even do so across multiple sites.
Other search engines will also consider this content to be duplicated. However, some duplication is inevitable for many businesses, for instance when a product has only subtle differences or when a press release is published on different platforms at the same time.
Google understands that the majority of duplicate content is not caused by webmasters manipulating search results. Matt Cutts, the Google spokesperson, stated in 2013 that duplicate content is not penalized, but can negatively impact a website’s ranking on search results pages.
You must make it very clear to search engines which URLs are the original versions of content, the ones that are important to you, and which are copies. Your SEO agency will be able to identify possible duplication issues and help you determine which pages should be accounted for as originals and which as copies.
The rel=canonical attribute comes into play here
To put it simply, a rel=canonical tag signifies that your content should only be indexed by search engines. In the event that a duplicate copy of a page is placed correctly in the HTML code, it will tell the search engine to give all SEO credit to the first copy.
The curators of websites can at this point channel all the link metrics, including backlinks and page authority, into the original, instead of dispersed across multiple pages and causing internal competition.
Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that you are choosing the Furthermore, website structure and user navigation may place website curators in a position where they are forced to duplicate content. The issue tends to affect e-commerce sites such as Shopify, where users may land on a product page through a number of different URLs depending on where they came from.
Canonicalizing the link
It is important to mark the version of the content that you value most like the original. In addition to the appearance of the page and the neatness of the URL, there are other factors that could impact your decision.
URLs such as the above Route & URL often work best. You should be able to determine which page attracts the most traffic or ranks the highest in search if there are no obvious differences. To maximize the SEO benefits of this page, they would recommend adding a canonical tag.
Canonical links and SEO
The rel=canonical attribute isn’t required by search engines, but it has great SEO value. Unlike duplicate content being penalized, crawlers may display the wrong page in search if they don’t know which one to show. Consequently, your site’s traffic and visibility may suffer as a result. Delete, edit, or change any duplicate content.
