This is one of the most trending topics when it comes to optimizing your website for technical SEO purposes. It is known as Canonical URLs. Canonical tags are a key part when it comes to managing the search engine with the content of your website. There are many roles of Canonical tags in your website. Here we get you the guide for or what are Canonical tags and why Canonical tag is used?
Optimizing the Canonical tag is one of the foremost tasks done by SEO professionals. There is a list of benefits associated with it, but the primary advantage is that it helps the search engine to distinguish whether the content is unique or not. Through this way, it creates a scope of opportunities for your content to get better traction from search engines.
Let us know to understand what are Canonical tags and why Canonical tag is used.
Page Contents
What are Canonical tags?
The Canonical tag URL denotes the webpage as unique. It is like the original version of the content that has been used on the website. This is done so that the search engine crawler does not get confused with other web pages and term it as duplicate. This is the reason why Canonical tags are used for every web page.
Canonical tag focuses from the search engine crawler perspective. It is used to make the search engine understand that no content is alike in the website. It is one of the primary factors that help your page to get appeared on the search engine result.
The process to optimize the canonical tag isn’t as complicated as you think. Because it has a simple HTML structure that you need to integrate within every web page. You can do this through the manual method or use the automated way with the help of a plugin.
Example of Canonical tag
If you can see the code termed as rel=”canonical” then that page is known to be the most unique one.
You can also notice the code structure in the following format: <link rel=”canonical” href=”https://website.com/hello-world/” />
By looking at the above canonical URL structure, the rel=”canonical” is the foundation for setting up Canonical tags for web pages. The href=”https://website.com/hello-world/” is the canonicalized version of the web page.
Why Canonical tag is used?
The Canonical tag is used primarily for search engine purposes, but there are various benefits associated with it. Here is the list of advantages of using Canonical tag for your website.
1. Helps search engine crawler to understand the unique page
The primary benefit of using the Canonical tag is to make understand the search engine crawler which is the unique page. It is a process basically to distinguish between two web pages that are identical in nature. It doesn’t mean that you need to use the tags just for the pages that are similar but you can use the tag for every webpage that boosts up the page value.
As you all know that duplicate content even within web pages is equally a threat. This is the reason that SEO professionals use canonical tags for every page so that the search engine crawler does not confuse two pages for one result.
The process is done by the search engine crawler when it scans the backend of your web page and finds the HTML code element which is composed of the canonical tag. This code is the basic way to position your webpage as the original.
2. Ranking your web pages
When the search engine crawler can understand what is your page all about, your web page starts to show up on the search engine result. It is one of the most primary factors that help your page to focus on the user query being searched on the search engine. As they can distinguish that the focus keyword is dedicated to the specific landing page.
Google or any other search engine crawler hates the web pages that have duplicate or similar content. The Canonical tag is the solution to deal with such problems. It immediately boosts up the ranking signal and gathers trust from the search engine towards your website.
3. Indexes your webpage faster
This is one of the most common instances that is faced by many website owners and bloggers. When you have similar content that does not have Canonical tags, the search engine crawler confuses within themselves and your indexing process goes slower. This is the reason that you need to integrate the Canonical tag which helps the search engine crawler to term your content as unique.
Indexing is the major factor that the publishers need to be aware of. When you have researched the content and invested time and effort, you need to be aware of the technical aspects of optimisation as well. By making the search crawler understand the source of content, the process of indexation gets quicker.
4. Helps in creating variations of pages
When you have to position your blog or website in multiple verticals, a canonical tag is one of the best ways to proceed with it. Whether you have the solutions or products that you want to offer in the market, the problem is that you need to use the same content on every webpage. This is the reason why inserting the Canonical tag helps in distinguishing the web pages as unique.
If you wish to target multiple countries or use cases, canonical tags come in handy. They can be used through multiple URL parameters for distinguishing its variation.
This is highly utilized in online stores for distinguishing the product based on its rate, colour, and size.
In another scenario, if you have non-www pages and www pages, the Canonical tag is used in making the pages unique. It also applies to the pages which have HTTPS and HTTP variations, the Canonical tag eliminates the issue of similar content.
5. Effective tracking mechanism
The Canonical tag also helps in the way you want to track your success on the web pages. This can be based on the traffic source received from organic or it can even be the other modes of channels.
As you can position your web pages based on canonical tag URLs, it helps in the reporting process and sorts the data accordingly. It is also one of the basic steps that allow you to organize your website statistics effectively.
What are the differences between Canonical tags and 301 redirects?
There is a vast difference when it comes to comparing Canonical tags with 301 redirects. The 301 redirects are primarily used to redirect the web pages towards webpage that is of a similar kind from the same category. Whereas the Canonical tags don’t redirect the existing web page but help the search engine crawler to understand it is a unique source.
Canonical tags are used to pass on the link equity in terms of increasing the page authority and domain authority. It also benefits in increasing the webpage relevancy based on the focused primary keyword.
The 301 redirects are used to divert your traffic from one web page to another web page. This makes the original web page inaccessible and it routes all the traffic towards the mentioned page that you want your website visitors to see. This is primarily used in broken pages or other posts that are not required for the end-user to see.
Concluding thoughts
The search engine algorithms are becoming more stringent than before. This is usually practised by search engine crawlers to eliminate websites that are using black hat techniques. This can be done by replicating web pages or directly copying content from other websites. The search engine algorithm is strict when they notice that duplicate content is found. As a result, the website can be permanently penalized from appearing on search results. This is the reason for the rise in usage of Canonical tags. I hope that you are not aware of what are Canonical tags and why are they used. Now it’s your turn to set up a Canonical tag for your website.