What is a Canonical URL? Canonical URL Tag
What is a Canonical URL? Canonical URL Tag. Canonical URL is an important term that every blogger should know. Canonical URL is an HTML tag used to indicate to search engines which URL is the original and prioritized one in case a web page has multiple URLs. Using a canonical URL prevents duplicate content issues, improves SEO performance, prevents content duplication and increases your traffic.
What is a Canonical URL?
Canonical URL or canonical URL is a redirection method used to indicate a priority between different URLs with the same or similar content and to let search engines know which URL is the original. The canonical URL helps website owners solve duplicate content issues and improve search engine optimization (SEO).
On a website, different URLs can occur that offer the same content. For example, a content page can be accessed by different URLs, such as both “example.com/urun” and “www.example.com/urun?ref=123″. In this case, it is important for search engines to indicate which of these different URLs is the actual and preferred content. This is because duplicate content can affect search engine rankings and make it harder for visitors to find the right page.
The canonical URL is added to the beginning of the HTML page using the rel=”canonical” tag. For example:
This tag will redirect other URLs such as “http://www.example.com/urun?ref=123” to the URL “http://www.example.com/urun”. By following the canonical URL, search engines identify the original content and redirect other URLs to this canonical URL. In this way, duplicate content issues are avoided and search engines take the original URL more into account in their indexing and ranking process.
Using a canonical URL is important for improving a website’s SEO performance. This method ensures that search engines index the correct content, unifies page authority and prevents content duplication.
Benefits of using a Canonical URL:
Avoids duplicate content issues: In the case of pages with the same or similar content with different URLs, search engines may index these pages separately and recognize them as duplicate content. In this case, search engines cannot determine which URL represents the original content and page authority is split. Using a canonical URL shows search engines which URL takes precedence and avoids duplicate content issues.
Improves search engine optimization (SEO): The canonical URL helps search engines identify the right content. By following the canonical URL, search engines identify the original URL and redirect other URLs. This way, search engines take the original URL more into account in their indexing and ranking process. By emphasizing the correct URL, page authority increases and SEO performance improves.
Prevents content duplication: Pages with the same content with different URLs can create confusion for users and search engines. Using a canonical URL combines different URLs and directs access to content through a single canonical URL. This prevents content duplication and allows search engines to index the right content while users find the right page.
Improves the user experience: A canonical URL improves the user experience. As users navigate between different URLs, they may struggle to find the right content and the information they want. By using a canonical URL, users can see the correct URL and the user experience is improved.
Increases traffic: A canonical URL unifies and concentrates traffic. Pages with the same content with various URLs can split traffic and lower page authority. Using a canonical URL concentrates traffic on a single URL and increases page authority.
Canonical URL Tag
The URL canonicalization tag is the “rel=canonical” tag, a tag used on an HTML page. This tag tells search engines the canonical (primary) URL of the page and is used to solve duplicate content issues.
The canonicalization tag is added to the ‘head’ section of the HTML page as follows:
<link rel=”canonical” href=”http://www.example.com/kanonik-url” />
In the example above, the URL “http://www.example.com/kanonik-url” is specified as the canonical URL of the page. By reading this tag, search engines understand that the actual content of the page is associated with this canonical URL and redirect other similar or duplicate content URLs to this canonical URL.
The canonicalization tag is used to indicate the preferred URL among different URLs with the same or similar content. This is especially common on e-commerce sites or pages with dynamic URL parameters. Thanks to the canonicalization tag, search engines combine different URLs and recognize the original content, which improves SEO performance and maintains page authority.
Things to consider when using the canonicalization tag:
The canonical URL should represent the truly canonical (primary) URL of the page. Specifying an incorrect or inaccurate canonical URL can cause duplicate content issues.
The canonicalization tag must be added correctly for each page. It should be placed in the <head> section of the page and specify the correct canonical URL to which other URLs will be redirected with this tag.
The canonicalization tag must belong to the page itself. Specifying the canonical URL of another page is a misuse.
The canonicalization tag prevents duplicate content issues and improves SEO performance by redirecting content correctly on websites. However, it is important to use it carefully and correctly.
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