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Canonical URL:

Definition, Function And Use

A properly built website will certainly make it easier for search engines to index the content on the website and recommend the content in the top SERP rankings when the content is of high quality.

However, along the way, sometimes there are obstacles that need to be resolved in order to comply with SEO rules. One of them is the use of canonical URLs to regulate the work of URLs on the website.

How can canonical URLs affect SEO?

  • Definition of Canonical URL
  • Canonical URLs are one way that can be done to adjust URLs to SEO rules.
  • Definition of Canonical URL
  • A canonical URL is a URL setting to become the “official” version of a web page. In the world of digital marketing and SEO (Search Engine Optimization), canonical URLs are used to overcome duplicate content problems.
  • Duplicate content occurs when there are multiple URLs that show the same or very similar content on one website. By specifying a canonical URL, you tell search engines which URL should be considered the main or original version of the page.

Why is Canonical Important?

Using canonical URLs helps search engines index your pages better and ensures that SEO authority is not split between multiple URLs,

If you have one page with multiple URL variants then search engines will use more effort in identifying the URLs. If the URL indexing process can be made easier with canonical URLs, why not do it?

Canonical URL Functions

  • There are several canonical URL functions that make canonical URLs important to implement on your website. Here are some of them:
  • Avoiding Content Duplication
  • If there are two pages that are almost similar, then Google will index them as the same or similar pages. And maybe you can’t delete one of them. Therefore, it is important to inform Google to recommend one of the pages.
  • For example on the website page of an online store, or marketplace. If you have two or more products that are almost similar, then if the whole is indexed normally, it will be vulnerable to being indexed as similar content. This is very detrimental to SEO.
  • So usually the page that is optimized is the category page. While other product pages are set to ‘recommend’ optimized pages, namely category pages.

Managing SEO Authority

When you use canonical URLs, you will be able to determine which pages are optimized and which pages are simply indexed in search engines. This way, there will be no keyword cannibalism or competition for keywords on one website.

Search engines will also get clarity about your content. So that crawling and indexing carried out by search engines is more optimal.

How to Use Canonical URL

  • To use the canonical URL setting, you can take the following easy steps:
  • Determine the Canonical URL
  • The first step is to determine which URL will be the main version of several similar URLs. To determine the canonical URL, at least you use the following guidelines:
  • If you have a lot of similar content, then determine one content that you want to optimize. Of course, the optimized content is the best content.
  • In addition, if there are various link variants that lead to one page, make sure you determine the link that is prioritized.
  • For products with almost the same content, make the category page the canonical URL.
  • In addition, consider this when choosing the URL to be made canonical.
  • The URL that has the simplest and easiest to remember structure.
  • The URL that is most frequently accessed or has the most backlinks.
  • URLs that use the HTTPS protocol if there are HTTP and HTTPS versions. If there are www and non-www URLs, then you can choose one of them.

Add Canonical Tag to HTML

Here are the steps to add a canonical tag to a website page by editing html.

Open the HTML file of your web page that you want to add the rel=”canonical” tag to.

Find the <head> section in the HTML file: The canonical tag must be placed in the <head> section of your HTML document.

Add the canonical tag, namely the <link> tag with the rel=”canonical” attribute and the URL of the official version of the page.

Using Canonical URLs in CMS

For websites that use CMS such as WordPress, for ease of setting canonical, it is easier to use a plugin that you can usually get either for free or for a fee. Zeka Digital usually uses the Yoast SEO plugin to set canonical URLs.

Yoast SEO display on the WordPress editing page. Screenshot source

The method is quite easy,

  • the first step is of course to install the Yoast SEO plugin.
  • Then on a page that is not the main one (which references the main page) open the Yoast SEO feature at the bottom of the content editing.
  • fill in the main link in the Canonical URL section
  • This feature will appear when clicked advanced or continued.
  • After filling in the main link, save and you’re done.

Mistakes in Using Canonical URLs

In setting canonical URLs on a website, you should not make mistakes in implementing them. This is related to the page that will be used as the official optimized version. Here are some mistakes that often occur in implementing canonical URLs.

Using the Wrong URL

  • Make sure to choose the URL that will be prioritized or used as the ‘official’ version according to the provisions stated in the previous article. In addition, in building link building, of course the link that is spread in the link building media is the main link or the official version.
  • It turns out that canonical URLs are very necessary for SEO strategies. Source Pixabay
  • In some cases of canonical URLs, the link used for optimization targets is not the main link. It may work, but it will be more optimal when the optimized link and the main version link or canonical link are the same.
  • Inconsistent in Implementation
  • Make sure you set canonical consistently. If you miss just one page of content, it could be that page that will later be indexed as a duplicate page.

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