What Are Canonical URLs and their Effects on SEO?

In order for a website to appear on the first page of search results, it requires good and up-to-date mastery of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Canonical SEO is one of the things that helps optimize a website. How important are these types of links on websites, especially their visibility in search results? Here we are going to know about Canonical URLs and their Effects on SEO

Also Read: 10 Ways to Optimize On-Page SEO to Increase Website Traffic

Understanding Canonical URLs?

In general, canonical URLs or canonical tags are HTML elements that help webmasters prevent content creation problems, especially duplication. Those of you who work as webmasters can apply canonical SEO by specifying the URL of the preferred domain on the site page.

Canonical URLs were first introduced in 2009 when Google was in partnership with Microsoft and Yahoo. Its original purpose was as a consensus builder who accepted the canonical terms.

But now, this technique has also improved the SEO performance that you use for the website.

Then, what does the Canonical URL format look like? You can find it in the HTML header of the website page. From here, the URL will tell the search engine if there is a website page that is more important or prioritized. The canonical tag appears with the format rel="canonical".

The use of Canonical URLs is also important considering that search engines crawl regularly, the purpose is to dig up information to decide search rankings on certain pages or uploads.

If the search crawler captures two pages with the same content, it won’t rank because it considers it a duplication.

Therefore, it would be better to prepare a canonical URL in managing two pages with similar content or the content used on other websites, use Canonical SEO which helps to direct Google to the original content.

This step is also what will ensure its first part earns all the credits as well as SEO benefits.

Why Canonical URLs Are Important For SEO?

Canonical URLs are closely related to SEO, as you can capture from the description above. Programmers and SEO experts say, in addition to programming, SEO is one of the profitable factors in today’s sophisticated era.

In addition to helping manage your website, SEO is also what makes it easier for you to compete internationally.

In this case, canonical URLs will maximize in applying SEO to the website, why is that? Check out the explanation below.

1. Helps Determine the Url

A good mastery of canonical SEO helps you determine which URLs are needed for users to see when they appear in search results of search engines such as Google. Most users usually prefer websites with short and clear URLs, for example:
https://techbriefers.com/10-ways-to-optimize-on-page-seo-to-increase-website-traffic/

In addition to being easy to remember, the first link is also shorter and will appear in full in the search results. This is where canonical URLs play an important role. Because it will make it easier for you when managing websites and users who access them.

Also Read: Online Business: Definition, Types and Benefits

2. Make It Easy to Track Products or Content Topics

As you know, Google updates the algorithm regularly to make the quality of the content in the SERPs better. One of the updates made in July 2021, for example, improves the page experience better (source: internet).

Canonical SEO in this case makes it easier to track topic or product tracking metrics, including those you display on the website. Too many URLs can make it difficult for metrics to be incorporated into certain pieces of content, but canonical tags can keep them looking organized and simple. You are also more practical to report it to the client and Google’s algorithm is guaranteed to like it.

3. Combining Link Signals

Another reason that makes canonical URLs good for SEO is their ability to combine link signals or links for similar website pages. You can also manage allied content thanks to canonical tags.

At this point, canonical SEO can also help search engines such as Google combine the information collected for each URL. For example, links to the outside become a unified official URL. Those of you who will publish content on other websites can also remind their ranking with canonical tags on the preferred URL page.

Also Read: Complete Guide to Keyword Research

How to Implement Canonical SEO?

After knowing the meaning of the importance of canonical URLs, you also need to know how to implement Canonical SEO.

A. Use Absolute URLs

Senior Webmaster Trends Analytics Google John Mueller advises you to avoid relative paths such as rail link elements = “canonical“. Instead of using:

We recommend that you use:

B. Use Lowercase Letters For URLs

The next step you can take to apply canonical SEO is to use lowercase letters in SEO.

This is because search engines treat URLs with uppercase and lowercase letters as something different. So, you have to make sure you will use lowercase or uppercase letters on the canonical tag.

C. Use the Right Version of the Domain

If your website already uses SSL, make sure not to declare the URL as non-SSL (HTTP) on the canonical tag.

The move will be confusing and cause unexpected situations that are fatal to the website. For that, on websites with SSL, use HTTPS before applying canonical SEO.

D. Apply Canonical Tags From Own References

Although the canonical tag of the reference itself is optional, its use is still recommended, as John Mueller put it. When applied, they will be canonical URLs on the page pointing to the page itself.

Most CMSs such as WordPress, Joomla, and Wix already use self-reference URLs automatically on their pages.

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E. Choose One Canonical Tag per Page

The last tip you can apply to your website is to choose one canonical tag per page. If the page has a different SEO canonical, search engines like Google will automatically ignore it. In other words, the website will not be indexed and the chances of entering the first page of search results are getting smaller.

Conclusion

Listening to the explanation above, canonical URLs or canonical tags serve as signals, rather than pointers for search engines, especially Google. Moreover, Google most likely chose a different canonical tag than the one already implemented.

Even so, canonical URLs have a big impact on the SEO performance that you embed in a managed website. The reason is, that the canonical tag becomes a ‘gateway’ for users to access the website through the search results page.