Canonicalization: Technical SEO Tips

One of the main challenges of running a website in the modern era is that you have to create unique versions of the same site for different audiences and situations. Because search engine optimization (SEO) is so crucial for web traffic, you need to target as many high-quality keywords as possible.

Unfortunately, some of these keywords may be nearly identical to each other, leading to “duplicate content” and issues with your ranking. For example, let’s say you have an online business and sell multiple versions of the same product. In this case, you may have a near-duplicate page for each variation, but you still want users to see all varieties of the same product when purchasing.

If Google is left to crawl and index these pages without any context, it may assume that you’re trying to game the system and push your landing pages down the ranks as punishment. Or, it may show the wrong page for the wrong audience. So, what can you do to minimize this issue?

The short answer is canonicalization, but let’s break down what this is and how to use it to your advantage. Also, don’t worry if the process seems a bit complicated. You can always rely on advanced SEO solutions to get the job done.

What is Canonicalization?

Canonicalization is the process of determining which page is most representative of a group of nearly identical pages. Basically, you’re trying to tell Google which one is “canon” and should be displayed in search results. While Google can do this on its own based on markers, it’s not always going to choose the “correct” page based on what you want your visitors to see.

Thankfully, you can be proactive about which page you want to be a canonical URL. While this is a bit of technical SEO advice, it’s good to know so that you can adapt your website accordingly.

Google recommends using multiple methods to determine which page is canonical. Here’s a brief overview of each option:

• Redirects – You can use a standard 301 redirect to point duplicate pages to the canonical one. This means that even if someone types in a duplicate URL, they’ll still see the correct page.
• Annotations – The best coding annotation is “rel=canonical.” Adding this to the code of a particular page will tell Google whether it’s canonical or not. While this method isn’t foolproof (Google may choose a different page based on internal markers), it’s one of the best and most accurate.
• Sitemap – Submitting a sitemap helps Google index your pages and tells the search engine which ones you value most in the hierarchy. However, sitemaps by themselves aren’t necessarily going to help canonicalize your website. Instead, it’s best to submit a sitemap after coding redirects and annotations.

If you’re going to use advanced SEO services from a third party, you can take advantage of all three elements to ensure proper canonicalization. Otherwise, if you only had to choose one method, the “rel=canonical” annotation is probably the most direct.

When to Use Canonical URLs?

The thing about duplicate URLs is that they’re far more common than you might realize. For people, a URL is a particular page. For search engines, though, a URL is a specific piece of code, meaning slight variations can create multiple duplicate URLs. For example, HTTP://yoursite.com and HTTPS://yoursite.com are two separate URLs (the latter is just more secure than the former).

From a marketing perspective, you may create duplicate content for multiple reasons, such as:

• Seasonal Offers – If you sell retail products, you may offer discounted prices for different holidays or seasons. In this case, the product listing is identical, but the price is unique, and you may have additional keywords (e.g., Christmas, holidays, etc.).
• Product Variations – Some products come in different colors, dimensions, and accessories. Because customization is a powerful marketing tool, you want customers to be able to see the product in each variant. However, this also means creating duplicate URLs based on these variables (blue dress vs red dress).
• Marketing Channels – Data is a marketer’s best friend, and you should be tracking the origin of your traffic from different sites and platforms. However, this also means you must create unique URLs to curate the data correctly. For example, a landing page for Facebook traffic will be slightly different from a page for LinkedIn traffic.

Typically, canonicalization is designed for exact duplicates (but with slight URL variations). However, you can also use it for near-identical pages if there’s only a small change to the information.

Keep in mind that if you create wholly unique content for different marketing purposes, canonicalization won’t work. For example, if you create a whole new page for your holiday deals with unique verbiage and images, search engines will ignore any annotations and rank those pages individually.

That said, true canonicalization is generally safe to do and won’t affect your site rankings. If anything, creating a canonical URL for duplicate pages will only help your ranking improve, as it makes it easier for Google to crawl and index your site.

Issues With Duplicate Content

Depending on your website, you may assume that duplicate content is not something you have to worry about. However, duplicate URLs can occur even without your knowledge. For example, someone may link to a particular page with a slight variation on your current URL (such as using an HTTPS tag or an index.php tag at the end). Because you can’t control these variations, it’s crucial to canonicalize your most important pages.

Without canonicalization, you could run into issues like:

• Confusing Content – Visitors may see incorrect keywords or prices, creating confusion as to whether they’re viewing the correct page.
• Lower Rankings – Google may penalize your site for having too much duplicate content, pushing you down the page.
• Dilute Page Authority – If Google sends visitors to two separate (but identical) pages, your authority ranking will diminish. You’ll be cannibalizing your content without realizing it.

Tips and Tricks for Successful Canonicalization

Canonicalization is one of those tasks that seems easy at first but can create headaches if you don’t do it correctly. So, here are some top tricks and technical SEO advice to help you canonicalize the right way.

• Create Self-Referencing Canonicals – A canonical URL tag can reference the current page without hurting your site’s rankings or crawlability.
• Always Canonicalize Your Home Page – Most people will link to your homepage, and some users may create slight variations in their URL links. Canonicalizing your home page helps alleviate any indexing issues later on.
• Use Absolute Canonicals When Necessary – Typically, the “ref=canonical” annotation refers to relative pages, and Google may not honor it. An absolute canonical uses the HTTP:// tag to indicate that the page must be canonical. It’s a stronger indication for the search engine to index the page correctly.
• Keep Desktop and Mobile Pages Separate – Although these variations are duplicates, they’re also essential for a better user experience. You don’t want a mobile user to see a desktop version by accident (or vice versa).
• Redirects vs. Annotations – Redirects are good for obsolete pages that may have built strong SEO equity for your website. This way, you still get the page authority but redirect users to an updated version of the page.

The Bottom Line About Canonicalization

As with any SEO best practice, canonicalization can make a huge difference in page rankings, particularly if your site has a lot of duplicate content. However, because this process is relatively technical and requires coding knowledge, it’s often best to rely on advanced SEO services to get the job done. So, rather than doing it yourself and potentially getting it wrong, contact us and let our SEO experts help canonicalize your site.