Updated
The canonical tag is a line in the HTML head that tells Google which URL is the preferred version of a page: <link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/page/">. It stops similar or identical content at several addresses from competing with itself.
Common use cases
- URLs with parameters such as filters, sorting or UTM parameters
- Products reachable through several categories
- Versions with and without www or a trailing slash
- Content republished on other websites
Common mistakes
- Every page has a canonical pointing to the homepage
- The canonical points to a noindex page or a redirect
- Paginated pages (page 2, 3) point to page 1
- Canonical, sitemap and internal links contradict each other
Good to know
A canonical is a hint, not a directive, so Google may choose a different URL. You can see which version Google uses with the URL inspection tool in Google Search Console.
Digitalman checks canonicals and indexing on your website. Learn more on our on-page SEO page.
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