How Can We Handle Duplicate Content With The Help of Canonical Tag?
You have to include the canonical tag in the desired web page’s head section. Here is a look at how you have to include it:
<link rel=”canonical” href=”http://www.xyz.com/product.php?item=the-matrix“/>
You have to however remember that the tag can only be used on the pages that are under a single site. The pages may include sub domains as well as sub folders. You can choose from the absolute and relative links. However, the search engines strongly recommend that you should use the absolute links. This will eliminate chances of any errors in the future.
The tag is transitive in nature. For an instance if you use URL X marks Y as canonical, and Y in turn marks Z as canonical, Z will be treated as canonical for both X and Y.
The Canonical tag is basically applied to the URLs of the web pages that hold a duplicate content. Since they are to be included in the <head> tag of the duplicate pages, you will be simply adding the preferred version of a URL. This way you actually go ahead and instruct the search engines that the URLs in question should direct to the preferred URL of your choice.
By using the canonical tag, all the links to all the URLs are simply consolidated into one URL which has been specified as canonical. This URL will be considered as a ‘strong hint; by the search engines. The canonical tag will help search engines like Google with the task of identifying the duplicate URLs. They will use it to crawl through and index.
They will also understand that the duplicate URLs with the canonical tag are all actually referring to the URL that you want the visitors to see. Such URLs are known as canonical URLs.
Edward Kung, Owner of Seedin, Vancouver web design Company Which Provides Complete web Development Solutions in Vancouver.
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