Importance Of Canonical Tag & What Are Its Best Practices?

search engine optimization

Canonical tag has become an important part of SEO to aid search engines index the correct URL and avoiding duplicate content.  Read to know more in detail. 

A professional search engine optimization agency in Kolkata will help in improving the website. The SEO experts of the agency will conduct an audit for determining the aspects interfering with the SEO of the website and then will correct them. Most of the common people assume that SEO is nothing but keyword stuffing. But, the truth is SEO is much more than that. Placing the keywords in the right positions and in the right way matters a lot in website ranking. The professionals of an SEO agency infuse the keywords rightly to boost the rank of the site in the SERPs.

What Is A Canonical Tag?

A canonical tag is an HTML specification in the header area of a website’s source code. It refers to the master page – the canonical URL – for websites with the same or similar content. If a canonical URL has correct markings, search engines will index this source only, meaning that duplicate content can come to an end. 

Let Us Take A Look At An Example:

  • The following two URLs have the same content.
  • https://www.example.com/example.htm
  • https://www.example.com/examplepage/?session_id=xyz.htm

In the beginning, you have the standard resource, and the second one is a session as commonly used by online shops. The reason behind this is to store user-related data as e.g. items in the shopping cart.

As the first URL is more important, this should become the canonical version. The SEO service provider in Kolkata should integrate the canonical tag into the head element of the second URL to refer to the first page.

What Are Some Of The Most Common Uses Of A Canonical Tag?

It’s important to use a canonical tag when the same or very similar content exists on more than one URL. Here are some common use cases for canonical tags:

  • You can reach the homepage from different URLs (for example www.domain.com, domain.com, www.domain.com/index.html, and so on)
  • It is easy to reach pages with and without Trailing Slashes (“/”) and with case sensitivity
  • Because of URL rewriting, the server only pays attention to one ID and admits variations of the address
  • IDs (as Session-IDs or product filters)  that don’t change the content are the best option to use.
  • You can present content in different versions (e.g. print version, PDF, etc.)
  • There are HTTPS variants of the site
  • The URL is still available under an HTTP version without SSL encryption
  • You can publish additional content on other, external websites. 

Conclusion

Services offered by GetTraffic, the best SEO service agency in Kolkata are essential for every online business. It is important for having a good online presence is highly important to bring more traffic and to get more revenue. With the right agency, you are getting tangible results to enhance your website and take it to a new level.