technical
Intermediate
Canonical URL
/kəˈnɒnɪkəl juːˈɑːrˈɛl/
The preferred version of a web page that search engines should index and display in search results.
Detailed Explanation
Canonical URLs help prevent duplicate content issues by telling search engines which version of a page is the "master" or preferred version. This is especially important for e-commerce sites with multiple URLs for the same product or sites with both HTTP and HTTPS versions.
Examples
Using rel="canonical" in HTML head
Setting canonical URLs in XML sitemaps
Canonical tags for product variations
Related Terms
Terms That Reference This
Need Help Implementing SEO?
Our experts can help you understand and apply these SEO concepts to grow your business.