Canonical URL

A canonical URL is the preferred URL for a webpage; chosen from several possible URLs that all lead to the same content. It is a way for website owners to indicate to search engines which version of a page they want to be indexed and displayed in search results. 

This helps to avoid duplicate content issues that can arise when the same content is accessible through different URLs. The canonical URL is typically specified in the HTML header of a webpage using a tag called “rel=canonical”.

Canonical URLs are essential for SEO because they help prevent duplicate content issues, which can negatively impact a website's rankings. When multiple URLs lead to the same content, search engines may not know which version to index and display in search results. This can result in lower rankings, as search engines may see the multiple URLs competing for visibility.

By specifying a canonical URL, website owners can tell search engines which version of a page they prefer to be displayed in search results. This helps to consolidate the ranking signals for the page, as search engines will treat all links and signs pointing to the different URLs as if they were pointing to the same canonical URL. This can help improve the page's visibility and rankings in search results.

There are a few ways to find the canonical URL of a webpage:

• Check the HTML header

The canonical URL is often included in the HTML header of a webpage using a "rel=canonical" tag. You can view the HTML source code of the webpage and look for this tag to find the canonical URL.

• Check Google Search Console

If you have access to the website's Google Search Console account, you can view the canonical URLs that Google has detected for each page. This can help you identify any canonicalization issues that need to be addressed.

• Use a browser extension

There are several browser extensions for Chrome that can help you identify the canonical URL of a webpage. These extensions will display the canonical URL in the toolbar or in the page information.

• Use a site audit tool

Many site audit tools, such as SEMrush or Ahrefs, can crawl a website and identify the canonical URLs for each page. This can help you identify any canonicalization issues or duplicate content that must be addressed.