P1Issue #18

Canonicals : Missing

ā“ What does it mean?

ā“ What does it mean? A canonical tag tells search engines which version of a page is the preferred (canonical) URL when duplicate or similar content exists. If canonical tags are missing, search engines may struggle to identify the correct version of a page to index, which can lead to: Duplicate content issues Diluted ranking signals Wrong page being indexed

šŸšØ Why is it important for SEO?

šŸšØ Why is it bad for SEO? Duplicate Content Problems ā†’ Without a canonical, multiple URLs with the same or similar content compete in search results. Example: https://example.com/product?id=123 https://example.com/product/shirt Wasted Crawl Budget ā†’ Search engines crawl duplicate pages unnecessarily. Split Link Equity ā†’ Backlinks spread across duplicate URLs instead of consolidating into one. Wrong URL Ranking ā†’ A less relevant or parameterized URL may appear in SERPs.

āœ… How to Fix It

āœ… How to Fix It Add canonical tags to all pages (especially product pages, blogs, and parameterized URLs). Example: <link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/product/shirt" /> Choose the preferred version of the page (www vs non-www, HTTP vs HTTPS, trailing slash vs non-trailing). Avoid self-canonical errors ā†’ Always point to the correct final URL, not redirects. Consistent implementation ā†’ Ensure canonicals match sitemaps and internal linking structure. Handle faceted/filtered pages ā†’ Use canonical to point back to the main category or product page.

āŒ Bad Example

šŸ“Œ Example āŒ Bad (No canonical tag): <head> <title>Blue Shirt - Buy Online</title> </head> Search engines may index both: https://example.com/product?id=123 https://example.com/product/blue-shirt

āœ… Good Example

āœ… Good (With canonical tag): <head> <title>Blue Shirt - Buy Online</title> <link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/product/blue-shirt" /> </head> Tells search engines the preferred URL is /product/blue-shirt.

āš” Result

āš” Result Prevents duplicate content issues Consolidates link equity to the correct URL Improves crawl efficiency Ensures the right page ranks in SERPs