Updated post on - What is meant by Canonical URL and How to specify a canonical with rel="canonical"?
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In general, it is the process of making something canonical-- that is, in conformance with some specification(according to rules). To canonicalize is to ensure that data conforms to canonical rules, and is in an approved format. Canonicalization may sometimes mean generating canonical data from noncanonical data(not according to rules).
Canonicalization is the process of standardizing and normalizing data to a consistent and uniform format. In the context of web development, canonicalization usually refers to the process of ensuring that there is only one URL that represents a particular page or resource on a website.
When a website has multiple URLs that lead to the same content, it can cause issues with search engines and affect the website's search engine rankings. For example, if a website has both a "www" and a "non-www" version of the same page, search engines may see this as duplicate content and penalize the website's rankings.
Canonicalization is important for ensuring that search engines recognize the preferred URL for a page or resource, and that all other URLs are treated as duplicates or variations. This can be achieved through various methods, such as setting a canonical tag in the HTML code of the page, using 301 redirects to redirect duplicate URLs to the preferred URL, or using server configurations to ensure that all requests are routed to the preferred URL.
For Example:
Things to be taken in consideration:
- www.sample.com
- sample.com/
- www.sample.com/index.html
- sample.com/home.asp
Things to be taken in consideration:
- Pick the main URL & use it consistently in the website.
- Use 301 redirect to main URL.
- Don't remove www Vs non-www URL'S
Other ways that urls get canonicalized:
- keeping or removing trailing slashes,
- trying to convert urls with upper case to lower case,
- removing session IDs from bulletin board or other software.
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