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What is a Canonical URL

Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization' started by Matt Jo, Apr 9, 2011.

  1. #1
    What is a Canonical URL and should I use them. I run a Wordpress site called We Got This Covered. I honestly don't even know if I use them or not. Do I? Can someone check my site and if I dont have them should I and why?
     
    Matt Jo, Apr 9, 2011 IP
  2. kjebud

    kjebud Peon

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    #2
    kjebud, Apr 9, 2011 IP
  3. Matt Jo

    Matt Jo Member

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    #3
    so I don't need to worry about it? I think it's when you add a # to the end of your link, kind of like the site screen rant does
     
    Matt Jo, Apr 9, 2011 IP
  4. msft1

    msft1 Greenhorn

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    #4
    Canonical URL point to duplicate content
    through Canonical URL you said to the spider to ignore duplicate content
     
    msft1, Apr 10, 2011 IP
  5. SSC

    SSC Active Member

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    #5
    @ OP, did you bother to check wiki before creating this thread?
    Just found some detailed & useful information for you here:
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canonicalization

    Hope this helps
     
    SSC, Apr 10, 2011 IP
  6. imfusa

    imfusa Active Member

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    imfusa, Apr 10, 2011 IP
  7. jasonroger87

    jasonroger87 Peon

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    #7
    Q: What is a canonical url? Do you have to use such a weird word, anyway?
    A: Sorry that it’s a strange word; that’s what we call it around Google. Canonicalization is the process of picking the best url when there are several choices, and it usually refers to home pages. For example, most people would consider these the same urls:

    www.example.com
    example.com/
    www.example.com/index.html
    example.com/home.asp

    But technically all of these urls are different. A web server could return completely different content for all the urls above. When Google “canonicalizes” a url, we try to pick the url that seems like the best representative from that set.

    A blog or a website can be accessed through http://www.example.com or http://example.com. You should always remember that a www and non-www of the same domain are treated as two different URLs by search engines. There are many factors that determine our position in search result pages, one of them is using “www” or “non www” in your domain

    Since Google considers these are two different URL’s, there are also chances of search engines considering them as having duplicate content & sharing link benefit problems

    Do I have a canonical issue?

    Having your pages / posts indexed as www & non-www is known as a canonical issue. To know if your site has a canonical issue perform a site: search in Google

    site:http://example.com

    The above search will find all pages indexed under the domain including the www and non-www versions. If you have a look through what is indexed, if you find both www and non-www pages indexed you have a canonical problem.

    Which is the most preferred one?

    There is no such preference from search engines. It’s up to you to decide on one version, “www” or “non www” and be consistent with it with during your linking building efforts. So it’s always a good practice to select one among www or non www for your site and redirect the unused to the preferred one.

    Also, the no. of incoming links will also differ if you keep two versions of your site which ultimately affects the page rank, and the link juices flowing in from all those links get split between the two URLs.

    I have already built up backlinks to both versions “www” & “non www”?


    Not to worry. You can choose your preference and set up a 301 Permanent Redirect. Once the redirect is in place the link juice will be passed to your preferred version and your visitors will also be directed to your preferred version when the unused URL is keyed in. The major search engines have the ability to determine that www and non-www versions are the same and combine the results (passing all the benefit to just one version). Occasionally, they fail to do so – which is when you need to set up a 301 permanent redirect.
     
    jasonroger87, Apr 10, 2011 IP
  8. khulet22

    khulet22 Member

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    #8
    Canonical URL means its your URL you want your visitor to see.
     
    khulet22, Apr 10, 2011 IP
  9. yadavsarvesh10

    yadavsarvesh10 Member

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    #9
    canonical URL is the URL that you want visitors to see.
     
    yadavsarvesh10, Apr 10, 2011 IP
  10. Matt Jo

    Matt Jo Member

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    #10
    so I'm still confused though, do I physically have to do anything to my site or is it already set up properly with canonicals and all? my site is wegotthiscovered.com
     
    Matt Jo, Apr 10, 2011 IP
  11. christianc01

    christianc01 Peon

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    #11
    its 301 redirect in main url.............
     
    christianc01, Apr 10, 2011 IP
  12. chatru

    chatru Peon

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    #12
    The search engine friendly URL that you want the search engines to treat as authoritative. A canonical URL is the URL that you want visitors to see.
     
    chatru, Apr 11, 2011 IP
  13. rosesmark

    rosesmark Active Member

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    #13
    he search engine friendly URL that you want the search engines to treat as authoritative. In other words, a canonical URL is the URL that you want visitors to see.

    The tag is part of the HTML header on a web page, the same section you'd find the Title attribute and Meta Description tag. In fact, this tag isn't new, but like nofollow, simply uses a new rel parameter. For example:

    <link rel="canonical" href="http://www.anc.org/blog" />

    www.example.com
    example.com
    www.example.com/index.html
    example.com/home.asp
     
    rosesmark, Apr 11, 2011 IP
  14. goldhome

    goldhome Peon

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    #14
    goldhome, Apr 11, 2011 IP
  15. Ajay Bhargava

    Ajay Bhargava Peon

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    #15
    Ajay Bhargava, Apr 11, 2011 IP
  16. nickrees

    nickrees Peon

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    #16
    Simply put, a canonical URL is the one you wish visitors to see, it should be the simplest & most signicant, authorative form of the URL that you want seen.
     
    nickrees, Apr 11, 2011 IP
  17. RedSimba

    RedSimba Peon

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    #17
    Ahh.. thank you, at least i know what it means, and how it works, thank you very much
     
    RedSimba, Apr 11, 2011 IP
  18. chandrapal

    chandrapal Peon

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    #18
    Canonical URL: the search engine friendly URL that you want the search engines to treat as authoritative. In other words, a canonical URL is the URL that you want visitors to see.
     
    chandrapal, Apr 11, 2011 IP
  19. Matt Jo

    Matt Jo Member

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    #19
    well don't I only have one URL per post?
     
    Matt Jo, Apr 11, 2011 IP
  20. G30SPKI

    G30SPKI Peon

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    #20
    Hi jasonroger87, Thanks a lot for the info about canonical. i got a new knowledge here..
     
    G30SPKI, Apr 11, 2011 IP