The canonical link allows us to specify the preferr URL for a given page, which would help search engines determine which version of a page should be index and display in search results.
But will robots always listen to us?
The truth is that no, which is why it is ideal to only have one URL per page (for example, with or without a final “/”), so one should give a 301 to the one we have chosen as good. However, sometimes the solution is not as simple as a rirect and the canonical could help us on different pages with practically identical content that we fear could penalize us by being consider duplicate content.
What exactly does it consist of?
When a web page has multiple versions that display the same content (for example, a version with and without URL tracking parameters), the canonical line data link is us to signal to search engines which is the primary or preferr version, while hoping that it does not disperse the authority of the page.
This canonical URL tells search engines like
Google that they should consider that version as the primary source of content to index and display in search results. And when robots discover it in the seo practices to enhance your customer experience HTML header, they save the information. But that’s it, they don’t apply any other special rules.
How is it implement? What else should you know?
Canonical links can be creat on the page itself in order to indicate to Google that the URL is the original. This way, you can avoid copies that could tg data be made of your content.