The practice of standardizing a webpage’s URLs to a single, preferred version is known as canonicalization. This keeps information from being duplicated and makes sure search engines can correctly index the website. The following are a few frequent instances of URL variants that may require canonicalization:
- lower-case vs upper-case letters in the URL
- www vs non-www (e.g. www.site.com vs site.com)
- https vs http (e.g. http://www.site.com vs https://www.site.com)
- trailing slashes (e.g. site.com/article vs site.com/article/)
- parameter variations (e.g. site.com/article?list=desc vs site.com/article?sort=asc)
Canonicalization is an important part of SEO since it assists search engines in determining which version of a webpage is the preferred version, and hence which version should be indexed and displayed in search results.
In several ways, duplicate material is detrimental to SEO. It can confuse search engines and make it difficult for them to distinguish which version of a page should be indexed, resulting in lower ranks or disappearance from search results. In addition, it can dilute the authority and relevancy of a page, which may result in a drop in ranks.
By utilizing canonicalization, you indicate to search engines which version of a webpage is the preferable version and should therefore be indexed and returned in search results. This can help increase your website’s visibility and search engine ranking.
Additionally, it is vital to remember that canonization should be performed in conjunction with appropriate redirects. This can assist ensure that users and search engines are led to the correct version of the webpage, which can improve both the user experience and SEO.
In addition to canonicalization, there are more technical SEO elements that can be optimized to increase a website’s exposure in search engines, including:
- Site structure
- Mobile Optimization
- Site speed
- XML sitemaps
- Robots.txt
- Schema markup
- Navigation
- Content enhancement
- Link building
- Improving these and other technical SEO elements can assist search engines in comprehending your site and displaying your pages in the search results.