Written by Webtune Team

What Are Canonical Tags and How to Tackle Their Issues?

Navigate the nuances of canonical tags with help from Webtune AI.

What Are Canonical Tags?

Canonical tags are HTML elements that enable website owners to indicate to search engines the preferred version of a web page when multiple versions exist. The primary purpose of using canonical tags is to address issues related to duplicate content by specifying the authoritative or primary version of a page.

The canonical tag offers several benefits:

SEO Improvement: Mitigates issues with duplicate content, preventing SEO penalties.
Link Juice Consolidation: Directs search engines to prioritize a specific URL, consolidating ranking power.
Crawl Budget Efficiency: Helps search engines allocate crawl resources more efficiently.
Enhanced User Experience: Reduces the chances of users encountering duplicate content.
Content Fragmentation Prevention: Averts issues in dynamic websites with multiple URL variations.
E-commerce Optimization: Manages product variations to avoid duplicate content problems.
URL Canonicalization: Facilitates a clean and organized URL structure.

What are the various types of Canonical Tag issues?

Missing: When a website has identical or multiple versions of content, it becomes challenging for search engines to identify the preferred version when there is no canonical tag. It can potentially harm SEO rankings.
Empty: An empty canonical tag, devoid of a specified URL, does not guide search engines, rendering it ineffective in resolving duplicate content issues.
Outside Head: Placing the canonical tag outside the HTML head section may cause search engines to overlook its intended purpose, as it is expected to be within the head for proper interpretation.
Multiple Found: Having multiple canonical tags on a single page can confuse search engines, potentially leading to conflicting signals about the preferred version and impacting the intended SEO strategy.

Here’s the bigger picture when we dig deeper into each of the canonical tag issues -

1. Missing Canonical Tag:

Cause: Lack of a canonical tag on pages with duplicate content or multiple versions.
Impact:
- Search engines may struggle to determine the preferred version.
- Risk of SEO penalties due to potential duplicate content issues.
- Link authority and ranking signals may not be consolidated to the desired URL.

2. Empty Canonical Tag:

Cause: Canonical tag is present but lacks a specified URL.
Impact:
- Search engines receive no guidance on the preferred version.
- Duplicate content issues may persist as the intended canonical URL is not defined.

3. Canonical Tag Outside Head:

Cause: Placing the canonical tag outside the HTML head section.
Impact:
- Search engines may not interpret the canonical tag correctly.
- The intended canonicalization signal might be overlooked.
- SEO efforts related to consolidating link authority may be ineffective.

4. Multiple Canonical Tags Found:

Cause: Presence of more than one canonical tag on a single page.
Impact:
- Confusion for search engines in determining the preferred version.
- Potential conflicting signals regarding canonicalization.
- SEO strategy may not work as intended, and rankings may be affected.

How to Fix a Canonical Tag Issue?

There are 2 ways to go about it -

You can manually write it.
You can approve the tag recommended by our AI.

Here’s how to do it -

STEP 1

Click on ‘Canonical Tags’

STEP 2

As per the type of issue, follow the recommended action.
For example -

Missing - Click on the dialogue box and edit the canonical tag as per your preference. Once done, simply click ‘Approve’.
Empty - Our AI generates canonical tags for you. If you like it, simply click ‘Approve’. Or, edit the canonical tag as per your preference.
Multiple Found - Simply select the canonical tag you want to keep. The recommended action here is ‘Update Value to’.
Outside Head - Just click on ‘Approve’ and it will automatically take the outside head and move it inside the head tag.