This tip has been brought with version 2.4.2 of The SEO Framework.
Canonical URLs are the URLs that lead to exactly where a page is located. It’s very important for Search Engines to find the right page, to prevent duplicated content mistakes.
The Search Engine will therefore always follow the canonical URL and will most likely ignore the current page if the canonical URL points to a page other than the current page.
For this reason, the canonical URL within The SEO Framework will look for many variables before making one, with this update even more so.
This concludes that it’s advised not to touch the Custom Canonical URL unless you’re absolutely certain that Search Engines should look for another webpage.
You are right. Canonical URLS plays a vital part. By using canonical URLs you safeguard your website from Google penalties for duplicate content issues.
Nice tip! The last thing you want is for google to ignore your page because of a messed up canonical! Really ejoy your posts, keep them coming! :)
Thanks for the tip, I am definitely going to take a look in my back office about this. Cheers
Yep too true Sybre, this is a good tip. Try not to mess around with your canonical URLs. You want to make it easy for Google to read and follow through to the right pages.
What is your safest bet when creating a canonical? Can you give an example?
The safest bet for creating a canonical URL is to make it point to the exact page you’re intended to show.
Do keep in mind that the scheme (HTTP or HTTPS) and the subdomain (www or non-www) should be accounted for.
WordPress’ pages are accessible through various means. Luckily, all of this is handled automatically concerning the canonical URL with regards to what’s described above when using TSF.
Great tips on canonical URLs. Canonical URLS plays a vital part. I found it very useful. Thank you for sharing. ~Maria
From my experience canonicals are generally most useful for e-commerce sites, there are a ton of shops that use main keywords in several of the URLs causing Google not to know which one to rank. This is pretty terrible for the overall SEO efforts. Good info. Cheers. :-)
Very interesting I heard something about a program the other day “screamingfrog” I think it can help a lot to find duplicate title and metas. Have you used it before?