| name | canonical |
| description | Use this to manage URL authority and prevent duplicate content issues across the storefront |
Use this to manage URL authority and prevent duplicate content issues across the storefront. This ensures search engines focus on the "master" version of a page, consolidating ranking power and protecting crawl budget.
Canonicalization Strategy
- Use a self-referential canonical tag on every unique product, category, and CMS page (the "clean" URL should point to itself).
- Use absolute URLs (including
https:// and the full domain) to avoid ambiguity between environments, protocols (HTTP vs HTTPS), or subdomains.
- Ensure the canonical target is indexable: it must return a
200 OK status and must not have a noindex tag.
E-commerce Specific Scenarios
- Faceted Navigation & Filters: - Point the canonical to the main category for URLs created by sorting (
?sort=price), view toggles (?view=grid), or tracking parameters (e.g., ?utm_source=...).
- Only allow a unique canonical if the filter creates a distinct, high-value landing page (e.g., a specific "Brand + Category" combination with high search volume).
- Product Variations: - If a product has multiple URLs for different colors/sizes but the content is nearly identical, point the canonical to the primary product version.
- If each variation is a distinct marketing asset with its own unique description and SKU, use a self-referential canonical for each.
- Cross-Categorization: When a product lives in multiple categories (e.g.,
/sale/product and /electronics/product), pick the most relevant or original path as the canonical to avoid splitting authority.
Technical Rules
- Single Tag Policy: Ensure only one
<link rel="canonical"> exists in the <head>. Multiple tags cause search engines to ignore the instruction entirely.
- Sitemap Alignment: The URL defined as canonical must match the URL listed in the
sitemap.xml. Discrepancies send conflicting signals to crawlers.
- Pagination: For paginated results (e.g.,
?page=2), use a self-referential canonical. Do not point page 2 to page 1, as this prevents search engines from discovering products deeper in the catalog.