What is Canonical ?

November 06, 2025

Canonical

Canonical kya hota hai (SEO mein)

Canonical tag ek HTML tag hota hai jo search engines (Google jaise) ko batata hai ki agar ek hi content kai URLs par ho, to main/original version kaunsa hai.

👉 Matlab:
Agar aapke paas same content do URLs par hai —


https://example.com/page
https://example.com/page?ref=123

To aap canonical tag lagate ho original page par, jaise:


<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/page">

🔹 Use of Canonical Tag

Duplicate content se bachata hai
Search engine ko correct URL batata hai
SEO ranking improve karta hai (duplicate pages ke chakkar mein ranking divide nahi hoti)

🔹 Example

Agar ek product page 2 URLs par hai:

/shirt?color=blue
/shirt?size=large

To aap dono pages mein canonical tag lagaoge:


<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/shirt">

🔹 Simple meaning:

Canonical tag = “Google, yeh original page hai. Baaki sirf copies hain.”

Chahe to main tumhe Canonical tag practice aur examples ke 5 questions bhi de du?

Canonical tag ka main purpose hai —
Duplicate ya similar pages ke beech search engine ko correct (main) page batana.

Google jab kisi website ko crawl karta hai, to agar usse ek hi content multiple URLs par milta hai, to wo confuse ho jata hai ki kis URL ko index kare.
Is confusion ko door karne ke liye canonical tag lagaya jata hai.

🔸 2. Canonical Tag ka Syntax

Canonical tag hamesha <head> section mein lagta hai:


<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/original-page">

🔸 3. Canonical Tag kab lagate hain

Canonical tag in situations mein lagaya jata hai 👇

Duplicate Content – same content multiple URLs par hai.
Tracking URLs – jaise ?utm_source=, ?ref= wale links.
HTTP vs HTTPS pages – dono version exist karte hain.
WWW vs non-WWW – dono version access ho rahe hain.
Pagination – ek article ke multiple pages hain (page1, page2, etc.)

🔸 4. Canonical Tag ke Benefits

Benefit	Description
✅ SEO ranking improve karta hai	Duplicate content ke chakkar mein ranking divide nahi hoti
✅ Crawl efficiency badhata hai	Google ko unnecessary duplicate pages crawl nahi karne padte
✅ Original page ko importance deta hai	Search engine ko clear hota hai kaunsa page “main” hai

🔸 5. Canonical Tag Example (Simple)

Agar tumhare paas yeh 3 URLs hain 👇


https://example.com/shoes
https://example.com/shoes?color=red
https://example.com/shoes?size=9

To sabhi pages mein yeh tag lagao:


<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/shoes">

Isse Google samjhega ki main page /shoes hai, baaki uske variations hain.

🔸 6. Common Mistakes in Canonical Tag

❌ Wrong URL lagana (404 ya redirect page ka link dena)
❌ Canonical tag hi nahi lagana
❌ Har page apne aap par canonical set nahi karta (self-referential canonical tag missing)
❌ Multiple canonical tags ek hi page mein lagana

🔹 7. Canonical Tag ke Types (Practical View)

Technically canonical tag ek hi hota hai —
<link rel="canonical" href="...">
Lekin SEO mein hum uske use cases ke base par uske 3 main types samajh sakte hain 👇

Type	Description	Example
Self-referencing Canonical	Jab ek page apne aap par canonical tag lagata hai	`<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/page">`
Cross-domain Canonical	Jab content ek site se doosri site par duplicate hai	`<link rel="canonical" href="https://mainwebsite.com/page">`
Parameter-based Canonical	Jab same page ke URLs mein tracking ya filters hain	`<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/product">`

🔹 8. Canonical vs 301 Redirect – Difference

Feature	Canonical Tag	301 Redirect
User visible	Page open hota hai	Page dusre URL par redirect hota hai
SEO signal	Google ko preferred page batata hai	Google ko permanent move batata hai
Best for	Duplicate ya similar content	Page migration ya URL change

👉 Example:
Agar aapke paas similar pages hain, use canonical tag karo.
Agar ek page permanently shift hua hai, to 301 redirect use karo.

🔹 9. Canonical Tag ke Tools

Ye tools help karte hain canonical tag check karne mein 👇

🕷 Screaming Frog SEO Spider
🌐 Ahrefs Site Audit
🔍 Google Search Console (URL Inspection)
🧠 SEO Minion (Chrome Extension)
⚙️ Sitebulb

🔹 10. Canonical Tag aur Google Crawling

Google canonical tags ko ek hint ke roop mein dekhta hai — order nahi.
Agar canonical galat ya spammy hai, Google usse ignore bhi kar sakta hai.
Isliye canonical tag hamesha relevant aur accessible URL par hona chahiye.

🔹 11. Canonical Tag Best Practices

✅ Har page mein self-referencing canonical lagao
✅ Canonical URL 200 status code return kare
✅ Canonical page indexable hona chahiye (noindex nahi)
✅ Duplicate pages mein same canonical lagao
✅ Canonical tag aur sitemap URLs ek jaise hone chahiye

🔹 12. Example (Full HTML Structure)


<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <title>Red Shoes | Example Store</title>
  <link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/red-shoes">
</head>
<body>
  <h1>Buy Red Shoes</h1>
  <p>Best red shoes available in all sizes.</p>
</body>
</html>

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