The rel="canonical" element consolidates ranking signals to a chosen URL. Google treats it as a hint, not a directive, and may ignore it if signals such as internal links and sitemaps disagree.
When to use it
- Paginated series where all pages should consolidate to page one.
- Session or tracking parameters that duplicate content.
- Cross-domain syndication where the original should own the ranking.
- Product variants that share substantially identical descriptions.
Example
A print-friendly URL such as /article?print=1 sets a canonical to /article, so link equity from any inbound link to the print version is credited to the standard version.
How SEM Optimiser reports it
The audit flags canonicals that point to noindexed pages, canonicals that chain, and pages whose canonical does not match the URL Google selected.
Related terms
- Index Coverage
Index coverage is the report in Google Search Console that shows which URLs on a site are indexed, which are excluded, and why.
- Keyword Cannibalisation
Keyword cannibalisation is the condition in which two or more pages on the same domain compete for the same search query, splitting authority and confusing search engines.
- XML Sitemap
An XML sitemap is a file that lists a website's important URLs to help search engines discover and crawl them efficiently.