Cannonical Tag / SEO Terms Cannonical Tag A canonical tag is an HTML element used to signal the preferred version of a webpage when multiple pages contain similar or duplicate content. It tells search engines which version should be treated as the “master” or authoritative page for indexing and ranking. The canonical tag helps prevent duplicate content issues, consolidates link equity and improves overall SEO performance. It is placed within the section of the HTML and looks like this: Canonical tags are especially useful in e-commerce and content-heavy websites where product variations, sorting parameters or printer-friendly pages may generate multiple URLs with nearly identical content. Without a canonical tag, search engines might index all variations separately, diluting visibility and confusing ranking signals. By declaring the canonical URL, webmasters ensure that credit for traffic, links and relevance is assigned to the correct page. For effective use, the canonical URL should match the actual, accessible version of the preferred page and be implemented consistently across internal links and sitemap entries. Self-referencing canonical tags (where the tag points to the same URL it appears on) are also recommended as a best practice. While canonical tags are a strong signal to search engines, they are not mandatory directives, so proper site structure and crawlability should still be maintained. Regular audits using tools like Google Search Console, Screaming Frog or SEMrush can help identify canonicalisation errors or conflicts. When used correctly, canonical tags play a vital role in maintaining a clean, efficient and search-friendly website.