Canonical links explained

The same page can be reachable at several addresses. The canonical link names the one you prefer.

Why pages have several addresses

http and https, with and without www, a trailing slash, print versions and tracking parameters can all lead to the same content. Search engines need to choose one address to list. Google's page on canonicalization names three signals that can influence the choice: redirects (a strong signal), rel="canonical" link annotations (a strong signal) and inclusion in a sitemap (a weak signal). They can stack.

How to write it

<link rel="canonical" href="https://www.example.com/dresses/green/green-dress.html">

1. Use a full address. Google says relative paths are supported but not recommended, because they can cause problems later, for example if a test site is crawled.
2. Put it in the head of the page: Google accepts the element only in the <head>.
3. Add a self-referencing canonical on the canonical page itself.
4. Do not use a fragment (the part after #) as the canonical address.
5. Do not use noindex to choose between duplicates within your own site. Google says it blocks the page from Search entirely and recommends the canonical link.

What a canonical link is not

It is a hint and a signal, not a command. It does not move visitors to the other page. If the two pages are really different, Google may ignore it. For a permanent move of a page, use a redirect.

This is an independent guide. It is not connected with Google, Meta, X, schema.org or any company named here. Facts were read on 14 November 2026 from the pages named on each page. The generators run in your browser and send nothing anywhere.