I think the word ‘canonical’ initiates panic because it sounds so technical. Perhaps if you rename it as a ‘duplicate content link’ it will begin to make more sense.
So what is it, and what is it for?
As Google leads the way with its ideas and principles for how it ranks its searches it is necessary to play by their rules. They rightly want to ensure that all content on the internet is original and not copied, and that they reward the originator of the words and knowledge.
Google will mark you down for copying text from one site to another, or from one page to another, the effect will be that you end up further down the search engine rankings. A canonical link is telling Google, and other browsers, that this is known duplicate content on the internet. This stops you being marked down for it in search engine results and rankings.
So if you enter a canonical link it tells Google and other browsers that you know it is a duplicate and where the original content is. They will then understand that your post or page is not the original, and you acknowledge that it is a copy.
Why would you be using duplicate content?
The client I was advising that sparked this blog post was asked to blog on a networking site, she would now like to put the same words on her own site. Rather than having to rewrite the blog she can use the same text again, but only if she adds this canonical or duplicate content link. Clearly showing the search engines that it is a known duplication and where the original is.
How do you use it?
The first thing to do is to get the link of the original content. Navigate to it on your browser and copy the whole link in the address bar at the top.
To enter this manually on a static site
This is what a canoncial link looks like if you are entering it manually (look away for one second if you don’t want to see any code…):
<link rel=”canonical” href=”https://www.myoriginalcontentlink.com“/>
You will need to replace the link in green with the link to the original post. To find this navigate to the post and copying the link in full directly from the address bar of the browser. Place this in the head section of the new blog post replacing the href link above with the copied link of the original content.
To enter this on a WordPress site
You can use plugins to enter the link to the original content. Here are a couple that are popular:
- Yoast – Click here to view plugin – free version is fine for this
- Canonical SEO content syndication – Click here to view plugin
How to enter the link on Yoast
As Yoast is the most popular of the SEO plugin I am using this an example. Install the Yoast free plugin and activate.
Then go to your site and click on Post and Add New. As always you will enter your title and blog post text. If you then scroll down the page further there is a section headed Yoast. Scroll down until you see the Advanced option, click on the down-arrow to open it up. At the bottom is a box for the Canonical link. Paste in the url (link) to the original blog.
Click to Publish or Update the page using the blue button (top right).
(If you would like to find out more from Yoast click here).
Posting your blog on social media business pages
If you are going to replicate your original blog post on Facebook or LinkedIn wait for 2 – 3 weeks so Google knows the original piece was on your site.
If you are having your site built by a web designer it is important to let them know if any content is duplicated so they can treat it appropriately for you. If you need to know more please email: info@kitewebdesign.co.uk