What is a canonical URL?
A canonical URL is the main version of a page that you want search engines to show when the same content is reachable at more than one address.
The same page can often load at several web addresses, for example with and without "www," or with tracking codes added to the end. A canonical URL tells search engines which address is the main one. It is usually set with a rel="canonical" tag in the page's code. Search engines treat it as a strong hint and use other signals too, so they may sometimes pick a different version.
Why it matters for your business: Canonicals keep search engines from splitting your page's ranking strength across duplicate addresses, and make sure the right address shows in results.
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