What Is A Canonical Tag

If you have a website it is more than likely someone would have mentioned canonical tags in passing or directly to you. This article explains what it is and exactly why it is important you get this right.

<link rel="canonical" href="https:⁄⁄www.pebbleltd.co.uk⁄services⁄web-design" ⁄>

Why Use It, Is It That Important?
Oh yes, one thing you never want on your website is duplicate content and why would you have multiple pages with the same content anyway? In the Pebble office, we were trying to come up with an analogy of the duplicate content issue. So here goes...

If you imagine Google as a visitor coming to your house for dinner and you have asked him to bring some friends with him as well. You give him the address to visit your house and come in via the red door. However, he turns up at the address but you have 3 red doors out front, which one does he choose? Also, which red door did he tell his friends to enter into?

You got it right, he doesn't know, he is going to penalise you for having multiple doors of the same (duplicate content) and he will not recommend that his friends come to your house (move you up in his search rankings).

Summarising...
Have a cheeky look at the source code on your web page and if you have a canonical tag in place then you are in the right place, if not, speak to your web developer, you will notice positive changes in your search results. If you are still a little confused you can reach out to us at Pebble on 01733 902070 or email us via our contact form.