What is Canonicalization and Why is it Important for SEO?

Canonicalization is the process of converting a URL into its standardized form, which is called the "canonical URL". This is done to avoid duplicate content and ensure that search engines index only one version of a page.

When a web page has multiple URLs that point to the same content, it can cause confusion for search engines and users. For example, a page might have multiple URLs with different parameters or fragments, each of which could be considered a separate page by search engines. Canonicalization helps to resolve this issue by selecting one of these URLs as the "canonical" version, and all other variations are considered duplicates of that URL.

The process of canonicalization typically involves identifying the canonical URL based on certain criteria, such as the page's content, its structure, and the intent of the webmaster. Once the canonical URL is identified, it can be specified in the HTML of the page using a special tag called the "canonical link element". This tells search engines that all other variations of the page are duplicates of the canonical URL.

Canonicalization is an important technique for optimizing website performance and user experience, as well as improving search engine rankings. By ensuring that all versions of a page point to the same content, webmasters can avoid duplicate content issues and ensure that their pages are indexed correctly by search engines.