The rel=canonical tag, also known as the “canonical link” tag, is an HTML attribute that is used to indicate the preferred version of a webpage. It helps search engines understand which pages on a website are duplicates of each other, and which page should be given priority in search results.
The rel=canonical tag is added to the HTML code of a webpage and looks like this:<link rel=”canonical” href=”https://www.example.com/page.html”>
The value of the href attribute should be the URL of the page that you want to be the canonical version. When search engines crawl the webpage, they will see the rel=canonical tag and understand that the page with the specified URL is the preferred version of the content.
Using the rel=canonical tag can be a useful way to improve SEO and prevent duplicate content issues. It can help search engines understand which pages on your website are most important and should be given priority in search results. However, it’s important to use the rel=canonical tag carefully, as improperly using it can have negative consequences for your website’s SEO.