Google Issues Statement About Support for Cross-Domain Canonicals

canonical tags

In the world of search engine optimization (SEO), the canonical tag is a crucial tool for website owners and developers. It tells search engines which version of a webpage is the primary one, which can help prevent duplicate content issues and improve search engine rankings. However, when it comes to cross-domain canonicals, there has been some confusion and debate in the SEO community.

Recently, Google issued a statement about its support for cross-domain canonicals, providing some much-needed clarity on the topic. Here's what you need to know.

What Are Cross-Domain Canonicals?

A canonical tag is a line of HTML code that tells search engines which version of a webpage is the primary one. This can be helpful in situations where there are multiple versions of a page with similar or identical content, such as when a site has both a desktop and mobile version. By using a canonical tag, site owners can prevent search engines from viewing these pages as duplicates, which can negatively impact their search rankings.

Cross-domain canonicals, as the name suggests, involve using a canonical tag to indicate that a page on one domain is the primary version of a page that exists on another domain. This can occur in situations where one site has a page with content that is largely identical to another site's page, but the content is hosted on a different domain.

Google's Statement

In a statement issued in March 2021, Google confirmed that it does support cross-domain canonicals. The statement clarifies that cross-domain canonicals can be used in situations where the same content appears on multiple domains and that they can help prevent duplicate content issues and improve search engine rankings.

However, Google also emphasized that cross-domain canonicals should only be used in specific situations. In general, it's best to use cross-domain canonicals when:

  • The content is largely identical in both domains
  • One domain has a higher authority or more backlinks than the other
  • One domain has a higher PageRank than the other

Google also cautioned against using cross-domain canonicals in situations where the content is only partially identical or where there are significant differences between the pages. In these cases, it's better to use other SEO tactics, such as redirecting users to the preferred page or using the rel="alternate" tag to indicate a relationship between the pages.

What This Means for Website Owners and Developers

Google's statement about its support for cross-domain canonicals provides some much-needed clarity on a topic that has been debated in the SEO community. Website owners and developers can now use cross-domain canonicals in certain situations with confidence, knowing that Google supports this approach.

However, it's important to remember that cross-domain canonicals should only be used in specific situations. When deciding whether to use a cross-domain canonical, website owners and developers should consider factors such as the similarity of the content, the authority and PageRank of each domain, and whether there are significant differences between the pages. By using cross-domain canonicals judiciously, website owners and developers can help improve their search engine rankings and prevent duplicate content issues.

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