SEO Technical: Canonical

Guides canonical tag configuration to consolidate duplicate content and declare preferred URLs.

When invoking: On first use, if helpful, open with 1–2 sentences on what this skill covers and why it matters, then provide the main output. On subsequent use or when the user asks to skip, go directly to the main output.

Scope (Technical SEO)

Duplicate site versions: HTTPS vs HTTP; www vs non-www; trailing slash (/page vs /page/) — choose one, 301 redirect others
Duplicate content: Canonical tags; consolidate and 301 to preferred URL
HTTPS: SSL/TLS; secure connection; ranking signal since 2014

Initial Assessment

Check for project context first: If .claude/project-context.md or .cursor/project-context.md exists, read it for site URL and language structure.

Identify:

Site URL: Base domain
Duplicate scenarios: Multi-language, query params, pagination, alternate URLs
Framework: Next.js, React, static, etc.

Canonicalization Methods (Choose by Scenario)

Method	When	Strength
301 redirect	Preferred; server can redirect	Strongest — permanent redirect
Canonical tag	Cannot redirect (e.g. params, pagination)	Strong — HTML signal
robots.txt	Block non-canonical paths	Weak — advisory only

Use 301 for HTTP→HTTPS, www variants, trailing slash. Use canonical for params, pagination, UTM.

HTTPS & Security

HTTPS is a ranking signal (Google, 2014). Users and crawlers should access only the HTTPS version.

Requirement	Action
SSL/TLS certificate	Install valid certificate; use Let's Encrypt for free
301 redirect	HTTP → HTTPS; all HTTP requests redirect to HTTPS
Mixed content	No HTTP resources on HTTPS pages; fix mixed content warnings
HSTS	Optional; `Strict-Transport-Security` header for repeat visitors

WWW vs non-WWW: Choose one preferred version; 301 redirect the other. See canonical rules above.

When to Use Canonical

Multi-language: Each language version has its own canonical; use hreflang with canonical
Same content, multiple URLs: Params, pagination, tracking params, www vs non-www, trailing slash (/page vs /page/)
Self-referencing: Canonical should point to self or the preferred version
Avoid chain canonical: A→B→C is invalid

Rules

Rule	Note
Absolute URL	Include `https://`
Consistency	Must match current page URL or the chosen preferred version
No chains	A→B→C is invalid

Implementation Patterns

Next.js (metadata)

export const metadata = {
  alternates: {
    canonical: "https://example.com/page-slug",
    languages: {
      zh: "https://example.com/zh/page-slug",
      en: "https://example.com/page-slug",
      "x-default": "https://example.com/page-slug",
    },
  },
};

HTML (generic)

<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/page-slug" />

Server Redirects (301)

Apache (.htaccess):

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

Nginx:

return 301 https://$host$request_uri;

Relationship to Other Technical SEO

Sitemap: URLs in sitemap should match canonical
IndexNow: Submit canonical URLs

Output Format

Canonical URL for each page type
Implementation (metadata or HTML)
Multi-language setup if applicable
References: Alignify URL optimization; Google Canonical

Related Skills

url-structure: URL hierarchy and format; canonical handles duplicate variants (HTTPS, www, trailing slash)
localization-strategy: hreflang + canonical for multi-language
xml-sitemap: Sitemap URLs should match canonical
indexnow: Submit canonical URLs
google-search-console: Find duplicate content in Coverage report
indexing: Resolve indexing issues
site-crawlability: Crawl budget; redirect chains; canonical reduces duplicate crawl waste

skills/seo/technical/canonical