{"id":9530,"date":"2019-06-21T10:03:36","date_gmt":"2019-06-21T10:03:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/?p=9530"},"modified":"2023-11-23T11:39:18","modified_gmt":"2023-11-23T11:39:18","slug":"googles-john-mueller-explains-if-self-referencing-canonicals-are-important","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/googles-john-mueller-explains-if-self-referencing-canonicals-are-important\/","title":{"rendered":"Google\u2019s John Mueller explains if self-referencing canonicals are important"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Self-referencing canonicals \u2014 to use or not to use, that is the question. Well, if Google\u2019s John Mueller is to be believed, you should use them.<\/p>\n<p>According to John, <em>\u201cit is a great practice to have a self-referencing canonical.\u201d <\/em>But he also mentioned that a self-referencing canonical <em>\u201cis not critical.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>The typical usage of canonical tags<\/h2>\n<p>Canonical tags are generally used to create a link between a non-canonical page and its canonical version. However, sometimes they can also be used to link a page to itself.<\/p>\n<p>The benefit, in that case, is because URLs may get linked to with UTM tags and different parameters. Having a self-referencing canonical can allow Google to understand that your main URL (without parameters) is the canonical version.<\/p>\n<p>As you can see, that is helpful. However, John Mueller mentioned that it is not critical.<\/p>\n<p>Here is what he said:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cIt\u2019s not critical to have a self-referencing canonical tag on a page, but it does make it easier for us to pick exactly the URL that you want to have chosen as canonical.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>We use a number of factors to pick a canonical URL, and the rel-canonical does play a role in that.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>So, in particular, things like URL parameters, or if the URL is tagged in any particular way \u2013 maybe you have links going to that page that are tagged for analytics, for example \u2013 then it might happen that we pick that tagged URL as a canonical. And with the rel-canonical, you\u2019re telling us that you really, really want this URL that you\u2019re specifying as the canonical\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>So, it\u2019s a great practice to have a self-referencing canonical but it\u2019s not critical. It\u2019s not something that you must do, it\u2019s just something that helps to make sure this mark-up is picked up properly.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>If you are interested in learning more about canonical tags, here are a few more best practices:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Canonicalise the homepage of your website<\/li>\n<li>Always canonicalise cross-domain duplicate content<\/li>\n<li>It\u2019s important to double-check your dynamic canonical tags<\/li>\n<li>E-commerce landing pages often have near identical landing pages for similar products if the only big changes are, say, currency, location, etc. Canonicalise the main page.<\/li>\n<li>If the two different pieces of content are serving the same searcher intent, you may canonicalise the main version.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Self-referencing canonicals \u2014 to use or not to use, that is the question. Well, if Google\u2019s John Mueller is to be believed, you should use them. According to John, \u201cit is a great practice to have a self-referencing canonical.\u201d But he also mentioned that a self-referencing canonical \u201cis not critical.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":9533,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oct_exclude_from_cache":false,"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[33,38],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>John Mueller Explains Self-Referencing Canonicals | IMSR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Self-referencing canonicals \u2014 to use or not to use, that is the question. Thanks to Google\u2019s John Mueller, we finally have an answer.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/googles-john-mueller-explains-if-self-referencing-canonicals-are-important\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"John Mueller Explains Self-Referencing Canonicals | IMSR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Self-referencing canonicals \u2014 to use or not to use, that is the question. Thanks to Google\u2019s John Mueller, we finally have an answer.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/googles-john-mueller-explains-if-self-referencing-canonicals-are-important\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Improve My Search Ranking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ImproveMySearchRanking\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-06-21T10:03:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-23T11:39:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Googles-John-Mueller-explains-if-self-referencing-canonicals-are-important.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1281\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Samwise Diamond\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ImproveMySearch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ImproveMySearch\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Samwise Diamond\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/googles-john-mueller-explains-if-self-referencing-canonicals-are-important\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/googles-john-mueller-explains-if-self-referencing-canonicals-are-important\/\",\"name\":\"John Mueller Explains Self-Referencing Canonicals | IMSR\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-21T10:03:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-23T11:39:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/#\/schema\/person\/84666854cebd4e342f8033db55cc6c0a\"},\"description\":\"Self-referencing canonicals \u2014 to use or not to use, that is the question. Thanks to Google\u2019s John Mueller, we finally have an answer.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/googles-john-mueller-explains-if-self-referencing-canonicals-are-important\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/googles-john-mueller-explains-if-self-referencing-canonicals-are-important\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/googles-john-mueller-explains-if-self-referencing-canonicals-are-important\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Google\u2019s John Mueller explains if self-referencing canonicals are important\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/\",\"name\":\"Improve My Search Ranking\",\"description\":\"Improve My Search Ranking\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/#\/schema\/person\/84666854cebd4e342f8033db55cc6c0a\",\"name\":\"Samwise Diamond\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/601b5d268dd944bbba7c27b0af7fec06?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/601b5d268dd944bbba7c27b0af7fec06?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Samwise Diamond\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/author\/samwise\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"John Mueller Explains Self-Referencing Canonicals | IMSR","description":"Self-referencing canonicals \u2014 to use or not to use, that is the question. Thanks to Google\u2019s John Mueller, we finally have an answer.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/googles-john-mueller-explains-if-self-referencing-canonicals-are-important\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"John Mueller Explains Self-Referencing Canonicals | IMSR","og_description":"Self-referencing canonicals \u2014 to use or not to use, that is the question. Thanks to Google\u2019s John Mueller, we finally have an answer.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/googles-john-mueller-explains-if-self-referencing-canonicals-are-important\/","og_site_name":"Improve My Search Ranking","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ImproveMySearchRanking","article_published_time":"2019-06-21T10:03:36+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-11-23T11:39:18+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1281,"url":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/Googles-John-Mueller-explains-if-self-referencing-canonicals-are-important.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Samwise Diamond","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ImproveMySearch","twitter_site":"@ImproveMySearch","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Samwise Diamond","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/googles-john-mueller-explains-if-self-referencing-canonicals-are-important\/","url":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/googles-john-mueller-explains-if-self-referencing-canonicals-are-important\/","name":"John Mueller Explains Self-Referencing Canonicals | IMSR","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-06-21T10:03:36+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-23T11:39:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/#\/schema\/person\/84666854cebd4e342f8033db55cc6c0a"},"description":"Self-referencing canonicals \u2014 to use or not to use, that is the question. Thanks to Google\u2019s John Mueller, we finally have an answer.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/googles-john-mueller-explains-if-self-referencing-canonicals-are-important\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/googles-john-mueller-explains-if-self-referencing-canonicals-are-important\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/googles-john-mueller-explains-if-self-referencing-canonicals-are-important\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Google\u2019s John Mueller explains if self-referencing canonicals are important"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/","name":"Improve My Search Ranking","description":"Improve My Search Ranking","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/#\/schema\/person\/84666854cebd4e342f8033db55cc6c0a","name":"Samwise Diamond","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/601b5d268dd944bbba7c27b0af7fec06?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/601b5d268dd944bbba7c27b0af7fec06?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Samwise Diamond"},"url":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/author\/samwise\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9530"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9530"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22452,"href":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9530\/revisions\/22452"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}