When I first started republishing my blog posts on Medium, I thought I was being clever — more eyeballs, more traffic, right? Wrong. A few weeks later, I Googled one of my own articles and guess what showed up first? Medium. Not my blog. My own content was ranking higher on someone else’s platform than on the site I worked so hard to build. That’s when I learned the painful truth: if you don’t set a canonical URL, Google decides which version is ‘the one’ — and sometimes it picks the wrong one. Ouch.
What Is a Canonical URL?
A canonical URL is the “official” or “preferred” version of a page that you want Google and other search engines to index. Think of it as the GPS pin you drop to say, “This is the one.”
For example, your blog post might be accessible like this:
| https://myblog.com/article-about-seo |
| https://www.myblog.com/article-about-seo |
| https://myblog.com/article-about-seo?ref=twitter |
| https://myblog.com/category/seo/article-about-seo |
To humans, those look like the same page. But to Google, they’re all different. A canonical tag is a line of code that tells search engines which one to treat as the original.
Why Canonical Tags Matter for Creators
If you just want your content to rank, here’s why you should care:
| Avoid Duplicate Content | Prevents search engines from getting confused by multiple versions of the same page. |
| Consolidate SEO Value | Combines all your backlinks, shares, and traffic signals into the correct page. |
| Improve Crawl Efficiency | Helps Google focus on your best content instead of wasting time on duplicates. |
Common Canonical Mistakes (and Fixes)
Even if you’re not a developer, you can avoid these common traps:
| Wrong URL in Canonical | Make sure your canonical matches the final destination URL (no redirects). |
| Multiple Canonicals | Only one <link rel="canonical"> is allowed per page. Set it properly in your SEO plugin. |
| No Self-Referencing Canonical | Each page should point to itself unless you’re telling Google to prefer another page. |
| Paginated Pages Point to Page 1 | Each paginated URL should have its own canonical to avoid crawl issues. |
Real-Life Creator Example
Say you publish a post at https://myblog.com/10-easy-recipes and share it on social media with ?ref=facebook. Without a canonical, Google may index both and split your SEO power. With a canonical, both versions point to the original, and your ranking stays strong.
Managing Canonicals in WordPress
If you use a plugin like AIOSEO, Yoast SEO, or Rank Math, you can set canonicals with no coding needed. Just open the post → scroll to SEO settings → set or check the canonical URL.
Quick Best Practices
| ✅ Use self-referencing canonicals | Protects your content from duplication |
| ✅ Keep only one canonical per page | Avoids mixed signals |
| ✅ Canonical to the final URL | Prevents redirect chains |
| ✅ Review paginated pages | Ensures Google crawls /page/2/, /page/3/ |
| ✅ Use SEO plugins | Easy setup, no code required |
Conclusion: Canonicals Are Like GPS for Google
If you want your content ranked correctly, you need to tell Google where the “real” version lives. Think of canonicals as your way of saying, “This is the one I want you to show.” Simple, powerful, and essential for every creator.
🎁 Bonus Tip: Use free tools like URL Canonicalization Test or check your page source to confirm your canonical tag is set correctly.
