How to fix canonical issues in ExpressionEngine?

@terrence 

Fixing canonical issues in ExpressionEngine involves several steps to ensure that your website's URLs are properly configured to avoid duplicate content and improve search engine optimization (SEO). Here’s a guide to address these issues:

1. Understanding Canonical Issues

Canonical issues occur when multiple URLs point to the same or similar content, leading search engines to potentially penalize your site for duplicate content. The goal is to specify a preferred URL (canonical URL) for search engines to index.

2. Set Up Canonical URLs

ExpressionEngine does not automatically add canonical tags, so you will need to implement this manually.

Steps to Add Canonical Tags:

• Edit Templates: Locate the template files where your pages are structured.
• Insert Canonical Tag: Add a tag within the section of your HTML.
• Dynamic Canonical Tag: Use ExpressionEngine's variables to dynamically generate the correct URL. Ensure it considers all URL segments for dynamic pages.

3. Use the Structure Add-on

If you're using the Structure add-on, it inherently handles page routing, making it easier to define canonical URLs based on the page structure configured within the add-on.

4. URL Structure and Redirects

Ensure your URL structure is consistent and set up proper redirects for non-canonical URLs.

• Non-www to www Redirects: Consider redirecting all non-www requests to www (or vice versa) using .htaccess to ensure a single canonical version. RewriteEngine On RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^example.com [NC] RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.example.com/$1 [L,R=301]
• Redirects for Trailing Slashes and Index Pages: Normalize URLs by choosing whether to include trailing slashes. Consistently handle variations like /about and /about/.

5. Consistent Protocol (HTTP/HTTPS)

Ensure all URLs use a consistent protocol (typically HTTPS) by setting up redirects as needed.

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RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.example.com/$1 [L,R=301]

6. Sitemap Updates

Regularly update your XML sitemap to reflect the canonical URLs. This assists search engines in identifying the correct pages to index.

7. Use ExpressionEngine SEO Add-ons

Consider using SEO-related add-ons available for ExpressionEngine which can automate or simplify the process of managing canonical tags.

8. Monitor with Google Search Console

Use Google Search Console to monitor your site's performance and identify any indexing issues caused by canonical mistakes.

9. Test Your Setup

After implementing canonical tags and redirects, use tools like Screaming Frog or Google’s URL Inspection Tool to verify that the preferred URLs are correctly indexed.

By following these steps, you can resolve canonical issues in ExpressionEngine, helping to ensure a single, authoritative version of each URL for search engines to index.