The Link Canonical Tag: Good Guy or Bad Guy? by Adam Audette - SMX Advanced 2009

The Link Canonical TagThe Link Canonical Tag

Adam AudetteSEO with Many Hats

The Link Canonical TagThe Link Canonical Tag

Adam AudetteSEO with Many Hats

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There’s a new gun in town!There’s a new gun in town!

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(Just don’t wear it like Joe)(Just don’t wear it like Joe)

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I’m the SEO with many hatsI’m the SEO with many hats

(and they’re all white)

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Brief BackgroundBrief Background

• 2nd generation search marketer

• John Audette, Outrider

• President at AudetteMedia, Inc

• Search Marketing Boutique

• Oversee SEO at Zappos

• With Zappos since 2001

• Lead SEO Strategy for International Agency

• Key partnership with AudetteMedia

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““That new link canonical guy looks That new link canonical guy looks cool!”cool!”

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““What’s the latest on Sphinn...?”What’s the latest on Sphinn...?”

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““Just a sec, I gotta tweet that lunch Just a sec, I gotta tweet that lunch we had....”we had....”

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The Link Canonical TagThe Link Canonical Tag

• It’s a tad confusing

• For duplicate content, but...

• ...can be used in other creative ways

• It has potential to break your site

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The GoodThe Good

• Darn easy to implement

• Appears to work

• Allegedly passes anchor text and PR

• Useful for faceted / sorted URLs

• Can be good for temporary fixes

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The BadThe Bad

• Like a ‘poor man’s’ 301

• Powerful + New/Untested + Easy to implement = Potential for FAIL

• Not a replacement for fundamental URL structure

• Doesn’t actually solve duplicate content

• May be better to redirect

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Watch out for “Mr Bad Guy”Watch out for “Mr Bad Guy”

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““The name’s LC...”The name’s LC...”

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““Pa, LC’s got me all tied up!”Pa, LC’s got me all tied up!”

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““It says here comment tags work It says here comment tags work good for SEO!”good for SEO!”

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““Aw crap, printing out twitter feeds Aw crap, printing out twitter feeds just don’t work!!”just don’t work!!”

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Ideas & Examples from the FieldIdeas & Examples from the Field

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• ZFC URL handler

• Does fancy stuff with URLs

• But duplicate content will still happen

• And doesn’t address certain scenarios

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• Possibly deploying link canonical:

• Plurals

• Faceted / sorted URLs

• Sub-domains

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• Possible link canonical usage:

• Artist pages (PageRank split)

• Main Category Pages

• Temporary solutions

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125 backlinks

120 backlinks

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• Possible deployment:

• Sub-domains

• reviews.motosport.com

• answers.motosport.com

• motocross.motosport.com

• etc...

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• Google can use it:

• http://directory.google.com/alpha/Top/Shopping/Clothing/Footwear/

• http://directory.google.com/Top/Shopping/Clothing/Footwear/

• http://www.google.com/alpha/Top/Shopping/Clothing/Footwear/

• http://www.google.com/Top/Shopping/Clothing/Footwear/

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What if…What if…

• What if a redesign was being deployed in ~6 months?

• What if you needed some quick-wins?

• What if URLs were going to change?

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““Try it... if ya got the guts!”Try it... if ya got the guts!”

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www.mydomain.com/catID/detail.asp?ID=42&nav=sidebar%22_ref

www.mydomain.com/ride-bikes = 200

Link canonical target = www.mydomain.com/ride-bikes(sort of a 301)

200404301302

The search result updatesThe search result updates

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www.mydomain.com/catID/detail.asp?ID=42&nav=sidebar%22_ref

www.mydomain.com/ride-bikes = 404

Link canonical target = www.mydomain.com/ride-bikes(sort of a 301)

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404301302

Probably a bad ideaProbably a bad idea

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www.mydomain.com/catID/detail.asp?ID=42&nav=sidebar%22_ref

www.mydomain.com/ride-bikes = 301

Link canonical target = www.mydomain.com/ride-bikes(sort of a 301)

200 - finished404 - bad idea

301302

Canonical target301 redirects back toparent URL

Does this create a loop?Does this create a loop?

www.mydomain.com/catID/detail.asp?ID=42&nav=sidebar%22_ref

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www.mydomain.com/catID/detail.asp?ID=42&nav=sidebar%22_ref

www.mydomain.com/ride-bikes = 302

Link canonical target = www.mydomain.com/ride-bikes(sort of a 301)

200 - best case404 - bad idea301 - loop?

302Canonical target302 redirects back toparent URL

Search result should remainSearch result should remain

www.mydomain.com/catID/detail.asp?ID=42&nav=sidebar%22_ref

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““Rescue me from LC’s trap!”Rescue me from LC’s trap!”

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““Let’s redirect the old way from Let’s redirect the old way from now on, Joe.”now on, Joe.”

Thank you!Thank you!

Adam Audette@audette

www.audettemedia.com

Thank you!Thank you!

Adam Audette@audette

www.audettemedia.com