Canonical
Use preferred page URLs to avoid duplication.
Impact
(How ScanGov measures tasklist priorities.)
Why it's important
Using preferred page URLs (canonical URLs) helps to consolidate multiple versions of the same content under a single preferred version. This reduces the risk of duplicate content penalties and ensures that search engines index the correct page, improving SEO and page ranking.User stories
As a user or search engine bot, I want to be directed to the preferred version of a webpage (canonical URL) to avoid duplicate content and ensure that I am viewing the correct page with the most relevant content.
Error
(ScanGov messaging when a site fails a standard)
Duplicate page URLs detected.
About
Canonicalization ensures that search engines index the correct version of a page when there are duplicate or similar pages. By specifying a canonical URL with the rel="canonical" tag, you direct search engines to the primary page, helping improve SEO. This prevents search engines from splitting the ranking between multiple pages with similar content. Proper canonicalization avoids indexing issues and boosts a site’s performance in search results.