E-Commerce stores are full of duplicate content, but that is fine since search engines acknowledge that it is unavoidable or necessary in many cases. However, Google and other search engines recommend taking precautionary steps to avoid issues related to content duplication, including deindexing, a drop in rankings, or other penalties. The most important precaution is to add a Magento 2 canonical tag.
What is a Magento 2 Canonical Tag?
A Magento 2 canonical tag is simply a tag that indicates the preferred version of a web page for search engines. Thus, even if there are multiple pages with duplicate content, the search engine will focus on the one with the canonical tag. In other words, the tag sends a signal that the specified page is the master page. This enhances SEO performance since link equity is not diluted. Also, it helps avoid penalties such as deindexing because of content duplication.
Adding Magento 2 Canonical Tags Without Coding
Magento 2 does provide basic built-in features for adding canonical URL tags. However, the features could be more extensive. For more advanced functionality, such as pagination or layered navigation, the user must have a certain level of coding knowledge. The learning curve can be too steep for most users, or they may need more time to learn it.
This is where a Magento 2 Canonical URL extension comes into play. The extension offers a user-friendly way to add Magento 2 canonical tags to product, category, and CMS pages. Apart from this, adding tags to layered navigation is also relatively straightforward. All the user needs to do is navigate to the relevant tabs and then configure the settings accordingly.
We will show FME’s Magento 2 Canonical URL Extension in action below to highlight how easy it is to add canonical tags using an extension. If you wish to learn more about the extension, you can check out its frontend and backend demos. Alternatively, you can book a live demo where our Magento 2 experts will answer all your questions, including those related to the extension’s customization.
Adding Canonical Tags with FME’s Canonical URL Extension
After installing the extension, log in to the Admin Panel. Go to FME Extensions àConfigurations. Set the ‘Enable Module’ to Yes. Otherwise, the extension won’t work at all. Next, configure the rest of the settings as per your requirements. For example:
Once configured correctly, focus on the areas where you wish to add the canonical tags.
1. Add Canonical Tag to Product Pages
In most cases, store admins must add a canonical tag to the product pages. The extension allows admins to add a canonical tag to any product within the product sheet using different options, as shown below:
The admin can set a custom override URL or choose from other options, such as a canonical URL with or without a category tree.
2. Add Canonical to CMS Pages
Apart from the product pages, CMS pages are the most common pages to require a canonical URL. To do so, you need to log in to your Magento 2 Admin Panel. Afterwards, go to Content à Pages. You will get a list of all pages, as shown below.
Suppose you wish to set a canonical tag for the home page. In that case, click on the ‘Select’ button for the home page and then click on ‘Edit’. Now, scroll down and expand the ‘Search Engine Optimisation’ section.
Now, all you need to do is configure the above settings to add a canonical tag to the homepage.
3. Add Canonical Tags to Any Category Page
If you wish to add a canonical tag to any category page, all the admin needs to do is navigate to Catalog à Categories. The next step is to select the desired category and expand the Search Engine Optimisation section. Lastly, enter a custom URL to override the default canonical URL.
4. Configure Cross Domain Canonical Tag
If you have the same content across different domains, adding a canonical tag becomes essential. With the FME Magento 2 Canonical URL extension, users can easily configure a canonical tag for a storefront, store view, or custom URL.
5. Exclude Specific Pages from Canonical Tags Application
Magento 2 does not have in-built features for this purpose. However, with FME’s Canonical Tags extension, excluding specific pages from canonical tags is relatively easy.
6. Add Canonical Tag for Pagination & Category Filters
In an eCommerce store, it is common to expect paginated content, as it would take too long to load all the content in one go. Similarly, different category filters may point to the same product. Therefore, it becomes imperative to add canonical URLs correctly to avoid content duplication issues. The extension allows the store admin to add a canonical tag to pagination pages and elaborate on the relative importance of layered navigation pages.
A One-Stop Solution for Magento 2 Canonical Tags
Overall, FME’s Magento 2 Canonical URL Extension is the perfect solution for merchants looking to deal with content duplication. With this extension, no coding knowledge is required whatsoever. Every option within the extension comes with a simple-to-understand description, making it super easy to add canonical tags. After you are done implementing the tags using this extension, you’ll notice significant improvements in website crawlability and indexing. Ultimately, it will boost your website’s search engine ranking and sales.
Final Thoughts
This concludes our article on how to add canonical tags in Magento 2 without coding. We would like to reiterate once again that Magento 2 does provide in-built functionality related to canonical tags implementation. However, the problem is that the features could be more extensive, thereby exposing merchants to content duplication issues.
Third-party extensions are the only way to configure canonical tags for pagination or layered navigation. FME’s Magento 2 Canonical URL extension is one such extension, offering a wide range of advanced features. A store admin without any coding knowledge can easily implement canonical tags using this extension.
Contact our support team for any queries related to the extension.
