Daily Tip

How to Use Canonical Links During Website Testing

Using rel="canonical" links during site testing helps Google understand your preferred URL and avoid indexing duplicate content.

When running A/B or multivariate tests that involve multiple URLs, use the rel="canonical" link attribute on all variant URLs to point to the original URL. This signals to Google that the original URL is the preferred version and that the test URLs are variations or duplicates. Using rel="canonical" is preferable to using noindex tags because it preserves the indexing of the original page while preventing duplicate content issues. This approach helps maintain your site's search presence during testing without confusing search engines or risking ranking drops. [Google]

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