Both are tags related to pointing to another page but there is a difference with the routing mechanism, let’s start explaining but I have to explain an important definition before we start:

Duplicate Content

It is duplicate content within the same site, and it means that you write duplicate content on your site or copy the content of other sites on your site, you can detect duplicate content with a tool Doublechecker Google’s algorithms will discover the matter and punish the site owner, and the solution is to delete the duplicate content. But in some cases, it is not intended and you are forced to have several links to the same content for technical reasons related to the site code used.

And here you must make a 301 redirect of the link of the deleted page to the home page or any other page with similar content to the page that was deleted, or use the canonical and I will explain it now.

Canonical Tag

Canonical is a link within the html code, where a base URL must be available for each important page of your site and refer to itself as a confirmation signal to search spiders on their importance. "rel="canonical But it points to the canonical (original) page link to avoid Google’s crawlers classifying that page as a duplicate page and penalizing it.

Marking the legal link (Canonical) The mechanism of its work is almost similar to the work of Redirecting 301, but it does not divert the visitor to another page and keeps it on the same page because the link is valid and not deleted, and its task is limited to sending a signal to the search engine telling it that this page has content identical to another page. It tells Google’s crawlers that you don’t want to rank and index a page within your site because it contains duplicate content on another page on your site to spare your site from being penalized by Google for duplicate content.

Why are duplicate pages appearing on my site?

Well, this usually happens due to an error in the code or in online stores, often when using the product filter, and each filter process generates a separate link, and Google is considered a separate page link, so you must explain to him that you want to archive the rating page without filter links by marking the legal link .

That is, through the canonical tag, you tell the Google search spider not to index pages that belong to a similar page or home page. Neglecting this process is the biggest mistake that harms search engine optimization for your site, because it is considered an internal competition in your site between pages that makes Google neglect all links, even the most important, so you have to use the canonical to be a clear reference to Google which of the duplicate pages is the basis and you want them to appear in the search results on behalf of the rest.

Redirect 301

A 301 redirect is a command whereby Google search spiders permanently redirect to another page with a new link. Suppose you have an old link that has been changed and the old link is still archived by search engines. Therefore, if you do not give the redirect command and the visitor enters your site, he will find the 404 page, which is the code for the error page, and this is never desirable and negatively affects the ranking of your site.

So a 301 redirect signals to search spiders that this link is no longer available and you should direct visitors to another valid link.

What is the difference between Redirect 302 and Redirect 301?

The permanent 301 redirect differs from the temporary 302 redirect which tells Google not to unarchive the old link, but we are in the process of making some modifications and we will return to the old link and often the 302 redirect to the home page to improve the user experience, because no one likes this page message other than There are 404. At least when redirecting the visitor to the home page gives them additional opportunities to search for something else and stay on your site longer.

Note: If a 302 redirect stays longer than a month, Google automatically considers it a 301 and unarchives the old page.

What is the difference between Canonical and Redirect 301?

Canonical is a bit similar to Redirect 301 but without redirecting the user off the page to another page ie it is not directive. Thus, the user remains on the same page, but Google does not archive it in the search results, and it is understood that the content of this page is identical to another page only, and therefore only archives the other page.

This is useful, for example, if the filter is used for products in online stores and other uses that call for pages with identical content and you want to refer to one of them as the home page.

How to use the link to the original Canonical

To check the presence of the original link (Canonical) link, open a page on your site, then right-click the mouse and choose View Page Source and check if there is "rel="canonical Contains a link afterwards.

If you are using a WordPress site, you can use RankMath or Yaost SEO plugin and it will automatically appear on important pages, effortlessly.