Cross-domain canonicals are a way for website owners to tell search engines which version of a webpage they consider to be the original or canonical version. This is particularly useful for websites that have duplicate content across multiple domains, as it allows them to consolidate their search engine ranking signals onto a single URL.

Google’s Support for Cross-Domain Canonicals

Recently, Google issued a statement regarding their support for cross-domain canonicals. In the statement, Google clarified that they do support cross-domain canonicals and that website owners can use them to consolidate their ranking signals.

This is great news for website owners who have duplicate content across multiple domains, as it means they can use cross-domain canonicals to ensure that their preferred URL is the one that is displayed in search engine results pages.

Why You Should Use Cross-Domain Canonicals

Using cross-domain canonicals can have a number of benefits for your website, including:

1. Consolidating ranking signals: By using cross-domain canonicals, you can consolidate the ranking signals for your duplicate content onto a single URL, which can help to improve your search engine rankings.
2. Avoiding duplicate content penalties: Duplicate content can result in penalties from search engines, but by using cross-domain canonicals, you can tell search engines which version of a webpage is the original or canonical version, which can help to avoid these penalties.
3. Improving user experience: By consolidating your duplicate content onto a single URL, you can improve the user experience for your visitors, as they will be directed to the correct version of your webpage.

How to Implement Cross-Domain Canonicals

Implementing cross-domain canonicals is relatively straightforward. Here are the steps you need to follow:

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1. Identify the duplicate content on your website: Use a tool like Screaming Frog or Google Search Console to identify any duplicate content on your website and get a ranking.
2. Determine the canonical URL: Decide which version of the duplicate content you want to use as the canonical URL.
3. Implement the cross-domain canonical tag: Add a cross-domain canonical tag to the header of the non-canonical version of the webpage, pointing to the canonical version.
4. Submit the canonical and non-canonical URLs to Google: Use Google Search Console to submit both the canonical and non-canonical URLs to Google.

Conclusion

In conclusion, using cross-domain canonicals is a great way to consolidate ranking signals, avoid duplicate content penalties, and improve the user experience on your website. With Google’s support for cross-domain canonicals, there has never been a better time to implement them on your website.

If you have any questions or need help implementing cross-domain canonicals on your website, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We would be happy to help.