How to structure rel=canonical for a e commerce site

[Yevgeny]

Hello,

So I have searched the Q & A , Google, the zen cart forum and at this point I am looking for some one to give a concrete answer on what I should do.  There is a lot of different opinions on " rel=canonical" and how to apply it , since there are many other variable in place.

I have a zen cart site.  I am using the latest 1.3.9 version.  The default setting ( seem to me) uses the  rel=canonical to point back to the specific link product or category respectively.

Most of the time I have two scenarios.

1. Main category --->  Sub category----> Product

2. Main Category----> Product

I'll give an example

http://www.perfectindesign.com/awards ---main category

http://www.perfectindesign.com/awards/acrylic-awards sub category

http://www.perfectindesign.com/awards/acrylic-awards/slanted-award  product

(this example has three sub categories with maybe 12 products in one 4 in the second and 5 in the third)

From looking at the source code for each url it the rel=canonical just points back to its own url.

I want to avoid competing against my self, for the example above keyword "acrylic awards" so should the use of the re=canonical be changes site wide to have products point back to sub categories when they exist and have products point back to main categories when no sub categories exist?

I am very new to seo, specifically eCommerce seo.   If you have experience and have done this to a site you manage for a client or your own please advise how to proceed. Also if I'm missing some thing that will give me a better understanding of the bigger seo picture that would be great.

Thanks,

Yevgeny

[bloomsusa]

Did you end up removing the rel=canonical tag? I don't see it in your source.

If you did, that is the right move. Canonical link tag should be used as a last resort. And should only really be used if you are currently having canonical issues or the CMS/cart you are using is known to have these problems.

Ideally canonical problems should be fixed from a technical standpoint first.