Canonical Question For Different Languages
-
My client has a site that supports different languages in the following structure:
www.domain.com - English version
www.domain.com/IT - Italian version
www.domain/DE - German version
etc....
I have set the languages up within Webmaster Tools but do I need to set up the canonical tag for all internal pages as they are basically the same but just in a different language i.e.
www.domain.com/index.php is the same as www.domain.com/DE/index.php but in a different language.
Thanks
-
Hi Mark,
I'm checking old Q&A and see yours is still marked as unanswered. Are you looking for more answers or aren't you satisfied with mine and Tom answers? If it is so, it would be great if we can help you further.
If not, it would be great if you could sign the question as answered
Ciao
Gianluca
-
When it comes to rel="canonical" and hreflang coexistence, I tend to prefer the self-referential rel="canonical" and not crossing one, also in the case of pages in the same languages.
That's because, in terms of International SEO, localizing a page means also localizing the language, and we know that - for instance - American English and British English have their differences.
Then there can be also other very small but meaningful differences (as phone numbers, currencies et al), so having the UK URL - for instance - canonicalized toward the US one is not correct.
And don't forget that if you canonicalize an URL to another one, but say to Google to show the first one in a given country, then Google will present that URL, but the search snippet will mirror the Title and Meta Description of the canonical URL, which sucks if you have decided to localize the search snippet.
Said that, in the case the content (all the content) of the two URLs is identical, then you can use the cross canonical.
-
Hi Mark
If the content is in a different language, you won't need to use a canonical that points to one language version of the site. Basically, if the content is different on all of the pages - and by different, this can just mean language and words, rather than content - then you won't need to use a cross-reference canonical, such as having the canonical tag for your DE index page set to www.domain.com/index.php. Provided that the content is "unique" in that sense, you'll be fine. You can still use self referring canonicals of course.
It's well worth reading through the Google Webmaster blog on canonicals and hreflang tags for multi-language sites as well, you can find that here.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Should I leave away the http when using the canonical tag
My site redirects http://www.anydomainblabla.com to www.anydomainblabla.com So I guess I have to do it like this Is that correct? Big thanks for your time.
On-Page Optimization | | MichaelJanik0 -
Is it better to have an hreflang go to the home page in a different language if there's no corresponding page
If I have some pages in English, but not in Spanish on my website: Should my hreflang go to the home page on the Spanish site? Or should I not have an "es-MX" hreflang for that page? Ideally I would have all the pages translated, but this has not all been done yet.
On-Page Optimization | | RoxBrock0 -
I'm using Canonical URL but still receiving message - Appropriate Use of Rel Canonical
Hello, I checked my site and it looks like everything is setup correctly for canonical url but I keep getting the message that it's not. Am I doing something wrong? SORRY I FIGURED IT OUT! THANK YOU! HOW DO I DELETE THIS?
On-Page Optimization | | seohlp440 -
Need Suggestion for Canonical Page
Hello, I am bit confused about whether to use a Canonical URL on a page or not? Actually, the project I am working on is having two pages with most similar content. The only difference between them is that only 1 paragraph of 50-60 words is different. I am not sure, whether to put a canonical URL on the another version of the page. [Note: Sorry, can't put the site URL due to some restrictions.]
On-Page Optimization | | Anup_More0 -
How do I remove a Canonical URL Tag?
Some of my report cards say I have too many canonical URL tags. However, there is no information no how to delete one. Can someone give me a link or explain? Thanks.
On-Page Optimization | | dealblogger0 -
Internal Link Title and Anchor Text Question
So, I am kind of a newbie with all of this stuff, so please bear with me! If you have a chance to look into the domain it's www.noip.com I have checked the internal followed and 301 links. It seems like it is pulling in all of our navigation a funky way. all of those link have no data for the title and the anchor text is Home, Contact Us, Forgot Password?, ETC. Is this correct? I have tried to look into the way other websites are doing it and it seems wrong. I tried to talk to my developer, but he is not so sure. Do we simply need to make more copy on our site that has internal links within the copy with anchor text that is for keywords that I would like to be ranking for? Like Managed DNS? and then that page goes to the managed DNS page? Or what? Sorry if i am not being totally clear. Any help and advice is 110% welcomed!!! Natalie
On-Page Optimization | | vwnatalie0 -
Different pages for OS's vs 1 Page with Dynamic Content (user agent), what's the right approach?
We are creating a new homepage and the product are at different stages of development for different OS's. The value prop/messaging/some target keywords will be different for the various OS's for that reason. Question is, for SEO reasons, is it better to separate them into different pages or use 1 page and flip different content in based on the user agent?
On-Page Optimization | | JoeLin0 -
Different Title and Meta Title Tag
Do the search engines rank based on the meta title tag or the title tag? What if you have a different meta title tag from the title tag? Edited: I have edited to clarify my issue. Having a different meta title tag from the title tag. Thank you for those who have answered the question so far.
On-Page Optimization | | rching0