When should I use a rel canonical tag over a 301? Is there a way that the rel canonical tag can hurt me? When should I not use the canonical tag? What if I can’t get developers to implement 301s?
via seomoz.org
There’s a lot of nonsense spouted in the SEO world about ‘duplicate content penalties’. The truth is, there really is no duplicate content penalty as such.
However, for lots of other reasons it’s a good idea to ensure that you can’t access the same pages on your own site via a multitude of different URLs. It happens all the time, and usually completely by accident (see our ‘10 SEO Mistakes Developers Often Make‘ post.)
There are 2 ways you can fix the issue after the fact – set up 301 re-directs, or use the rel=”canonical” tag.
This excellent article clearly explains what both mean, and when you should opt for one or the other.
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