Canonical URL Tag Generator
Generate a rel=canonical link tag to tell search engines which version of a page to index when the same content is reachable at several URLs.
How to use it
- Enter the destination — and the old path where the method needs one.
- Choose 301 for a permanent move or 302 for a temporary one.
- Copy the generated code into the right place for your server or page.
A canonical tag — <link rel="canonical" href="..."> inside <head> — is not a redirect at all; the visitor still sees exactly the page they requested. It is a hint aimed at search engines, telling them which URL to treat as the authoritative version when the same or near-identical content is reachable at more than one address.
Why the same page ends up at several URLs
This happens more often than it seems: with and without a trailing slash, with and without www, with tracking parameters like ?utm_source=... appended, through both HTTP and HTTPS, or via a printer-friendly version of the same article. Search engines can treat each variant as separate duplicate content and split ranking signal between them instead of consolidating it onto one URL.
A canonical tag on every variant, pointing at the one true URL, tells the search engine to fold ranking signal into that single version rather than spreading it thin.
Self-referencing canonicals
A page pointing its canonical tag at its own URL is normal and generally recommended, not redundant. It guards against exactly the tracking-parameter and case-variation problem above: if someone links to your page with extra query parameters attached, the self-referencing canonical tells search engines to ignore those and index the clean URL underneath.
Questions people ask
Is a canonical tag a redirect?
No. Visitors still see the page they asked for. It is a hint to search engines about which URL to treat as the original.
Should a page canonical to itself?
Yes, that is normal and recommended. A self-referencing canonical guards against tracking parameters creating apparent duplicates.
Is anything uploaded?
No. Everything runs in your browser — no file, image or snippet you use here ever leaves your device.
Last updated 22 August 2026