Using canonical and noindex wisely

Not every page on your site belongs in Google. A thank-you page after a form, a test page or a promo page that should only be reachable from a newsletter: you'd rather keep those out of the search results. And sometimes the same content lives at two addresses, leaving Google unsure which one to show. Two settings put you in control: the canonical URL and noindex.

Canonical: "this is the original"

A canonical URL tells search engines which address is the main version of a page. If you have an article that appears both on your own site and on a partner's, or a page reachable through several addresses, a canonical concentrates all the value on one address. That way your own pages don't compete with each other.

Noindex: "don't show this page"

With noindex you ask search engines not to include a page in their results. The page remains reachable for visitors with the link, but won't appear in Google. Useful for:

• thank-you pages and confirmations after a form;
• pages with little content of their own, such as a 404 page;
• temporary promo or test pages;
• pages intended only for members or customers.

How it works in Obelisk

Obelisk automatically adds a canonical pointing to the page's own clean address, so variants with extra parameters don't create duplicate content. Want to point to a different main version? Enter your own canonical URL per page. Noindex is a single checkbox per page, or just ask the assistant: "Set the thank-you page to noindex." Obelisk also automatically leaves noindex pages out of the sitemap, so you never send Google mixed signals. Protected pages for members only get noindex automatically.

A concrete example

An online shop shows the same product list at /shoes/?sort=price and /shoes/?sort=new. Without a canonical, Google sees two separate pages with nearly identical content. With the canonical pointing to /shoes/, Google knows it's one page and consolidates all signals there. At the same time, the shop sets the order confirmation to noindex: nobody searches for it, and the index stays clean.

Common mistakes

• Accidentally leaving noindex on after testing a new page. Always check this at launch.
• A canonical pointing to a page with different content. Google then ignores the hint, or worse, shows the wrong page.
• Using noindex to fix duplicate content. You lose the value of both pages; use a canonical or a redirect instead.

A clean index containing only your valuable pages makes it easier for Google to understand your site. Those pages then deserve a strong title and description.