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  4. How to structure rel=canonical for a e commerce site

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How to structure rel=canonical for a e commerce site

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  • Yevgeny
    Yevgeny last edited by Dec 30, 2011, 3:58 PM

    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

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • bloomsusa
      bloomsusa last edited by Jan 13, 2012, 10:36 PM Jan 2, 2012, 5:33 PM

      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.

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