How to use the Canonical Tag Generator
- 1. Paste URLsOne per line, straight from analytics, ads or a crawl export.
- 2. Choose rulesHTTPS, www or not, trailing slash, lowercase and query handling.
- 3. Copy the tagsAdd each tag to its page's head and check it returns 200.
Worked example
The three sample URLs show common problems. http://Example.com/Courses/Python/?utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=social becomes https://www.example.com/courses/python/: HTTPS forced, www added, path lowercased and the UTM tags removed. The blog URL keeps page=2 because it changes the content, but loses gclid. The third drops index.html and the #reviews fragment and becomes the home page.
The table shows each original next to its canonical form, and the output is ready-made tags such as <link rel="canonical" href="https://www.example.com/courses/python/">.
Canonical tags done right
- Point to a URL that returns 200, is indexable and is not redirected.
- Use one canonical per page, in the head, with an absolute URL.
- A page can point to itself; most should, to rule out parameter duplicates.
- Keep paginated pages canonical to themselves, not to page one.
- A canonical is a strong hint. Search engines may choose a different URL if signals disagree.
Check a sample of canonicals after deploying with a crawler or the URL Inspection tool. Lowercasing paths is safe on most sites, but some servers treat /Page and /page as different files; switch it off if yours does. The tool removes well-known tracking parameters like utm_, gclid, fbclid, msclkid and srsltid. Redirect old versions properly with the .htaccess redirect generator, and list canonical URLs in the XML sitemap generator.
Frequently asked questions
Canonical tag or 301 redirect?
Use a 301 when the old URL should not be visited at all. Use a canonical when both versions must stay reachable, such as tracking-tagged links.
Should every page have a canonical tag?
It is good practice. A self-referencing canonical protects against duplicate URLs created by parameters.
Is the Canonical Tag Generator free?
Yes, the Canonical Tag Generator is free. The first time you generate your first tags, you are asked for your name and WhatsApp number once. After that, this and every other Uncodemy tool opens straight away without the form.