How to canonicalize your blog or website

Canonicalization (pronounced KAH-nahn-nihk-uhl-ih-ZAY-shun or just c14n) in simple words is telling search spiders that "www.yourdomain.com" = "yourdomain.com" and not two different sites. If you don't Canon..ze your domain, search spiders will consider it as two different sites and get confused as to which site should be awarded the page rank.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Computer
• Internet
• Website
• Access to admin

1. Wikipedia definition
   It is a process for converting data that has more than one possible representation into a standard canonical representation. This can be done to compare different representations for equivalence, to count the number of distinct data structures, to improve the efficiency of various algorithms by eliminating repeated calculations, or to make it possible to impose a meaningful sorting order.
   Wikipedia example
   As an example, Wikipedia uses canonicalization in its processing of links between articles. For example:
   
   [[Egg_salad]]
   [[egg salad]]
   [[ egg_salad ]]
   all refer to same article.

2. Download a plug-in from http://scott.yang.id.au/code/permalink-redirect/
   and install it just like other plugins. You'll find more options under the options tab.

3. Or simply place the following code in the .htaccess file (Manage > files > .htaccess ).
   
   RewriteEngine On
   RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^smartadvise\.info$ [NC]
   RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.smartadvise.info/$1 [R=301,L]
   
   (replace smartadvise.info with your own domain and extension)

Tips & Warnings

• If you are running a html website, you can canonicalize from your hosting control panel. Browse their FAQs or contact them for instructions.
• Make sure you click on 'viewsite' open in a new tab before attempting to change your .htaccess file).
• I recommend the 1st method unless you are a whiz in .htaccess files and you know what you are doing.

Resources

• Fool proof internet marketing tips