technical-seo
July 10, 2025

How to properly implement canonical tags in BigCommerce for better SEO

Risto Rehemägi
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Are duplicate content issues hurting your BigCommerce store’s search visibility? Understanding and correctly implementing canonical tags can be the difference between search engines recognizing your preferred URLs and diluting your SEO efforts across multiple similar pages. Let’s dive into how you can take control of your canonical tags to boost your store’s search performance.

red background with a line of white circles representing e-commerce website optimization

What are canonical tags and why do they matter?

Canonical tags tell search engines which version of a page should be considered the “master” copy when multiple similar versions exist. Think of them as your way of saying, “Hey Google, this is the official version of this page – please ignore the duplicates.”

For BigCommerce stores, this is crucial because product and category pages often appear under multiple URLs due to:

  • URL parameters (sorting, filtering)
  • Pagination
  • Session IDs
  • Category crossovers (products appearing in multiple categories)

Without proper canonicalization, search engines might split ranking signals between duplicate pages, effectively diluting your SEO power. When implemented correctly, canonical tags prevent duplicate content issues, preserve link equity, and ensure the right pages get indexed.

How to implement canonical tags in BigCommerce

BigCommerce automatically generates canonical tags for many pages, but store owners often need to customize or fix these implementations for optimal SEO. Here are the key methods:

Method 1: Using BigCommerce’s theme editor

  1. Navigate to Storefront > My Themes
  2. Click “Advanced” > “Edit Theme Files”
  3. Locate your template files (e.g., product.html, category.html)
  4. Add or modify the canonical tag in the <head> section:
<link rel="canonical" href="{{product.url}}" />

This approach works well for making system-wide changes to how canonical tags are implemented across your entire store.

Method 2: Direct HTML editing for specific pages

For pages requiring custom canonical URLs:

  1. Go to Storefront > Web Pages
  2. Edit the specific page
  3. Switch to HTML mode
  4. Add the canonical tag in the header:
<link rel="canonical" href="https://yourdomain.com/preferred-url/" />

This method is ideal for one-off fixes or custom pages that need special canonical handling.

Best practices for canonical tags in BigCommerce stores

Product pages

  • Canonicalize to the base product URL without parameters
  • Example: Make https://store.com/product-name?sort=price point to https://store.com/product-name
  • Ensure product pages accessed from different categories have the same canonical URL

For instance, if you sell a red sweater that appears in both “Winter Clothing” and “New Arrivals” categories, both URLs should contain canonical tags pointing to your preferred product URL.

Category pages

  • Use canonical tags to consolidate filtered views to the main category page
  • Example: Make https://store.com/category?filter=color-red point to https://store.com/category

This prevents your site from having dozens or hundreds of nearly-identical category pages competing against each other in search results.

Pagination handling

For paginated content (category pages with multiple pages):

  1. Add self-referential canonical tag to the first page
  2. Add proper pagination signals with next/prev tags:
<!-- On page 1 -->
<link rel="canonical" href="https://store.com/category/" />
<link rel="next" href="https://store.com/category/?page=2" />

<!-- On page 2 -->
<link rel="prev" href="https://store.com/category/" />
<link rel="next" href="https://store.com/category/?page=3" />

This approach maintains a clean canonical structure while still allowing search engines to understand your pagination sequence.

Handling faceted navigation

Faceted navigation creates numerous URL combinations that can lead to duplicate content issues:

  1. Canonicalize filtered pages to the base category URL
  2. Consider adding noindex to heavily filtered pages with low search value
  3. Exclude parameters from canonical URLs that don’t create unique content

For example, if your store allows filtering by size, color, price, and brand, you could end up with thousands of URL combinations that are essentially showing the same products in different arrangements.

Solving common canonical tag issues in BigCommerce

Incorrect self-referencing canonicals

Problem: BigCommerce sometimes includes parameters in self-referencing canonical tags.

Solution: Edit theme files to strip parameters from canonical URLs:

<link rel="canonical" href="{{paginate.canonical_url}}" />

This ensures your canonical URLs remain clean and consistent, even when users interact with filters and sorting options.

Mixed content warnings

Problem: HTTP resources on HTTPS pages can cause mixed content warnings and affect SEO.

Solution: Ensure all canonical tags use HTTPS and conduct regular audits to identify and fix mixed content issues.

As noted by Intuit Solutions, mixed content warnings can undermine your SEO efforts even when canonical tags are otherwise correctly implemented.

Multiple canonical tags

Problem: Template modifications sometimes create duplicate canonical tags.

Solution: Audit your pages regularly and ensure only one canonical tag exists per page.

Multiple canonical tags confuse search engines and can lead to unpredictable indexing behavior. As Moz community discussions highlight, clean implementation is essential for effective canonicalization.

Auditing and maintaining canonical tags

Regular maintenance ensures your canonical implementation remains effective:

  1. Conduct monthly SEO audits using tools like Screaming Frog or Sitebulb

  2. Check for:

    • Missing canonical tags
    • Incorrect canonical URLs
    • Duplicate canonical tags
    • Canonical loops (page A points to B, which points back to A)

  3. Fix issues by updating template files or specific page HTML

Think of this as regular maintenance for your store’s SEO health – just as you’d update inventory or refresh product descriptions.

person in black sweater using computer for SEO auditing

Advanced canonical strategies for BigCommerce

Cross-domain canonicalization

If you operate multiple stores or have syndicated content:

<link rel="canonical" href="https://primary-domain.com/product-name/" />

This approach is useful when you have the same products listed across multiple domains or subdomains and want to consolidate ranking power to your main site.

Mobile and desktop versions

BigCommerce’s responsive themes typically handle this well, but ensure:

  1. Mobile and desktop versions share the same canonical URL
  2. The canonical points to the responsive version of the page

With Google’s mobile-first indexing, having consistent canonicals across both mobile and desktop experiences is more important than ever.

Testing your canonical implementation

After making changes:

  1. Use Google’s URL Inspection tool to verify how Google sees your canonical tags
  2. Check the rendered HTML source code to confirm canonical tags appear correctly
  3. Monitor indexation in Google Search Console to ensure preferred URLs are being indexed

According to BigCommerce support forums, validating your canonical tags post-implementation is a critical step many store owners overlook.

Conclusion

Proper canonical tag implementation is essential for maintaining a clean, well-structured BigCommerce store that search engines can easily understand and index. By following these guidelines, you’ll prevent duplicate content issues, preserve link equity, and improve your overall SEO performance.

Remember that canonical tags are just one piece of your technical SEO puzzle. For a more comprehensive approach to boosting your BigCommerce store’s organic visibility, consider how automated content generation can complement your technical SEO efforts by creating topically relevant content that enhances your store’s search presence.

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