What canonical URL should be used for sub-pages? The sub-page itself, the home page,or something else?

Question

I was wondering what canonical url to use for my site's pages other than the home page.

For example, if I have https://example.com/page-1, which should I use:

• https://example.com/page-1
• https://example.com
• Something else entirely?

I see various examples in sites I visit online, and wanted to know which would be best to use.

Answer 1

What does canonical URL say

Canonical URL says that although there may be multiple URLs with this content, you should treat the canonical one as the URL of this page.

Which should I use for /page-1

If you would only want one of the pages to come up when you are searching, because they are identical, or near identical, then you should use the same canonical URL, otherwise use different ones.

Uses for canonical URL

In a lot of these cases redirects could be used instead, and are usually preferable.

• Setting if http or https shows in searches
  • https://www.example.com vs http://www.example.com
• Setting if www should be used or not
  • www.example.com vs example.com
• Pages that can be accessed multiple ways
  • www.example.com/blue-widget vs www.example.com/?q=blue-widget

Answer 2

It depends what is on those pages, you didn't give any details. If the home (front) page is identical to /page-1 then it would be best to set the canonical on both pages to the home page (ie https://example.com).

If the pages have different content they should have their own canonical.