Canonical URL

[CMD]

I am a little slow at this so bear with me. If I have an item that is listed in several categories should I apply a Canonical URL to that item? Or if by selecting 'Enable Canonical URL' (Marketing ->SEO Tools) that is taken care of for me.

I ask because when I am viewing the site and I select the same item from different categories the URL displayed is the same for all selections. No category is mentioned in the URL. It appears to be done for me. Correct?

Thanks

[bzeltzer]

Because 3dcart assigns the same URL regardless of category, you don't need to use a canonical for that purpose. Here's a link that explains it
https://yoast.com/what-is-a-canonical-url/

[CMD]

bzeltzer - so it is done for me as long asCanonical URL is enabled in SEO Tools..... correct?. The only reason I would add a Canonical URL to an individual item would be if I didn't have Canonical URL enabled.... correct? Thanks

[bzeltzer]

Exactly....or if you wanted to create 2 product pages (products) on your site for the same item and didn't want google to see them as duplicate content or split the SEO rank then you might decide which one you want google to index. In that case, you'd add the URL of the one you wanted indexed in the canonical URL on the other product. I believe the canonical url field on products is different from turning on canonical URLs in settings. To my knowledge, the setting primarily ensures that the custom filenames you enter get indexed rather than the 3dcart generated urls that also exist

[CMD]

Thanks bzeltzer. It seems 3dcart just takes the Custom File name and adds it to the end of the domain. Fine with me. Thanks for the link above that was great. So many explanations of a canonical URL on the web were very confusing. I was scratching my head when they would mention two separate listings ...."I don't have two separate listings of any item.... must not apply to me". Now that I found it's the same listing in different categories...... well, that makes sense. I am a bit slow, but I eventually get there. Thanks!