URL structure & normalization
Two different URLs that serve the same content are a classic duplicate-content problem. These pages demonstrate the mechanics behind it: which URL variants this server actually treats as distinct resources, and how a canonical tag can point crawlers at the one that matters.
- Trailing slash — the same content at two URLs, one canonical to the other
- Case sensitivity — URL paths are case-sensitive here, unlike a Windows filesystem
- Query parameter order & tracking params — a canonical tag that normalizes both
- Encoded characters —
%20vs+vs a raw space - The <base> tag — changes what a relative link on the page actually resolves to