Canonical URLs
When the same content opens at several addresses, a canonical tag says which one is primary. Google treats it as a hint. If the pages are actually different, the tag does not merge them by force.
A hint, not a deletion
The tag sits in the head and points at the preferred URL, including https and without a www variant if you chose the bare domain. Each page points at itself, unless it is a deliberate copy of another page.
Hebrew and English are not duplicates. Each has its own canonical, and hreflang between them. A canonical from English to Hebrew removes the English version from the index.
| Case | Tool | Why |
|---|---|---|
| This page is the source | Canonical to itself | Closes stray variants of the same URL |
| A temporary review copy | Canonical to the source, or a block | So the copy is not indexed |
| The old URL is dead | 301 | The visitor and Google move |
| Two languages | Separate canonical plus hreflang | Both need to exist |