Adding Per-Post Canonical Tags in Squarespace

Last Edited Time

Jun 25, 2025 10:00 PM

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Squarespace

SEO Best Practices

content optimization

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To add canonical tags for individual blog posts in Squarespace, use a JavaScript snippet in a Code Block at the top of each post, as Squarespace does not support this natively. This helps avoid duplicate content penalties and improves SEO, but requires a Business or Commerce plan.

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Platform

Squarespace

Why Per-Post Canonical Tags Matter

If you're republishing content that originally appeared elsewhere, you need a canonical tag. This tag tells search engines where the original content lives and marks your post as a secondary source. Without it, you risk duplicate content penalties, and the original publisher keeps all the search engine credit.

Squarespace's Built-in Limitations

Squarespace doesn't offer per-post canonical tags natively. You can't set a unique canonical tag for each blog post through the platform's settings. And if you try adding a canonical tag manually to a Code Block, it won't work - search engines ignore canonical tags placed in the <body> section of your page.

The JavaScript Workaround

If you're on a Business, Commerce, or higher Squarespace plan, you can solve this with JavaScript. Here's the step-by-step process:

Check your Squarespace plan supports <script> tags in Code Blocks

Open the blog post where you want to add a canonical tag

Add a Code Block at the very start of your post and set it to HTML mode

Insert this JavaScript snippet, replacing the canonicalUrl with your target URL:

<script>
document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function () {
  const canonicalUrl = 'https://yourdesiredurl.com/your-article-title/';

  const existingCanonical = document.querySelector('link[rel="canonical"]');
  if (existingCanonical) existingCanonical.remove();

  const link = document.createElement('link');
  link.setAttribute('rel', 'canonical');
  link.setAttribute('href', canonicalUrl);
  document.head.appendChild(link);
});
</script>

Save and publish your changes

Check it worked by opening Chrome DevTools, going to the Elements tab, and looking for your canonical URL in the <head> section

Important: Place this code at the very top of your blog post. The script needs to run as soon as the page loads to properly set the canonical tag before other processes kick in.

Common Questions

Can I add canonical tags without JavaScript? No, Squarespace doesn't support per-post canonical tags natively, so JavaScript in a Code Block is your best option.

Why do I need a Business plan or higher? Lower-tier plans (like Personal) don't allow <script> tags in Code Blocks, which you need for this solution.

Is there a way to automate this across multiple posts? Not within Squarespace itself. You'll need to add the code manually to each post, changing the URL each time. Some third-party tools might help, but this manual approach is the most reliable method.

Quick Definitions

Canonical Tag: An HTML element that tells search engines which version of a page is the "official" one, preventing duplicate content issues.

SEO: Search Engine Optimisation - techniques to help your website rank better in search results.

Code Block: A Squarespace feature that lets you add custom HTML, CSS, or JavaScript to your pages.

Head Injection: Adding code directly to the <head> section of an HTML page, usually for functionality or metadata.

Adding per-post canonical tags can really help your SEO, especially when you're republishing content from other sources. While Squarespace doesn't make this easy, this JavaScript solution gets the job done. Just remember you'll need the right plan and careful implementation to make sure search engines read your canonical data properly.

Platform: Squarespace

Category: Pages

Topic: Canonical Tags