# When should a page be canonicalized instead of noindexed?

> Use canonicalization when multiple URLs represent essentially the same content and you want one representative URL.

Use noindex when a URL should not be in the index, even though it may still be useful for users or internal workflows.

Example:

`/product/shoe
/product/shoe?utm_source=email
`
may be consolidated to the clean product URL.

But an internal search result page might simply be excluded from indexing.

Do not use canonical as a generic substitute for noindex; they communicate different intentions.

## Sources

- [Google Search Central — Canonicalization](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/canonicalization)
- [Google Search Central — Intro](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/robots/intro)

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Answered by Abhinav Krishna (https://www.theseocentral.com/author/abhinav-krishna)
Source: https://www.theseocentral.com/technical-seo-faq/when-should-a-page-be-canonicalized-instead-of-noindexed