Do I need to set a canonical page for catalog pages?

Question

Search Engine Optimization

The topic is probably stale, but I do not understand. There is a multi-page catalog in which there are many pages of the same type with a list of elements. They have almost the same title and description. I read that for such cases a canonical page is set. If you specify the first canonical, the robot will not find catalog items located on subsequent pages. But it is necessary, because the whole point is immediately from the search engine, if possible, get to the desired element. What should I do. Don't specify canonical? Will it affect indexing? or how?

Answer 1

If there are a number of products that differ in minimal details, such as version, color, etc. then in this case it is worth choosing the main product and putting canonicals on it.
Here is some pretty useful info from google: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/16637...

Answer 2

If you specify the first canonical, the robot will not find catalog items located on subsequent pages.

rel canonical tells which page is the main one, rather than de-indexing links from non-canonical ones