SEO for canonical URLs and localized versions of knowledge articles

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated March 12, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of SEO for Canonical URLs and Localized Versions of Knowledge Articles

    Enhance the visibility of knowledge articles by utilizing canonical URLs and hreflang tags for localized versions. This process can be initiated by selecting the "Use SEO script" checkbox in the Knowledge Article View page record.

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    Key Features

    • Canonical URLs: Automatically generated URLs for knowledge articles improve search engine ranking. Example format: https://<instance name>.servicenow-com/csp?id=kbarticleview&sysparmarticle=<article number>.
    • Hreflang Tags: Tags for translated articles enhance searchability in different languages. An example hreflang tag for French: <link rel="alternate" href="https://<instance name>.servicenow-com/csp/fr?id=kbarticleview&sysparmarticle=<article number>" hreflang="fr" />.
    • Self-Referencing Hreflang: Each article includes a self-referencing hreflang tag for its original language, e.g., English articles use <link rel="alternate" href="https://<instance name>.servicenow-com/csp/?id=kbarticleview&syskbid=<sysid>" hreflang="en" />.

    Key Outcomes

    By enabling these SEO features, ServiceNow customers can significantly improve the discoverability of their knowledge articles in search engines, allowing users to find relevant content more easily across different languages and regions. Administrators have the flexibility to customize SEO tags through specific script includes.

    Improve the searchability of knowledge articles by adding tags for canonical URLs and hreflang tags for translated knowledge articles.

    You can add the default tags for canonical URLs and hreflang tags by selecting the Use SEO script check box on the Knowledge Article View [kb_article_view] page record. For more information, see Enable SEO for canonical URLs and localized versions of a portal page.

    When the Use SEO script option is selected:

    • The canonical URLs for a knowledge article are added to the knowledge article view page.

      Example canonical URL: https://<instance name>.servicenow-com/csp?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=<article number>

    • The hreflang tags for the translated versions of a knowledge article are added to the knowledge article view page.

      Example URL with an hreflang tag: <link rel=“alternate” href=“https://<instance name>.servicenow-com/csp/fr?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=<article number>” hreflang=“fr”/>

      Note:
      A self-referencing hreflang URL is also added for the language of current knowledge article.

      For example, an English knowledge article is viewed by visiting a URL with the following format:

      https://<instance name>.servicenow-com/csp/?id=kb_article_view&sys_kb_id=<sys_id>

      In addition to the hreflang tags added for translations, the English language self-referencing hreflang tag is added:

      <link rel=“alternate” href=“https://<instance name>.servicenow-com/csp/?id=kb_article_view&sys_kb_id=<sys_id>” hreflang=“en”/>

    Script includes for canonical URLs and hreflang tags

    By default, the knowledge article view page uses the SPSEOHeaderTagsArticleViewSNC script include to add the SEO tags for canonical URLs and hreflang tags.

    The following table describes the script includes for adding canonical URLs and hreflang tags to Service Portal pages, including the knowledge article view page.
    Table 1. Script includes for canonical URLs and hreflang tags
    Script include Description
    SPSEOHeaderTagsSNC Includes the default implementation for the canonical URLs and hreflang tags for Service Portal pages.

    This script include is read-only.

    For more information, see Enable SEO for canonical URLs and localized versions of a portal page.
    SPSEOHeaderTags Facilitates overriding the default implementation in the SPSEOHeaderTagsSNC script include for Service Portal pages.

    The SPSEOHeaderTags script include extends the  SPSEOHeaderTagsSNC script include.
     SPSEOHeaderTagsArticleViewSNC Overrides the generateHrefLangArray and generateCanonicalURL functions for the knowledge article view page configured in the SPSEOHeaderTags script include.

    The SPSEOHeaderTagsArticleViewSNC script include is read-only and extends the   SPSEOHeaderTags script include.
    SPSEOHeaderTagsArticleView Facilitates overriding the default implementation in the SPSEOHeaderTagsArticleViewSNC script include for the knowledge article view page.

    The SPSEOHeaderTagsArticleView extends the  SPSEOHeaderTagsArticleViewSNC script include.

    As an administrator, you can add canonical URLs, hreflang tags, and any custom headers for knowledge articles by updating the SPSEOHeaderTagsArticleView script include. For more information, see Configure custom SEO tags for canonical URLs and localized knowledge articles.