Is rel=canonical used only for duplicate content

[surveygizmo]

Can the rel-canonical be used to tell the search engines which page is "preferred" when there are similar pages? For instance, I have an internal page that  Google is showing on the first page of the SERPs that I would prefer the home page be ranked for.

Both the home and internal page have been optimized for the same keyword. What is interesting is that the internal page has very few backlinks compared to the home page but Google seems to favor it since the keyword is in the URL.

I am afraid a 301 will drop us from the first page of the SERPs.

[SlavaRybalka]

Don't be afraid, rather go ahead, experiment and learn.

Yes, I think it can be used that way.

[NakulGoyal]

Are you linking to the internal page from your homepage with that exact keyword as the anchor text ?If that's the case, it might be a Keyword Cannibalization issue. See Rand's article if that's the issue... here.

Honestly, if I were you, I would optimize the homepage a little better if you really prefer the homepage to rank or improve the inner page content/presentation that's already ranking vs the canonical and or 301 stuff. There's some risk involved in that approach. That's my 2c.

[KeriMorgret]

Also check out Rand's post about what to do when the "wrong" page is ranking. This isn't the right use of a canonical tag in your situation.

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/wrong-page-ranking-in-the-results-6-common-causes-5-solutions