CM-202 · SEO · 0.5 points
Canonical URL
A canonical URL is the link rel="canonical" tag that names the one address you want indexed for a page.
Also searched as
- rel canonical
- canonical tag missing
- www or non-www canonical
- canonical points to the wrong domain
- self-referencing canonical
What you might notice
Your homepage's HTML has no <link rel="canonical">, or it names another host, such as www.example.com when the page loaded from example.com, or a staging domain.
Why it matters
In search engines
It tells Google which version to keep when the same page is reachable at several addresses.
In AI assistants
Citations point at the canonical address Google keeps.
How we test it
We check that your homepage has a canonical and that it names the host the page loaded from.
How to fix it
Add <link rel="canonical" href="https://your-domain/"> using the exact host (www or not) your site redirects to.
Related checks
- CM-103 HTTPS everywhere: Tests whether http:// redirects to https://. This check reads which host the page's own canonical tag says to keep.
- CM-105 Indexable and quotable: Asks whether the page may be indexed at all. This check reads which host the page's own canonical tag says to keep.
Sources
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