SEO finding
The canonical tag disagrees with the sitemap, the internal links, a redirect or hreflang
SEO Warning Severity: Medium
Part of the audit Canonical signals that point in different directions. Finding id: seo.canonicalSignalsDisagree.
What it costs you
Search engines get two answers to the question which URL counts. They pick one themselves, and links and rankings are split between the two.
What to do
Choose one URL. Make the canonical tag, the sitemap, the internal links, the redirects and hreflang all name it.
What it checks
- Preferred address differs from sitemap address
- Most internal links point to another address
- Preferred address redirects back to the page
- Language link points to a non-preferred address
- Two pages name each other as preferred
How to fix it
Make every signal name the same URL
- Decide which of [url] and [canonical] should be in search results. The one with more internal links is usually the one in real use.
- Set the canonical tag of both pages to that URL.
- List only that URL in the sitemap and in hreflang annotations.
- Change internal links to it. If the other URL is not needed, redirect it with a 301.
- A canonical target must answer 200 itself and must not redirect.
How to check: Run this rule again. In Search Console URL inspection, the user-declared and the Google-selected canonical are the same.
Thresholds
| Name | Default | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
min_links | 5 | Internal links a non-canonical URL must have before 'most links point elsewhere' is reported. |
How to verify by hand
Search Console 'Google chose a different canonical than the user' for the same URL.
What this relies on
One URL should win, and it is the one most signals already point to.