Canonical ≠ URL issue means that the value of the rel=canonical attribute of the link tag for a specific page is not an URL.
The Importance of the Issue
rel=canonical is applied to combine pages with identical contents and set the main version of the page for the search engine check it out. A href attribute for has to contain only an URL of the page we want to set as the main one for several pages with repeating content.
How to Check the Issue
Using any browser is enough to check the issue. Open the source code of the flawed page To do this, click the right mouse button at any spot of the page and choose “browse the code” option, or apply an online tool Codebeautify.
Find the link tag with the rel = ”canonical” attribute.
Example:
A href attribute value should contain a hyperlink.
To make the process easier, use Sitechecker. Here is a screenshot which shows the ‘Indexability’ category within the Site Audit section, highlighting a particular issue where the canonical URL is not equal to the page’s URL. This discrepancy could be crucial because canonical tags are used to signal to search engines which version of a URL is the master or preferred one when similar or duplicate content exists.
When users click to view the issue, they will typically be provided with additional information, such as:
- Page Weight: This indicates the relative importance or ‘weight’ assigned to the page by the tool, which can help prioritize which issues to address first.
- Status Code: The HTTP status code for the page URL. A 200 status code means the page is functioning normally, but other codes could indicate redirects (300 series), client errors (400 series), or server errors (500 series).
- Issue Found Date: The date when the issue was first detected by the tool.
- View Issue in Code: An option to inspect the specific segment of HTML code where the mismatch has been detected, helping users to pinpoint the exact location of the issue for correction.
By addressing these issues, users can ensure that search engines are indexing their content correctly, which is critical for maintaining SEO performance. This function of the tool helps maintain the integrity of the site’s SEO structure and can influence page ranking positively.
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How to Fix This Issue
If the canonical generation takes place automatically, it is necessary to review the algorithm. The issue is mostly caused by manual settings. In this case, you need to set a correct value of a href attribute for rel=canonical in a specific page configuration.
