Resolve Links Pointing to Non-Canonical URLs

Answer

The "Links pointing to non-canonical URL" issue occurs when pages on your website link to a URL that has been designated as non-canonical instead of linking directly to the canonical URL. To resolve the issue, update links on the referring pages so they point to the canonical target URL rather than the non-canonical version.

Symptoms

You may experience one or more of the following:

• Siteimprove SEO reports a "Links pointing to non-canonical URL" issue.
• Referring pages contain links to URLs that have canonical tags pointing elsewhere.
• Multiple URL variations exist for the same content, and links are pointing to the non-preferred version.

Prerequisites

Before addressing this issue, ensure that:

• You have access to edit website content, templates, or navigation links.
• You can identify canonical URLs used on your website.
• You have access to the Siteimprove SEO issue report.
• You can update links on the pages identified as referring pages.

What Is a Canonical Tag?

A canonical tag can be used to indicate which page you'd like a search engine (e.g. Google) to index when you have multiple pages with very similar/identical content on your website.

For example, if the two pages below have very similar content, and you'd prefer that the first page appears in search engine results, you could add this canonical tag code to the second page.

<link rel="canonical" href="https://www.mysite.com/shoes" /> 

1. https://www.mysite.com/shoes
2. https://www.mysite.com/shoes?page=1

A page with a 'canonical' tag pointing to another page is often referred to as a 'non-canonical' page.

Cause

When a site uses a canonical tag, it's best practice to make sure that the URL within the canonical tag is only being used on the site.

Example

Let's say:

www.example.com/test/product-A/

has a canonical tag pointing to:

www.example.com/product-A/

The best practice is to make sure any other pages on your site also link to www.example.com/product-A/ (the canonical URL) rather than the non-canonical URL, www.example.com/test/product-A/.

Resolution

Within the issue Links pointing to non-canonical URL you'll see 3 columns:

1. Non-canonical URL
2. Canonical target URL
3. Referring pages

The check shows that all of the Referring Pages contain a link for the non-canonical URL somewhere on the page. The solution is to find the non-canonical link on the referring page and replace it with the canonical URL.

Looking at the earlier example:

• www.example.com (referring page) has a link on its homepage to www.example.com/test/product-A/ (non-canonical).
• The site will need to be edited to replace the non-canonical URL with www.example.com/product-A/ (the canonical target URL).

Additional Information

When multiple versions of the same content exist, canonical tags help indicate which URL should be treated as the preferred version by search engines. Pages that contain canonical tags pointing to other pages are considered non-canonical pages.

Updating internal links to point directly to the canonical URL helps maintain consistency and aligns with SEO best practices.