CANONICAL URLS

Google chose a different canonical: how to reconcile the signals

A canonical tag is a strong preference, not a command. When Google selects another URL, inspect every signal describing which page is preferred.

Confirm the two pages really are equivalents

If the declared canonical and Google-selected URL answer different intents, the tag may be inappropriate. Canonicalisation works best for identical or substantially similar pages.

Map every canonical signal

Compare redirects, HTML canonicals, HTTP headers, internal links, sitemaps, hreflang, protocol, hostname, trailing slash, and rendered content. Mixed signals make the preferred representative unclear.

Choose one destination and reinforce it

Link internally to the preferred URL, list it in the sitemap, output one direct canonical, and redirect duplicates that should disappear. Avoid canonical chains and destinations that return errors or noindex.

Allow time for reprocessing

After material fixes, Google must recrawl the affected cluster. Read the complete canonical guide before making template-wide changes.