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Duplicate: Google has chosen a different canonical page

Since 1996Swedish supportServers in Sweden
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Duplicate: Google chose different canonical than the one you selected means the page points to itself, or another URL, as the canonical version, but Google considers a different page to be the primary one. Google then shows that other URL in search results.

The canonical page is specified with a line in the page's code: <link rel="canonical" href="...">. This is a suggestion, not a directive, so Google makes its own judgement when the signals conflict.

Common causes

  • The pages are nearly identical. For example, service pages for different locations where only the place name differs, or product variants with the same content.
  • The site responds on multiple addresses. With and without www, or with http and https. See Force https and choose www or non-www.
  • The signals point in different directions. The menu and internal links go to one address, the sitemap contains another, and the canonical points to a third.
  • The canonical points to a page that doesn't work. For example, a URL that redirects, returns a 404, or has noindex.

How to fix it

  1. Decide which URL should appear in Google.
  2. Make the canonical on all variants point to that URL.
  3. Link internally only to that URL, and include only that URL in the sitemap.
  4. If the pages are essentially the same thing, merge them and redirect the old URL with a 301 redirect.
  5. If both pages should appear, rewrite them so they are genuinely different.

In WordPress, Yoast SEO and Rank Math set the canonical automatically. If you want to change it for a specific page, the field is under the Advanced tab in the plugin's panel in the editor.

Similar statuses in Search Console

  • Duplicate without a user-selected canonical: the page resembles another, but neither has a canonical tag. Add a canonical following the steps above.
  • Alternate page with proper canonical tag: everything is working as intended. The page points to another page as the primary version and Google agrees. No action needed.

The SEO test on admax.se highlights pages where the canonical is missing or points to a URL that doesn't work.

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