Duplicate without user-selected canonical

• The page is a duplicate of another page and “doesn't indicate a preferred canonical page.” Google chose the other page as the canonical, and so will not serve this page in Search.
• “This is not an error, but is working as intended, because Google does not serve duplicate pages.”
• If Google chose the wrong URL, mark the canonical yourself. If the page is not really a duplicate, make its content clearly different from the page Google chose.
• “Having a page marked duplicate or alternate is usually a good thing.” The goal is that the canonical version of each important page is indexed.

“User-selected” means a canonical you named with a rel="canonical" tag or HTTP header. A redirect also works, and takes the URL out of this list: Google reports it as Page with redirect. A page that names no canonical leaves the choice to Google. Google says a canonical is a hint, not a rule, so naming one makes your choice more likely but not certain.

The same page with a ?utm_, ?ref= or ?sort= parameter on the end

Problem? Fine

Google most likely chose the clean URL, which is what you want. To make that choice explicit, give each page a canonical tag that points to its own clean URL.

Category, tag, archive or page 2, 3... of a blog list

Problem? Fine

These lists repeat your posts, so Google often keeps another URL. Leave them, unless one of them is a page you want people to find in search.

http://, www. or a trailing-slash copy of a page

Problem? Tidy up

Send every copy to one version with a permanent (301) redirect. The copy then shows as Page with redirect, which is the normal result.

A print, AMP, feed or PDF copy of a page

Problem? Tidy up

Point the copy to the main page with a canonical tag. For a PDF, send the canonical in an HTTP Link header, because a PDF has no HTML head.

A page you want in Google, and Google picked another URL

Problem? Fix

Choose the one URL you want. Point both pages to it with a canonical tag, link to it from your other pages, and list only it in your sitemap.

Two of your articles that answer the same question

Problem? Fix

Merge them into one and redirect the other URL to it. Or rewrite one so it answers a clearly different question.

URLs you don't recognize, for example spam pages on your domain

Problem? Fix

URLs you didn't create can mean the site was hacked. Check Security issues in Search Console and remove them.

On WordPress, check the theme or SEO plugin first. WordPress itself adds a canonical tag only on single posts, pages and other single items, so category, tag and archive pages have none unless a plugin adds one. Two articles on the same topic? The keyword cannibalization checker shows which of your pages split the same searches.

1. 1

   Open the list

   In Search Console, open Indexing > Pages and click Duplicate without user-selected canonical under Why pages aren't indexed. Export it if the list is long.

2. 2

   Sort the URLs into patterns

   Lists often follow a few patterns: URLs with parameters, tag or archive pages, http or www copies. Use the table above to decide which ones matter.

3. 3

   Inspect one URL from each pattern

   Paste it into URL Inspection and open Page indexing. Compare User-declared canonical with Google-selected canonical. Use the main result, not Test live URL: Google says the live test doesn't check duplicates.

4. 4

   Ask one question

   Is Google's chosen URL the one you want people to land on? If yes, you are done with that pattern. If no, fix it with the methods below.

5. 5

   Fix the signals, then wait

   Name the canonical, link to it, keep only it in your sitemap. If you made the pages clearly different, Google says they can stay grouped for up to two weeks. Request indexing once for the pages that matter most.

301 redirectStrong signal

Only when you retire the duplicate URL. Use a server-side redirect for the quickest effect.

rel="canonical" link tagStrong signal

For HTML pages. Put it in the head of each duplicate, and on the canonical page itself. Use the full URL.

rel="canonical" HTTP headerStrong signal

For files without an HTML head, such as PDFs. Choose the tag or the header, not both.

SitemapWeak signal

List only canonical URLs. It helps the other signals, but alone it is a weak hint.

The tag looks like this, in the head of the page:

<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/the-page-you-want" />

What Google says not to do

• Block the duplicate in robots.txt. Google may still index a blocked URL without its content, and it can't read your canonical.
• Add noindex to the duplicate to steer the choice. Noindex removes the page from Search completely.
• Use the URL removal tool. It hides every version of the URL from Search.
• Name one URL in the canonical tag and a different one in the sitemap or a redirect.
• Use a URL with a #fragment as the canonical.

Duplicate without user-selected canonical

The page doesn't name a preferred URL, and Google chose another URL as the canonical.

What to do: Nothing if Google's choice is right. Otherwise name the canonical yourself, or make the page clearly different.

Duplicate, Google chose different canonical than user

The page names a canonical, but Google thinks another URL is a better one.

What to do: Compare the three pages (this one, yours, Google's). Make your choice clearer, or accept Google's.

Alternate page with proper canonical tag

The page points to its canonical page, and Google indexed that page.

What to do: Nothing. Google says there is nothing you need to do.

Page with redirect

The URL redirects to another page, so Google doesn't index this URL.

What to do: Nothing, unless the redirect is a mistake.

Pages listed as Discovered or Crawled - currently not indexed are a different problem. What those mean and what to do. A real page listed as Soft 404? How to fix a Soft 404 in Search Console.

Google-selected canonical is the page itself

Google thinks this page isn't similar to any other page, including the one your tag names.

What to do: If the page is meant to stand on its own, point its canonical tag to its own URL (or remove the tag). If it really is a copy, make it match the page you named, or redirect it there.

Your canonical names a page with different content

Google says it won't ever choose a user-declared canonical that isn't similar to the page. A template that points every page to the home page, or every list page to page 1, can cause this.

What to do: Give each page a canonical that names its own URL, or a true copy of it.

Google picked a third URL, such as the http://, www. or parameter version

Usually your signals disagree: the tag names one URL while redirects, internal links or the sitemap point to another.

What to do: Make them agree. Redirect the copies, link to the URL you want, list only it in your sitemap, and keep the canonical tag on it. Google says these signals add up.

If Google's pick is a URL you're happy to show, there is nothing to fix: the content is indexed under that URL.

• The www and http versions redirect to https://serpwright.com/, so Google lists them as Page with redirect, not as duplicates. That is the result you want for a copy of a whole site.
• Every page in our sitemap has a canonical tag with its own clean URL. A link with a tracking parameter, such as /pricing?ref=newsletter, serves the same page with the same tag, so Google has one URL to keep.
• URL Inspection lists http://www.serpwright.com/pricing as one of the ways Google found /pricing. Google still chose the clean https URL.
• None of the 27 URLs in our sitemap had a duplicate status at our November 1 check, before this guide went live.

3 days free, no card.