Canonical URL Checker
Scan any webpage to see its rel="canonical" tag status.
Canonical URL Inspector
Analyze a URL to verify its canonical tag configuration. Prevent duplicate content penalties and ensure search engines index the correct version of your pages.
Enter a URL above to fetch and analyze its canonical tag configuration.
Self-Referencing vs. Cross-Referencing
A canonical tag can do one of two things:
- Self-Referencing: The canonical tag points to the exact same URL that you are currently viewing. This is best practice for all pages that you want Google to index. It protects you if someone adds a tracking parameter (e.g.
?utm_source=twitter) to your URL. - Cross-Referencing: The canonical tag points to a different URL. This tells Google: "Don't index the page you are looking at right now, index this other URL instead because it's the original source." This is used when you syndicate a blog post from another site or have multiple sorting options on an ecommerce category.
Common Canonical Mistakes
- Multiple canonical tags: Only use one per page. If you have two, Google usually ignores both.
- Relative URLs: Always use absolute URLs (
https://example.com/page), not relative URLs (/page). - HTTP vs HTTPS: Your canonical should almost always point to the secure
HTTPSversion of your page.
Related Guides
Deepen your understanding with our expert articles.