How to remove canonical urls from the site

Explanation of Google Search Console Messages

Indeed, these notifications from Google Search Console can be perplexing, especially if you are unsure whether you "intentionally" created such situations. Let's break down each of the reasons why pages might not be indexed and what to do about it.

General Principle: Google constantly strives to index only unique and most relevant content. If there are multiple versions of the same page or a page redirects, Google believes there's no need to index each of them to avoid duplicating information in its index.

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1. "Page with redirect"

What it means: This means that when Googlebot (Google's robot) visits a specific URL, it receives a signal (for example, HTTP code 301 or 302) that tells it to go to another URL. Google does not index the original URL, as the "real" content is located at the address to which the redirect leads.

Why this happens (intentionally and unintentionally):

Intentionally:

• URL structure change: You changed the URL of a page, and the old URL redirects to the new one. This is correct and necessary to preserve link equity.
• HTTP to HTTPS: All traffic from the HTTP version of the site redirects to the HTTPS version. This is standard security practice.
• With www to without www (or vice versa): You chose one canonical version of the domain (e.g., site.com instead of www.site.com) and set up a redirect.
• Page consolidation: You merged two old pages into one new one and set up redirects from the old ones to the new one.
• Duplicate removal: For example, if you had site.com/index.html, and you redirected it to site.com/.

Unintentionally (which can be a problem):

• Redirect configuration errors: Circular redirects, too many redirects in a chain, or redirects to incorrect URLs.
• Plugins/CMS: Some plugins or CMS settings may automatically create redirects that you are unaware of (e.g., after changing post titles).
• Internal links: There are internal links on the site to old, redirected URLs. This is not critical, but it's better to update them so Google doesn't waste time on unnecessary transitions.

What to do if this is a "problem":

• Check the URL: Open the specified URL in your browser. Where does it redirect? Is this the expected behavior?
• Check the redirect chain: Use online tools to check redirects (e.g., httpstatus.io or other SEO tools). Make sure the chain is not too long (ideally 1-2 redirects) and does not contain errors.
• Update internal links: If you find that your site has links to pages that are now redirected, update those links to point directly to the final URL. This will improve crawl budget and loading speed.
• Ensure the final URL is indexed: If the redirect is intentional, make sure the page to which the redirect leads (the final URL) is successfully indexed and appears in Google.

Conclusion on "Page with redirect": In most cases, this is normal and desired behavior. Google is simply telling you that it does not index the original URL, but indexes the final URL. A problem only arises when the redirect leads somewhere unintended, or the final page itself is not indexed.

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2. "Canonical tag page variant" (Duplicate, Google chose different canonical than user)

What it means: This is the most important and often misunderstood message. It means that Google has found multiple pages with very similar or identical content. You either explicitly designated one of them as canonical using the rel="canonical" tag, or Google itself chose one of them as canonical. In this case, Google decided that this particular page (which is shown in the report) is not canonical, and therefore will not index it.

"Duplicate, Google chose different canonical than user" variant: This means that you specified one page as canonical, but Google, based on its algorithms, considered that another page (which it chose itself) is a more suitable canonical version. Google will index the one it chose.

Why this happens (intentionally and unintentionally):

Intentionally (when it's normal):

• Filters and sorting on the site: You have a product page /products, and then its versions /products?color=red or /products?sort=price_asc. You specified /products as canonical for all these variants. This is correct.
• Pagination: /category/page/1/, /category/page/2/, etc. Sometimes for paginated pages, rel="canonical" is pointed to the first page.
• UTM tags and sessions: URLs with tracking parameters (e.g., /article?utm_source=email). The main article article is canonical.
• Different versions of the same page: site.com/page/ and site.com/page/index.html. You chose one as canonical.
• Duplicate content due to error: You accidentally published the same article at two different URLs, and then corrected it by setting rel="canonical".

Unintentionally (when it's a problem):

• Technical duplicates: CMS creates duplicates (e.g., /category/product-name and /product-name).
• Incorrect CMS/plugin setup: The SEO plugin by default points to an incorrect canonical URL, or you haven't configured it properly.
• Missing / at the end of the URL: Sometimes /page and /page/ can be perceived as different URLs. The site should have a consistent structure.
• Access via HTTP and HTTPS / with www and without www: If your site is accessible via both protocols or domains, but rel="canonical" is not set up correctly, Google may decide that these versions are duplicates.
• Content copying: You copied content from another site, and Google recognized the original source.

What to do if this is a "problem":

• Check the specified URL and its content: What is this page? Does it actually duplicate another?
• Check rel="canonical": Look at the source code of this page (right-click -> "View Page Source" or "Inspect element") and find the <link rel="canonical" href="..."> tag in the <head> section.
  • Where does href point? Is this the URL you wanted to be canonical?
  • Is it a self-referencing canonical? If href points to the same URL you are currently on, then the page considers itself canonical.
• Check the content of "suspicious" pages:
  • Compare the content of the page Google is not indexing with the content of the page Google chose as canonical. Are they really very similar or identical?
  • If they should be different, but Google considers them duplicates, you need to unique the content or reconsider the site structure.
  • If they should be the same, and you correctly specified rel="canonical" to the preferred version, then this is normal behavior. Google is simply telling you that it indexes only one of these pages.

Example scenario "Duplicate, Google chose different canonical than user":

• You have a page example.com/product-a.
• You also have a page example.com/product-a?sort=new (which shows the same product but with a sorting parameter).
• You set rel="canonical" on example.com/product-a?sort=new on this very page, pointing to example.com/product-a.
• Google, however, sees example.com/product-a as a cleaner and primary URL, and ignores your preference for product-a?sort=new.
• In the report, you will see example.com/product-a?sort=new as "Duplicate, Google chose different canonical than user".

What to do in this case:

• If Google chose the correct canonical: Do nothing. This means Google agreed with your logic (or came to the same conclusion) and is indexing the version you wanted.
• If Google chose the wrong canonical:
  • Re-check rel="canonical": Make sure it points to the truly correct canonical page. You may have made a mistake somewhere.
  • Unique the content: If Google consistently chooses another page, perhaps the content on your "non-canonical" pages differs too much from what you are pointing to as canonical, or, conversely, is not unique enough.
  • Use 301 redirect: If a page that Google considers a "duplicate" should never be directly accessible (e.g., an old product version), it's better to set up a 301 redirect to the new, canonical version. This is a stronger signal for Google than rel="canonical".

Conclusion on both points:

• "Page with redirect": Most often this is normal. Make sure the redirect leads to the correct page, and that this final page is indexed.
• "Canonical tag page variant": This is also often normal, especially if you actively manage duplicates. This means that Google has chosen (or agreed with your choice) the canonical version, and will not index its duplicates. A problem arises if Google chooses a different page than the one you consider canonical, or if it considers a page that you believe should be unique to be a duplicate.

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Your task:

1. Don't panic. These messages do not always indicate a problem.
2. Go to Google Search Console: Open the "Indexing -> Pages" report.
3. Look at example URLs for each of these categories.
4. For each URL:
   • Use the "URL Inspection" tool in GSC.
   • Check where the redirect leads, or which page is chosen as canonical.
   • Make a decision:
     • Is this expected behavior? (For example, an old URL redirects to a new one, or a filtered page points to a canonical product) -> Do nothing.
     • Is this an error? (For example, a redirect leads to a 404, or Google chose the wrong canonical page, or you have two completely different pages that Google considers duplicates) -> Fix the error.

Google is simply informing you about its indexing process. Often, this simply means that it has successfully dealt with duplicates and redirects, and you don't need to take any action. The main thing is to ensure that the pages important to you are indexed, and that duplicates and outdated URLs are handled correctly.