SEO Tools

Canonical URL Checker

Check whether a page has a canonical URL tag.

Enter a URL to check whether it has a canonical tag set.

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What Is a Canonical URL?

The canonical tag (<link rel="canonical">) tells search engines which URL is the main version of a page when the same content is reachable at several addresses - with tracking parameters, http and https, or www and non-www. This tool checks whether a page has one and where it points.

When to Use It

When duplicate versions of pages appear in Google.
After a site migration or domain change.

How to Use It

Enter the page URL.
Check that the canonical points to the preferred URL.

Understanding the Result

Most pages should have a self-referencing canonical using the exact preferred URL (same protocol, host and trailing slash). A canonical pointing to a different page tells Google to index that page instead.

Limitations

Canonicals are a strong hint, not a command. They should agree with your redirects, internal links and sitemap.

Frequently Asked Questions

When the same or very similar content is reachable at multiple URLs (with/without a trailing slash, with tracking parameters, http vs https), a canonical tag tells search engines which single version should be treated as authoritative, consolidating ranking signals onto it.

Search engines will attempt to determine the canonical version on their own using various signals - this often works reasonably well, but an explicit tag removes ambiguity entirely rather than relying on automated inference.

Yes - this is valid and sometimes intentional, such as when syndicated content should have ranking credit attributed back to the original publishing site rather than the site republishing it.

A canonical tag accidentally pointing to the wrong page (often left over from copy-pasted template code) can inadvertently tell search engines to ignore the actual page in favor of an unrelated one - always verify it points to itself unless intentionally otherwise.

Yes, it's widely considered good practice - a self-referencing canonical provides an explicit, unambiguous signal even in the absence of a known duplication problem, and costs nothing to include.