1.3 CanonicalisationHighVerified
Canonical points to non-200 URL
A canonical that points at a 404, a redirect or an error is a broken instruction. Google may ignore it and pick its own canonical, which is rarely the one I wanted.
What it is
Canonical targets a 404/redirect/error.
Why it matters
Google may ignore a broken canonical and pick its own, or consolidate to a dead URL.
How to fix it
Point canonicals at live 200 URLs.
How to find it on your site
- Crawl the site and extract the canonical target for each page.
- Check the HTTP status of every canonical target.
- Flag any canonical pointing at a non-200 URL.
- Repoint them at the live, final, 200 version.
Cross-reference to ranking and citation factors
A broken canonical wastes the consolidation it was meant to provide and hands the choice back to Google, splitting signals.
Impact
Medium-high. Direct.
Evidence
Canonical should reference a valid, indexable URL. Google Search Central, Consolidate duplicate URLs (canonicalization)
Sources