--- title: "Alternate page with proper canonical tag: what it means and how to fix it" description: "This status usually means your canonical tag works and Google indexed the main page. When it is fine, when it is a mistake, and how to fix it." canonical: "https://indexmysite.app/alternate-page-with-proper-canonical-tag" language: "en" --- # Alternate page with proper canonical tag: usually fine, fix it only if the canonical is wrong In most cases this status means your canonical tag works: Google indexed the main page and left out the alternate. Here is how to tell when it is expected and when a page is pointing to the wrong place. [Check a page](#check)[Submit your canonical pages](https://app.indexmysite.app/signup) ## What the status means In the Page indexing report, "Alternate page with proper canonical tag" means the page points to another page as the main version, and Google agreed. Google says there is nothing you need to do. The page names another as the original Its rel="canonical" tag points to a different URL. Google agreed Google used the URL from your tag as the canonical and indexed that page. This URL stays out of Search That is the point of a canonical tag. It only matters if the tag points to the wrong page. Definition from Google's [Page indexing report help page](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7440203). ## Which alternate pages are fine, and which are mistakes The first three cases are expected and need no work. The last three mean a page you want in Search is pointing somewhere else. - It is an AMP or mobile version Google names these cases: an AMP page pointing to its canonical page, or separate mobile and desktop URLs pointing to each other. This is expected. - It is a parameter or tracking URL URLs such as example.com/pricing?utm\_source=newsletter or ?sort=price point to the clean URL. Google indexes the clean one. This is expected. - It is a variant of a main page Colour or size variants, print versions, or near copies that point to one main page. Fine if you want only the main page in search results. - The template sets the wrong canonical A problem. Every page points to the home page, to a staging or HTTP host, or to a URL copied from another page. - An important page points away by mistake A problem. A page you want in search results has a canonical tag pointing to a different page, often left over from a migration or a copied template. - Translated pages point to one language A problem if each language should rank. Each language version should point to itself, with hreflang links between the versions. ## Check where the page points Paste the URL from Search Console. The free checker shows the canonical URL the page declares, so you can see at once whether it points to itself or to another page. Use the free indexability checker at /tools/indexability. Enter a public page address and it reports whether the site lets Google visit the page, whether the page carries a noindex setting or points to another page as the original, and whether the content is thin, repeated, or unclear. It does not tell you whether Google has indexed the page. ## Fix it only if the canonical is wrong Most alternate pages need no work. Go through these steps to confirm that, and to fix the pages where the canonical is a mistake. 1. 1 Look at what the URL is If it is a parameter, tracking, AMP, or variant URL, and the page it points to is the one you want indexed, stop here. Nothing needs fixing. 2. 2 Check the canonical Google used Inspect the URL in Search Console. "User-declared canonical" is the URL from your tag. For this status, Google agreed with it. Make sure that URL is the right page. 3. 3 Check the canonical page is indexed Inspect the canonical URL too. It should be indexed. If it is not, work on that page, not on this one. 4. 4 Fix the tag if it points to the wrong page If this page should be indexed on its own, change its tag to point to itself: . Use an absolute URL on the right host. 5. 5 Fix the template, not one page at a time If many important pages are in this list, the canonical is probably set by a shared layout. Fix the rule that builds it, then spot check a few pages. 6. 6 Make the other signals agree Link to the canonical URL inside your site and list only canonical URLs in your sitemap. Do not name one URL in the sitemap and another in the tag. 7. 7 Then submit the page you want indexed After a fix, submit the URL that now points to itself. Do not submit alternates that still point elsewhere. ## When submitting helps, and when it will not Submitting an alternate page does not get it indexed. Google follows the canonical tag and indexes the other page. It only helps once a page points to itself. It helps when - You changed a wrongly set canonical so the page now points to itself - You fixed a template and want Google to crawl the affected pages again - You want Google to crawl the canonical page the alternates point to It will not help when - The page still has a canonical tag pointing to another URL - It is a parameter, tracking, AMP, or variant URL you do not need in Search - You want both the alternate and the canonical indexed as separate pages When you submit a URL, we check it first and skip redirects, noindex pages, robots.txt blocks, error pages, and pages that point to another page as the original, without charging. Then we help Googlebot discover and crawl it and search Google for the exact URL after 24 hours, again around days 3 and 7 if it is not found yet, with a full report around day 5and final checks around day 14. A URL confirmed as not indexed gets its standard credit back. Google still decides what it indexes. See [Submitting URLs](https://indexmysite.app/docs/submitting-urls) for the details. ## How the three canonical statuses differ All three mean another URL was indexed instead of this one. What differs is whether you declared a canonical and whether Google agreed. Alternate page with proper canonical tag compared with Duplicate, Google chose different canonical than user, and Duplicate without user-selected canonical | Question | Alternate page with proper canonical tag | Duplicate, Google chose different canonical than user | Duplicate without user-selected canonical | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Canonical tag on the page | Yes, pointing to another URL | Yes, pointing to a URL you chose | None that Google could read | | What Google did | Accepted your choice and indexed the other URL | Ignored your choice and picked a different URL | Picked another URL as the original by itself | | Is it a problem? | Rarely. It is the expected result of a correct canonical tag | Sometimes. It means your signals disagree with each other or with the content | Only if Google picked the wrong URL, or the page is not really a copy | | What to do | Nothing, unless the canonical points to the wrong page | Make the tag, redirects, internal links, and sitemap all point to one URL | Choose the original and add rel="canonical" to every version | | Does submitting help? | No. Submit the canonical page instead | Only after you fix the conflicting signals | Only for the original, after you add the tag | ## Other Page indexing statuses Each reason in the report needs a different fix. Find the one Search Console shows you. [ ### Discovered - currently not indexed Google found the URL but has not crawled it yet. ](https://indexmysite.app/discovered-currently-not-indexed)[ ### Crawled - currently not indexed Google crawled the page and chose not to index it for now. ](https://indexmysite.app/crawled-currently-not-indexed)[ ### Duplicate without user-selected canonical The page does not name a main version, so Google picked another URL as the original. ](https://indexmysite.app/duplicate-without-user-selected-canonical)[ ### Duplicate, Google chose different canonical than user The page names itself as the main version, but Google picked another URL instead. ](https://indexmysite.app/duplicate-google-chose-different-canonical-than-user)[ ### Soft 404 The page loads, but Google thinks it looks like an error or empty page. ](https://indexmysite.app/soft-404)[ ### Excluded by 'noindex' tag The page tells Google not to index it. ](https://indexmysite.app/excluded-by-noindex-tag)[ ### Blocked by robots.txt Your robots.txt file stops Googlebot from crawling the page. ](https://indexmysite.app/blocked-by-robots-txt)[ ### Page with redirect The URL redirects to another page, so Google does not index this URL. ](https://indexmysite.app/page-with-redirect) ## Tools for getting pages indexed [ ### Every Page indexing status What each reason in the report means, whether it needs fixing, and whether submitting helps. ](https://indexmysite.app/page-indexing-report)[ ### Free indexability checker The full checker page, with notes on what each result means and what to do next. ](https://indexmysite.app/tools/indexability)[ ### Indexing API Submit fixed pages from your own code with one API key and track each one until it is indexed. ](https://indexmysite.app/indexing-api)[ ### Automatic indexing Submit pages every time you publish or fix them, from your sitemap, your deploy, or your agent. ](https://indexmysite.app/automatic-indexing) ## Frequently asked questions ### What does "Alternate page with proper canonical tag" mean? The page is an alternate version of another page and correctly points to that canonical page, which is indexed. Google gives AMP pages and separate mobile or desktop versions as examples, and says there is nothing you need to do. Source: [Google Search Console Help: Page indexing report](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7440203) ### Is it a problem? Usually not. Google says pages marked duplicate or alternate are usually a good thing, because it means Google found the canonical page and indexed it. It is only a problem when a page you want in search results points to a different page by mistake. Source: [Google Search Console Help: Page indexing report](https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7440203) ### Why is the number of alternate pages going up? Often because Google found more parameter, tracking, or variant URLs that point to your main pages. That is fine. If the new URLs are pages you want indexed, check whether a template change gave them the wrong canonical tag. ### How do I get an alternate page indexed on its own? Change its canonical tag to point to itself, make sure its main content differs clearly from the other page, and link to it from your site. Google treats a canonical tag as a hint, so a page that is still a near copy may be grouped with the other one again. Source: [Google Search Central: What is canonicalization](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/canonicalization) ### Should I use noindex or robots.txt on these URLs? No. The canonical tag already keeps them out of search results while passing their signals to the main page. Google recommends against noindex and robots.txt for choosing a canonical. A robots.txt block also stops Google from reading the canonical tag at all. Source: [Google Search Central: How to specify a canonical URL](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/consolidate-duplicate-urls) ### What does Index My Site do with a submitted URL? We check the page first. If its canonical tag points to another page, we skip it without charging, because Google will index the canonical page instead. Pages that pass the check are sent to help Googlebot discover and crawl them. We check every URL once after 24 hours. Your full report follows around day 5, with final checks around day 14. If Google has not indexed a sent URL at the final check, the standard credit comes back. ### What does it cost? Each sent URL costs 1 credit, which is $0.20, or $0.10 on purchases of $1,000 or more. URLs skipped before sending, including pages whose canonical points to another page, are not charged. ## Fixed a wrong canonical? Get Google to crawl the page Submit pages that now point to themselves from the web app, the API, the CLI, or your AI agent. Pages that still point elsewhere are skipped without charge. Credits start at $25. [Submit your canonical pages](https://app.indexmysite.app/signup) [See pricing](https://indexmysite.app/pricing)