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Yoast is using the wrong Canonical URL: How to Fix It
If you’re using Yoast SEO and you’ve noticed that the canonical URL is wrong, don’t panic – it’s an easy fix. Fortunately, there’s an easy workaround. With just a few clicks, you can flush the Yoast tables and migrations, allowing you to remove the plugin and change your canonical URL.
3. In the “Yoast SEO” box with a bunch of buttons, use the “Reset Indexables tables & migrations” button to flush them.
4. You can then uninstall the plugin, remove your manually-entered canonical URL, and the default (autogenerated) canonical URL will be fixed.
And that’s it! This simple workaround will save you time and hassle when changing your website’s canonical URL.
Advanced mode
Using the WP-CLI command, enter the following to reset the tables.
WP Yoast index
Conclusion
Canonical URLs are essential to SEO, but they can be tricky to get right. Our team is here for you if you’re having trouble flushing your canonical URLs or just need a little help setting them up. We have years of experience working with WordPress and can help you get your website up for optimal search engine performance. Contact us today to learn more!
FAQ
What is canonical URL in HTML?
The canonical URL is the URL of the page that Google thinks is the most important version of a set of duplicate pages on your site.
For example, if you have URLs for both http://example.com and http://www.example.com, and you want www.example.com to be your preferred domain, Google considers these duplicate versions of the same page.
You can help Google by specifying your preferred URL in one of two ways: either with a rel=”canonical” link element that goes into the
section of the non-preferred page, or by using HTTP headers. If you don’t specify a preferred URL, Google will choose one for you automatically.
Keep in mind that the Canonical Link Element is only a hint to search engines, and that they may choose to ignore it if they think another URL is more appropriate. For example, if you have two pages with identical content but one is HTTPS and the other is HTTP, Google will usually index the HTTPS version because it’s more secure. Similarly, if you have two pages with identical content but one has www and the other doesn’t, Google will usually index the www version because it’s more consistent with other websites.
The bottom line is that you should use canonical links to tell search engines which version of a page is most important, but don’t expect them to always follow your instructions.
When would you use a canonical URL?
A canonical URL is the URL of the page that Google considers to be the “master” copy of a page. This is determined by factors like the age of the page, the number of links pointing to it, and whether it is blocked by a robots.txt file. If you have identical or similar content on multiple pages of your website, using a canonical URL can help to ensure that Google indexes the correct page. It can also help to prevent duplicate content penalties. In general, you should use a canonical URL any time you have duplicate content on your website. This will help Google to index your pages correctly and avoid any penalties for duplicate content.
How do I find my canonical URL?
There are a few different ways to find your canonical URL. One way is to use the Google Search Console. This tool will help you to find any pages that have been indexed by Google, as well as any pages that have duplicate content. You can also use a tool like Screaming Frog to crawl your website and look for any duplicate pages. Once you have found all of the potential duplicate pages, you can then use a tool like Moz’s Canonical URL Tool to find the correct canonical URL for each page. Finally, you can also ask your web developer or hosting provider for help in finding your canonical URL.
Do I need a canonical URL?
If you have a website, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of canonical URLs. But what are they, and do you really need one? A canonical URL is simply the “preferred” or “standard” version of a web page. For example, if there are two pages on your website with very similar content, you would want to specify which page is the canonical page. This helps to prevent search engines from penalizing your site for duplicate content. In most cases, having a canonical URL is not absolutely necessary. However, if you have duplicate pages on your site, it’s a good idea to specify a canonical URL to avoid any potential penalties. If you’re not sure whether or not you need a canonical URL, it’s always best to check with a qualified SEO professional.
Why are canonical URLs important?
Any website owner knows that it’s important to have a well-organized, easy-to-navigate website. But what many people don’t realize is that canonical URLs are just as important for search engine optimization (SEO). Canonical URLs help search engines index your website correctly, and they also help to prevent duplicate content penalties. In short, canonical URLs are essential for any website that wants to rank well in search engine results pages (SERPs).
There are a few different ways to specify a canonical URL. The most common method is to use the rel=”canonical” tag in the head of your HTML code. You can also use 301 redirects to point search engines to the correct URL. Whichever method you choose, be sure to implement it consistently across all of your webpages. By taking the time to set up canonical URLs, you can help ensure that your website always ranks high in SERPs – and that’s good for business.
Do canonical links help SEO?
Canonical links are those that point to the main or “canonical” version of a web page. For example, if there are two versions of a page ontwo different domains, the canonical link would point to the original page on the first domain. Canonical links are often used to help consolidate link equity and avoid duplicate content penalties from search engines. While there is no definitive answer as to whether canonical links help SEO, many experts believe that they can be beneficial. By consolidating link equity, canonical links can help to improve a website’s search engine ranking. In addition, by avoiding duplicate content penalties, canonical links can help to ensure that a website’s traffic is not adversely affected by duplicated content. As a result, canonical links may provide some SEO benefits, though more research is needed to confirm their efficacy.
Isaac Adams-Hands is the SEO Director at SEO North, a company that provides Search Engine Optimization services. As an SEO Professional, Isaac has considerable expertise in On-page SEO, Off-page SEO, and Technical SEO, which gives him a leg up against the competition.