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How would you handle 'Alternate page with proper canonical tag' warnings? Are these errors?

"Alternate page with proper canonical tag" is a message you'll see in tools like Google Search Console, and it's not an error — it's more of an informational warning. Here’s what it means and how (or if) you should handle it:

How would you handle 'Alternate page with proper canonical tag' warnings? Are these errors?

🔍 What it Means

This warning indicates that Google has found a page (let’s call it Page A) that has a canonical tag pointing to another page (Page B), and Google has decided to index Page B instead of Page A.

So:

  • Page A exists and is accessible.

  • It has a canonical tag that correctly points to Page B.

  • Google agrees and is indexing Page B.

  • Page A is not shown in Google’s index to avoid duplicate content.

✅ Is It a Problem?

No — not necessarily. In fact, this is often exactly what you want if you intentionally canonicalized one page to another (like for tracking parameters, printer-friendly versions, or slight variations of content).

However, it might require attention if any of these are true:

  1. You expected Page A to be indexed, not Page B.

  2. The canonical tag was added accidentally.

  3. You’re seeing too many of these and it might be hurting crawl budget or site clarity.

🔧 What You Can Do

1. Review Your Canonical Tags

  • Confirm that the canonical tag on Page A is intentional and correct.

  • Ensure that Page B is the version you want indexed.

2. Check Content Similarity

  • If A and B are too similar (e.g., only minor text changes or same content in different formats), Google may consolidate them.

  • If they should be separate (like separate product pages), you might need to adjust the canonical tag.

3. Improve Differentiation (If Needed)

  • Make sure both pages have unique, valuable content if you want them both indexed.

  • Consider adding self-referencing canonicals if they should be treated individually.

4. Use Robots.txt or Noindex Wisely

  • If a page shouldn’t be indexed at all, consider using noindex.

  • Canonical alone doesn’t guarantee exclusion — it’s a hint, not a directive.

🧠 Bottom Line

"Alternate page with proper canonical tag" means Google has chosen to index a preferred version of a page — and you’ve told it to. It's only a concern if that wasn’t your intent.

Let me know if you’d like help auditing these pages or crafting canonical tag strategies.

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