Google Indexing Issue – Duplicate, Google Chose Different Canonical than User

#1079144
  • Zachary

    3 weeks, 6 days ago

    Rank Math free

    Hello!

    So, I’m not sure if I can ask you guys this kind of question, but I thought I’d at least give it a try.

    Google is giving me the “Duplicate, Google Chose Different Canonical than User” for a single page site I have for a client. The one google is choosing simply has the “www” in front of the domain, whereas the site is promoting just the domain, without the “www” in front. So, I read your article on fixing this, but I’m still confused because it seems like everything is fine when I look at the pages Canonical URL, as its what I want to be, (URL without the www), and as for a redirect, I’m assuming I’d put the URL with “www” in the Source URL field and the one I want to be the main URL in the “Destination URL” field??? Anyways, I’ve tried resubmitting indexing and validating the fix to no avail, so I was hoping you could tell me what to try, as maybe I make the canonical in my site what google wants it to be which is the URL with “www”.

    Otherwise, I’m at a loss for what to do since I feel google is just being lame, but hey…

    And with the DNS settings, I do have it set with the CNAME specifying “www” goes to the domain I want, so that’s fine.

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • RankBot

    3 weeks, 6 days ago

    Hello,

    We apologize for the issue you are facing with the Google indexing error regarding the canonical URL. It sounds like you’re on the right track with your understanding of how to set up the canonical URL and redirects.

    To clarify, you should indeed set up a 301 redirect from the URL with "www" to the one without it. Here’s how you can do that:

    1. Go to Rank Math > Redirections in your WordPress admin dashboard.
      Rank Math Redirections Tab

    2. In the Source URL field, enter the URL with "www" (e.g., www.yourdomain.com).

    3. In the Destination URL field, enter the URL without "www" (e.g., yourdomain.com).

    4. Click on the Add Redirection button to save your changes.
      Create new redirection

    This will inform Google that the non-www version is the preferred version of your site. After setting up the redirect, it may take some time for Google to re-index your pages and reflect the changes in search results.

    If you continue to experience issues after implementing this, please ensure that your canonical URL is correctly set to the non-www version in the Rank Math meta box:
    Rank Math Advanced Meta box

    If everything seems correct and you’re still having trouble, we recommend replying to this ticket with your site URL so that a human agent from our support team can assist you further.

    Thank you for raising this concern, and we’re here to help you resolve it!

    Sources:
    How to Fix Indexing Issues in Google Search Console » Rank Math
    How to Fix “Duplicate, Google Chose Different Canonical than User” » Rank Math

    This is an automated reply from Rank Math Support Bot. Your ticket has been assigned to a human agent and we will get back to you shortly.

    Zachary

    3 weeks, 6 days ago

    Rank Math free

    For some reason when I do what you said, after I click save to add the redirect, it isn’t in my active redirects. Its like it disappears. I can do it if I choose “Starts with” and then put “www” in the source URL field, but, otherwise, using the “Exact” option for the Source URL doesn’t work for me.

    Adetayo

    3 weeks, 6 days ago

    Hello,

    Thanks for contacting us and sorry for the inconvenience caused.

    Could you please try this code in your .htaccess to redirect your website from HTTP to HTTPS and www to non-www?

    
# 301 REDIRECT HTTP TO HTTPS AND WWW TO NON-WWW
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www\. [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^(?:www\.)?(.+)$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^ https://%1%{REQUEST_URI} [L,NE,R=301]
</IfModule>

    Please generate a backup of your .htaccess file first before making any changes, as it is a sensitive file.

    If you need assistance modifying the file, you can get in touch with your web host and also check the redirect.

    Moreover, you should get in touch with your web host to check the file and the redirect and avoid conflicting issues.

    Hope that helps.

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

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