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Canonical link checker: rel=canonical on your page
Group C2 pointsrubric r1
We read the <link rel="canonical"> on the scanned page and compare it with the final URL after redirects, ignoring a trailing slash and host case.
Why it matters
The same page is often reachable by several URLs. Without a canonical, an agent may cite a copy with tracking parameters or the non-www host. A canonical that points to another path on your site scores 1 of 2; one that points to another domain scores 0, because the agent will follow it away.
How to fix it
- Add
<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/page">to the<head>of every page. - Use an absolute URL with the final protocol and host.
- Point each page to itself unless it is truly a duplicate of another.
- Redirect the non-canonical hostnames to the main one with a 301.
How to verify
Run curl -s https://example.com/ | grep -i canonical and confirm the href matches the page URL.