Why does a tool report a canonical tag mismatch?
A canonical mismatch means the rel="canonical" link in the page source names another URL than the one the tool expected.
Squirrly writes the page’s own URL as the canonical, unless you set another one. Check these places, in this order.
| Cause | Where to check |
|---|---|
| A custom canonical in the page’s SEO Snippet | The Canonical link field of the snippet, an SEO Expert mode field. Empty means the page’s own URL |
| Squirrly doesn’t print a canonical, so the theme or another plugin prints its own | Add Canonical Meta Link in Squirrly > Technical SEO > SEO Metas |
| Squirrly’s metas are off for that post type | Load SEO Metas on the post type’s tab in Squirrly > Optimize > Automation |
| The site address in WordPress uses http, or the host without www | Settings > General > Site Address (URL), which WordPress uses to build every page URL |
| An old copy of the page | The cache of your cache plugin, your host or your CDN |
When Squirrly prints its canonical, it removes the other canonical links from the page, so only one is left. Open the page with ?sq_seo=off at the end of the URL to see which canonical comes from the theme or another plugin.
Set the canonical of one page
- Click SEO Expert in the Squirrly top bar.
- Go to Squirrly > Optimize > Bulk SEO.
- Click the METAs dot of the page, then Edit Metas.
- Paste the full URL in Canonical link, or empty the field to use the page’s own URL.
- Click Save.
The same Canonical link field is in the SEO Snippet box of the post editor.
Related tutorials
- Add Custom Canonical Link: the field, the result and the sq_canonical filter.
- Check METAs with and without Squirrly SEO: compare the page source.
- Load SEO Metas in Automation.
