Canonical ≠ URL issue means that the value of the rel=canonical attribute of the link tag for a specific page is not an URL.
The importance of the issue
rel=canonical is applied to combine pages with identical contents and set the main version of the page for the search engine check it out. A href attribute for has to contain only an URL of the page we want to set as the main one for several pages with repeating content.
How to check the issue
Using any browser is enough to check the issue. Open the source code of the flawed page To do this, click the right mouse button at any spot of the page and choose “browse the code” option, or apply an online tool Codebeautify.
Find the link tag with the rel = ”canonical” attribute.
Example:
A href attribute value should contain a hyperlink.
Canonical ≠ URL analysis is not enough to optimize your site for search engines!
Make a full audit to find out and fix your technical SEO in order to improve your SERP results.
How to fix this issue
If the canonical generation takes place automatically, it is necessary to review the algorithm. The issue is mostly caused by manual settings. In this case, you need to set a correct value of a href attribute for rel=canonical in a specific page configuration.
