I'm working on a small side project at www.subsavant.com, and I've noticed some weirdness in Google Search Console. It shows 7 indexed pages but also lists 7 non-indexed pages, mostly related to the apex domain. For example, the URL subsavant.com isn't indexed because it's showing up as a 'page with a redirect' to the secure version. Another unindexed page is https://subsavant.com/sfw, which has a canonical reference pointing to a different page. I think everything is configured correctly, but Search Console is making it sound like there's an error. Do I need to take any action regarding this, or is there a way to tell Search Console to ignore the non-www domain?
4 Answers
Right, I also realized my previous example was a bit off. I don’t treat the root as a catch-all. Since root and /sfw have the same content, I switched the canonical for both to the root, since that’s what Google seems to favor. I wasn't redirecting the apex before, but I'll try that too!
Google Search Console often provides informational updates rather than outright warnings. It's essentially telling you, "I've come across this URL, but here’s why it isn’t showing in search results." Generally, you only need to take action if the explanation surprises you.
Make sure your canonical link points to the exact URL that's currently being accessed, not just the root. Also, it's better to redirect your apex domain to the www version.
Exactly! The canonical URL is meant to indicate which version of the page you want Google to show in search results. For instance, if I use old.reddit.com, Reddit actually prefers new.reddit.com in search results, so the canonical URL points there. If you're using both www and non-www, just set the canonical URL consistently to one version. No need to redirect, as long as the canonical is set correctly.
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