What is the Canonical Domain Issue?
This occurs when there isn’t a Permanent Redirect (301) found at the root level of your domain. If not configured properly, search engines will treat your domain “http://example.com” and “http://www.example.com” as two different sites. This can seriously hurt your rankings! We will use that same domain name in the code examples in this tutorial.
Why is it so Critical?
This issue gets so much attention because it’s such a simple mistake that can hurt your rankings an incredible amount. It also gets written about often because the fix is relatively simple (with the proper instruction). Follow the instructions below to make sure you get the “Full Credit” from every search engine.
How Can I Check My Website for This Canonical Domains Problem?
The easiest way to test if your site has this issue is to run it through one the following analyzers.
They both will tell you very clearly if there are any canonical domain erros, as well as provide you other information about your domain that is often over looked.
Here’s How to Fix It:
There are many ways to fix the canonical domain issue. The first example is by using an Apache .htaccess file with the following contents. If your preferred name is http://www.example.com, then add the following to a blank text file named .htaccess, and upload it to the domain root:
Options +FollowSymlinks
RewriteEngine on
rewritecond %{http_host} ^example.com [nc]
rewriterule ^(.*)$ http://www.example.com/$1 [r=301,nc]
Conversely, If your preferred domain is http://example.com then your last two lines would be:
rewritecond %{http_host} ^www.example.com [nc]
rewriterule ^(.*)$ http://example.com/$1 [r=301,nc]
If you website is built in PHP, you can fix it with the following code snippet:
<?php
if (substr($_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'],0,3) != 'www') {
header('HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently');
header('Location: http://www.'.$_SERVER['HTTP_HOST']
.$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']);
}
?>
And Finally, a 301 Canonical redirect using ASP:
<%
If InStr(Request.ServerVariables("SERVER_NAME"),"www") = 0 Then
Response.Status="301 Moved Permanently"
Response.AddHeader "Location","http://www."
& Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_HOST")
& Request.ServerVariables("SCRIPT_NAME")
End if
%>
How Can I Verify The Fix?
After making the above changes, re-run your website through the analysers that I linked previously. The fix should take effect immediately.
I hope found this article informative. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to enter them below.
Very helpful, thanks!
[...] This is the biggest killer of SEO rankings that I come across. It has a scary name but its really a simple idea. If you do not setup your domain name correctly, example.com will be treated as a completely separate site from http://www.example.com. Check out this post on How To Fix the Canonical Domain Issue. [...]
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I use both Adsense and Adbrite and i can say that adbrite is also a good source of income but not as good as adsense.;`-
i always buy domain names at Godaddy or Moniker because they are the most reliable registrars;-.
You have truly a interest individual posting design and present excellent details. The articles are great to read and you don´t use great deal ads like all of the other bloggers.
Adbrite is the ppc program that is second to adsense, i like adbrite’;”
Useful information, thanks!
Thank you so much for posting this. I had originally tried to fix my canolitical errors in my .htaccess but for some reason it didn’t seem to make a difference. I’ve now plugged in the PHP snipet you posted above and it seems to be working.
Thanks again
i only use free seo tools on the internet coz there are lots of good ones out there.-”
domain names should be as short as possible and easy to remember, i alway use Godaddy when signing up new domain names’;;
I’ve been having problems with my client’s 301 redirect. He is using a plesk control panel which, as I’ve found out, is not the most user friendly control panel as there’s no way to do a redirect from there. I tried using ht .htaccess but to no avail. Any suggestion?
Doby artykuł – polecam, pozycjonowanie stron internetowych
i do not use adbrite because their pay rate is horrendously low compared to say infolinks :;~
before you buy some very expensive SEO Tools, always look for a review first before you invest on them ‘.`
We have over 30,000 pages on our site, and a canonical issue could be devastating without using 301 redirects. I like the way you pinpoint the exact coding necessary to fix them.
hi
my web site some times down .
im host reseller and this can effected all of my sites (all is down some times)
in host tracker says(301 moved permanetly)
please say me why?
this message says what??
and can i fix this problem..?
thanks
I’ve been having problems with my client’s 301 redirect. He is using a plesk control panel which, as I’ve found out, is not the most user friendly control panel as there’s no way to do a redirect from there. I tried using ht .htaccess but to no avail. Any suggestion
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even i placed .htaccess to root not redirecting
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