Canonical difficulties occur when a website has duplicate URLs. This article explains what IP canonicalization is and how to fix it by yourself.
What Is IP Canonicalization?
Search engine results show the domain name and IP address as two separate copies of the same page. Both www/non-www and http/https versions display duplicate content in this case. Canonicalization redirects your IP address to the hostname, which helps SEO. When canonicalizing an IP address, the website’s main domain is redirected. You may be aware that repeating content on your website can hurt your search engine rating. This and additional versions are mentioned below:
www.website.com
www.website.com/index.php
website.com
website.com/index.php
To summarize, IP canonicalization keeps duplicate content from being indexed on your website.
Using an IP Canonicalization Test (How To Use)
Step 1: Insert Your URL
An IP address is entered in the canonicalization test page to find if it redirects to its host name.
If entering the URL doesn’t do the trick, add the IP address to check.
Step 2: Interpreting the IP Canonicalization Checker Results
If your IP address is genuine, you should have no problem with the redirect; if it isn’t, you should check your address for duplicates.
Cases When an IP Canonicalization Test Is Needed
When unique content gets a higher ranking
Search engine bots may not know which page to display if your domain name and IP address do not resolve to the same page. As a result, your hard-earned unique content may not be found. They pick a single URL that matches your IP address and domain name, which may not be yours. As a result, your original content will be ranked.
When the site is ranked higher
In this case, your site’s traffic is split across the two URLs. As a result, receiving backlinks from different URLs splits your link juice and site authority. As a result, your website’s rating will be lowered. Your site’s traffic and link equity should be centralized. IP canonicalization helps your site rank higher.
Requirements to Set Up IP Canonicalization
In order to set up the IP canonicalization, follow these two simple steps.
- Set up a dedicated IP address.
- In the.htaccess file, add a rewrite rule.
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^xxx\.xxx\.xxx\.xxx [nc,or]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^example\.com [nc]
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.example.com/$1 [R=301,L]
Replace the “example” domain name with your actual domain name and xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx with your dedicated IP address.
Important Notes for Setting the IP Canonicalization
- Canonicalization is not a good idea in a paged archive. When a single page is split into many pages, each with a unique URL, it makes it more difficult for search engines to index and index the pages in that archive. This is called a paginated archive.
- Using a URL removal tool in canonicalization will remove all versions of a URL from a search. It is advised to avoid using URL removal tools in canonicalization. Users can utilize URL elimination tools provided by search engines to reduce loading times.
- Use Https instead of Http.
- Don’t use multiple canonical URLs on various pages of the same website.
- When redirecting internal affiliates, use the 301 redirect rule rather than the 302 redirect rule.
- Maintain consistent linking conventions across the document.
Other Ways to Check IP Canonicalization
Check your URL on a browser
Let’s start with the obvious. Check to determine that the IP address of your site redirects to your domain name. If not, fix your IP address canonicalization.
Use tools to check IP canonicalization
To check for canonicalization difficulties, utilize the IP address from your traceroute. You’ll also obtain useful information like your IP address’s canonicalization ranking.
Using tools does not require your IP address. Simply add your website’s URL, and you’re done.
On WordPress
Go to your WordPress Dashboard’s Settings:
Select General Settings from the drop-down menu.
The two most important lines right now areSite URL and WordPress URL (URL). Both should be identical.
When does the Canonicalization Problem Occur
Canonical difficulties occur in many situations, but these are a few of the most common:
- HTTP/HTTPs versions: If your site has an SSL certificate, it may load both HTTPS and HTTP versions of your URL. This bug duplicates all of your website’s pages.
- WWW/non-WWW: If you haven’t provided a default URL, it’s possible that your site loads both with and without WWW. Again, this copies every page on your website.
- In some websites, such as e-commerce sites, search parameters are used to make unique URLs.
- People who use different devices have different URLs.
- Putting your content on a lot of different websites or syndicating it can cause canonical issues.
How to Tell whether your IP Canonicalization Fixes Worked?
Here you can see if your fixes worked and if there were any issues. You can use the following ways to test it:
Browser IP address
Your IP address can be entered in your browser to see if it redirects to the canonical domain name. If it does, your fixes worked.
Using cURL
cURL is a command line tool that makes HTTP requests without requiring a web browser. So, on your command prompt (Windows) or terminal (Linux/MacOS), type:
/ yourserverip/curl
G-Domain usage
To check if your domain name and IP address are the same:
- Access Google Domains.
- Find your domain on the list.
- Go to “My Website.”
- You should see your site preview.
It may take some time for your site to display here, particularly if you’ve recently resolved IP canonicalization issues.
The Way to Canonicalize your IP Address
A redirect from the IP address to the main domain name address should be set up. If you’re not sure whether such a redirect already exists, you can run the Sitechecker tool’s IP canonicalization test. It displays whether your domain redirects to a domain name that you specify. Use an IP address checker to see what your exact public IP address is — IPv4 or IPv6.
