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Canonical URL Checker

Enter a URL to check its <link rel="canonical"> tag: whether one is present, whether it points back at the page itself or somewhere else, whether it's an absolute URL, and whether the target actually resolves. Any URL can be checked, not just a tracked Dodolytics website. Free tool, nothing you check is stored.

This tool only checks the HTML <link rel="canonical"> tag. It does not check a canonical set via the rarer HTTP Link: response header, which is mostly used on non-HTML resources like PDFs or APIs.

How to use

1
Enter a URL in the field above. A bare domain or a full URL both work.
2
Click Check canonical URL.
3
See whether a canonical tag exists, whether it points back at the page itself, and whether the target actually resolves.

Tip: you can check any publicly reachable URL, not just a tracked Dodolytics website.

What is a canonical URL?

A canonical URL is the single, "preferred" version of a page when the same or near-identical content is reachable through more than one URL: for example with and without a trailing slash, over http vs https, with tracking or sorting parameters attached, or as a paginated, printer-friendly, or AMP variant of a "main" page. It's declared with a <link rel="canonical"> tag, telling search engines which one of those URLs to actually index and rank.

How do I add one?

Add one tag inside the page's <head>:

<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/the-preferred-url">

A few rules worth following: use a full, absolute URL, not a relative path; make sure the scheme and host actually match the URL you want indexed; and include only one canonical tag per page. Having more than one is invalid, and search engines may ignore all of them or pick one unpredictably. Most ordinary pages should self-reference (point at their own URL); only point elsewhere when this page is genuinely a duplicate or variant of another page you'd rather have indexed instead.

Why is it useful?

Consolidates ranking signals onto one URL instead of splitting them across several near-identical ones, which is what usually happens with unmanaged duplicate content.
Controls exactly which URL shows up in search results, even when visitors can reach the same content several different ways.
Handles common cases cleanly: query strings (tracking parameters, session IDs, sort/filter options), pagination, printer-friendly pages, and AMP or mobile variants that all represent the same underlying content.

FAQ

Is this tool free?

Yes, no login required either.

Do you store the URLs I check?

No. Nothing about a check (the URL, the result, or that it happened at all) is saved anywhere. It's shown once, in the same response, and gone.

What does "self-referencing" mean?

Whether the canonical tag points back at the exact page you checked, rather than somewhere else. Most ordinary pages should self-reference.

Is a non-self-referencing canonical a problem?

Not necessarily. It's common for paginated, filtered, or duplicate-content pages that intentionally point at a "main" version elsewhere. Compare it against what you actually expect for that page.

Does this check the HTTP Link header too?

No, only the HTML <link rel="canonical"> tag. The rarer HTTP Link: response header, mostly used on non-HTML resources like PDFs or APIs, isn't checked.

What if a page has more than one canonical tag?

A page should have at most one. Search engines may ignore all of them, or pick one unpredictably, when more than one is present, so this tool flags it as a real problem worth fixing.

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