Alternate Page with Proper Canonical Tag in Google Search Console

In this post we are learning about Alternate Page with Proper Canonical Tag issue in Google Search Console. If you are a website owner or blogger, you have to view a problem under page indexing in the Google search console (GSC): Alternate Page with Proper Canonical Tag in Google Search Console

At first sight, it can look like an error, but in fact, it is nothing harmful for SEO. Let's understand why it means, why, and you need to fix it.

Alternate Page with Proper Canonical Tag in Google Search Console

What is the meaning of the alternative page with the right canonical tag?

Google often finds multiple editions of the same page. For example, on the blogger you can see the URL on the blogger such as:

https://www.example.com/post-title.html (Chief URL)

https://www.example.com/post-tain.html?m=1 (mobile version)

Both URL serves the same material, but Google search results should only be shown only one. To avoid duplicate, Google depends on the canonical tags. The canonical tag explains search engines which version is the main URL to index.

So when GSC shows the message, it means a straightforward meaning:

Google found a duplicate page.
This correctly identified the canonical (main) version.
The duplicate version is excluded from indexing.

Does this affect SEO?

No, it is not harmful. Here is the reason:

The main canonical URL is indexed.
Duplicate URL is automatically ignored.
Ranking and traffic are not affected.

The worst thing is that it shows your search console report a slight disturbance, but it does not harm the SEO.

Why is this on the blogger?

Blogger automatically generates mobile versions of your posts in itself in the end of the URL? M = 1. For example:

Desktop: https://www.example.com/post-title.html

Mobile: https://www.example.com/post-tain.html?m=1

Because the blogger now uses responsive designs? M = 1 versions are not required, but they still exist. So GSC shows them as an alternative pages.

Do you need to fix it?

1. Ignore It (Safe Option)

2. Block ?m=1 Pages in Robots.txt (Cleaner Reports)

3. Redirect ?m=1 Pages to Main URL (Best Option)

1. Ignore It (Safe Option)

This issue does not harm the SEO.
Google is already indexing the correct URL.
If you do not want to make the items to be complicated, ignore it.

2. Block ?m=1 Pages in Robots.txt (Cleaner Reports)

You can prevent Google from crawling mobile duplicates by adding these rules in your robots.txt.

User-agent: *
Disallow: /*?m=1$

This will prevent Google from crawling ?m=1 pages in the future.

3. Redirect ?m=1 Pages to Main URL (Best Option)

For a completely clean solution, you can set up a small script in Blogger who redirects the users and boots? M = 1 pages automatically redirects. In this way, there is no duplicate URL.

Conclusion

The Optional Page "Notice with the correct canonical tag in the Google Search Console is not an error. This means Google has found duplicate pages and have already handled them properly. If you wish, you can block or redirect M = 1 versions, but if you do nothing, your SEO will not be affected.