301 Redirect Url Within a Canonical Tag

[NickG-123]

So this might sounds like a silly question...

A client of mine has a duplicate content issue which will be fixed using canonical tags. We are also providing them with an updated URL structure meaning rwe will be having to do lots of 301 redirects.

The URL structure is a much larger task that than the duplicate content so i planned to set up the canonicals first.

Then it occurred to me id be updating the canonical tags with the urls from the old structure which brings me to my question.

Will the canonical tags with the old urls redirect credit to the new urls with the 301? Or should i just wait until we have the new url structure in place and use these new urls in the canonicals?

Thanks!

[MikeRoberts]

In general, redirects can cause you to lose a small amount of equity. Both a 301 and a Canonical are forms of redirects except a canonical really only redirects the bots without redirecting the user. So much in the same way that it is not best to 301 to a 301 (though you can), it isn't best to Canonical to a 301. Now, it most likely won't hurt you doing that, if you prefer the easier of the two solutions, but its also important to remember that a canonical is a suggestion (not a directive). So the search engines can choose to disregard your canonical if they feel it is manipulative or not relevant. With this in mind, it is always better to point your canonical at the best, most relevant canon page instead of to another redirect.