What happens when we canonical and point to a page which has been redirected to another page? Google response!

[vtmoz]

Hi all,

I would like to know the different scenarios Google going to respond when we use canonical and redirect for duplicate pages.

Let's say A to B are duplicate pages with 95% same content and C Doesn't have same content but context wise similar and priority page we expect to rank for.

1. What happens if we canonical from A to B and set redirect from B to C?

2. What if both A and B are pointed to C with canonical?

3. What if A or B deleted and other one is canonical to C?

Note: We can noindex or 301 redirect as they have their own visitors. This is more about showing most relevant content to the audience and avoid duplicate content in search results.

Thanks

[EGOL]

**What happens if we canonical from A to B and set redirect from B to C? **

Keep in mind that rel=canonical is optionally obeyed by Google and some people would say that it is recognized by Google by chance.  So, when you place that on a webpage Google might honor it or they might not.  How they honor it today might be different from how they honor it tomorrow  ---  and Google often changes their mind about such things without telling anybody.  And, so far, they are not telling anybody EXACTLY how they treat 301 redirects and because of that, in my opinion, anyone outside of Google who gives firm answers to how rel=canonicals work knows not that he knows not.

If you want these pages associated with one another then you should use 301 redirects and not canonicals.  301 redirects are on your server and they force visitors and Google crawlers to your intended page.  Still, Google might not give full credit for them (but they say that they currently do), however, if you want to pass value from one page to another, a 301 redirect is the most assured way to make that happen, in my opinion.

I think that your  **What happens if we canonical from A to B and set redirect from B to C? ** is looking for a far reaching answer.  Nobody can tell you with assurance what is really gonna happen.  And, again, what happens can be changed by Google at whim and without no notice.