The Moz Q&A Forum

    • Forum
    • Questions
    • My Q&A
    • Users
    • Ask the Community

    Welcome to the Q&A Forum

    Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

    1. SEO and Digital Marketing Q&A Forum
    2. Categories
    3. Intermediate & Advanced SEO
    4. Absolute vs. Relative Canonical Links

    Absolute vs. Relative Canonical Links

    Intermediate & Advanced SEO
    3 2 2.7k
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as question
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with topic management privileges can see it.
    • SimpleSearch
      SimpleSearch last edited by

      Hi Moz Community,

      I have a client using relative links for their canonicals (vs. absolute)

      Google appears to be following this just fine, but bing, etc. are still sending organic traffic to the non-canonical links.

      It's a drupal setup.

      Anyone have advice?  Should I recommend that all canonical links be absolute?  They are strapped for resources, so this would be a PITA if it won't make a difference.

      Thanks

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • LoganRay
        LoganRay last edited by

        Hi,

        I'd definitely recommend using absolute URLs for canonical tags. Part of their benefit is preventing duplication due to www vs. non-www and https/http issues. If you're using relative, you don't get to specify protocol or www preference.

        Additionally, you don't want to only solve for Google. They've obviously got the largest share or organic search, but that other search engines should still index/crawl content accordingly.

        SimpleSearch 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
        • SimpleSearch
          SimpleSearch @LoganRay last edited by

          thanks, I agree.  I appreciate your help.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • 1 / 1
          • First post
            Last post
          • WooCommere Canonical links relating to products and subscriptions
            0
            2
            44

          • Top hierarchy pages vs footer links vs header links
            brettmandoes
            brettmandoes
            0
            2
            544

          • Base href + relative link href for canonical link
            DmitriiK
            DmitriiK
            0
            2
            419

          • Unpaid Followed Links & Canonical Links from Syndicated Content
            JaneCopland
            JaneCopland
            0
            3
            100

          • Site wide footer links vs. single link for websites we design
            NeilD
            NeilD
            0
            8
            2.2k

          • Is there an optimal ratio of external links to a page vs internal links originating at that page ?
            EGOL
            EGOL
            0
            2
            1.3k

          • Duplicate content - canonical vs link to original and Flash duplication
            AlanMosley
            AlanMosley
            0
            2
            520

          • Link Architecture - Xenu Link Sleuth Vs Manual Observation Confusion
            scanlin
            scanlin
            0
            4
            1.2k

          Get started with Moz Pro!

          Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

          Start my free trial
          Products
          • Moz Pro
          • Moz Local
          • Moz API
          • Moz Data
          • STAT
          • Product Updates
          Moz Solutions
          • SMB Solutions
          • Agency Solutions
          • Enterprise Solutions
          • Digital Marketers
          Free SEO Tools
          • Domain Authority Checker
          • Link Explorer
          • Keyword Explorer
          • Competitive Research
          • Brand Authority Checker
          • Local Citation Checker
          • MozBar Extension
          • MozCast
          Resources
          • Blog
          • SEO Learning Center
          • Help Hub
          • Beginner's Guide to SEO
          • How-to Guides
          • Moz Academy
          • API Docs
          About Moz
          • About
          • Team
          • Careers
          • Contact
          Why Moz
          • Case Studies
          • Testimonials
          Get Involved
          • Become an Affiliate
          • MozCon
          • Webinars
          • Practical Marketer Series
          • MozPod
          Connect with us

          Contact the Help team

          Join our newsletter
          Moz logo
          © 2021 - 2026 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
          • Accessibility
          • Terms of Use
          • Privacy