Rel=canonical and Google analytics referrals

[YST]

Hello guys,

If I put (rel=can) from site1.com/page1 to site2.com/page1, will site2.com see in his Google Analytics that people are coming from site1.com in the referrals section or somewhere else?

I can't find anything on the web about that.

Thanks.

[DeptAgency]

Hi Konstantin,

A rel=canonical in the head section of a html page will not redirect users to another site. The canonical link tag tells google (or other search engines) where the 'original' version of a page can be found and what the preferrred url is. This canonical version is most likely to show up in search engines (although search engines do not always follow the rel=canonical).

If you want users to end up at site2.com/page1 when they type site1.com/page1 in their browser, you need to use a 301 redirect.

Kind regards,

Sven Witteveen
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