Page indexing · Why pages aren't indexed
Alternate page with proper canonical tag: is it a problem?
This page names another address as its canonical, and Google accepted it. The page is left out of the index on purpose, because the address it points to is indexed instead.
What the status means
Search Console lists a page under this status when the page declares a canonical to a different URL and Google agrees that the other URL is the one to index.
Nothing is lost: links and signals to the alternate page count towards the canonical one. The status is Google confirming that it followed your instruction.
Why it happens
Parameter and filter URLs
Sorted, filtered or tracked versions of a page that point at the clean address, which is exactly what they should do.
AMP or mobile versions
An AMP page or an m. site that names the main page as its canonical.
Paginated or variant pages
Page two of a list, or a colour variant of a product, that points at the main page. Fine if you mean it, a loss if each should rank.
A copied template
A canonical hard-coded in a template, so every page built from it points at the same address. This is the one case that needs fixing.
How to fix it
- Go through the pages listed in the report and look for ones you expected to see in search.
- For each of those, run the canonical checker below and see where its canonical points.
- If it points at another page by mistake, change it to the page's own address, usually in the SEO plugin or the template.
- For language versions tied together with hreflang, give each version a canonical to itself, not to the main language.
- Leave the rest alone: an alternate page that should not rank is working as intended.
Check a page's canonical now
See where its redirects lead, what canonical it declares and whether Google can use it.
Questions
Should I try to get these pages indexed?
Only if they have content worth ranking on its own. A filtered or tracked copy of a page is better left as an alternate, so the main page collects the signals.
Why did the number of these pages go up?
Google keeps discovering parameter, filter and tracking URLs as people link to them. A rising count with a stable number of indexed pages is normal.
Do these pages hurt my site?
No. They are not indexed, and what they earn is credited to the canonical page. They only use a little crawl budget, which matters on very large sites.