Audit rules
Canonical Differs From Final URL
A declared canonical URL, normalized, differs from the final URL of the page. In a QuikSEO audit, a failure of this rule has warning severity and counts against the score. Below are the exact condition, its exceptions and the sources behind it, followed by the other rules of the same group.
canonical.differs_from_final_urlWarning01 — Definition
How This Rule Is Checked
The rule is a pure function of the fetched page: no extra requests, no account settings. The same input always gives the same result.
Rule Severity and Score
- Rule id
canonical.differs_from_final_url- Group
- Canonical
- Severity of a failure
- Warning
- Counts in the score
- Yes, whenever it applies to the page
- Required for a score
- No
Condition and Exceptions
- Condition
- Canonical ≠ final URL → review (it may be intentional)
- Exceptions
- None or invalid → not_applicable
Sources and Project Decision
- Sources
- How to specify a canonical URL with rel="canonical" and other methods (Google Search Central, S12)
RFC 6596: The Canonical Link Relation (IETF, Q74) - Project decision
- Severity warning is a project decision [D]; the result is review because a canonical pointing elsewhere may be intentional.
02 — Canonical
Other Rules in This Group
The other checks of the same group, each with its own condition and sources.
- Conflicting Canonicalscanonical.conflict
- Canonical Invalidcanonical.invalid
- Canonical Missingcanonical.missing
- Canonical Target Not Indexablecanonical.target_not_indexable