A canonical tag may be set on a page but include no URL. This error means that Google will ignore the directive.
You can solve this issue manually, or you can leverage SEO automation to make the changes at scale.
Let’s explore both options.
Table of Contents
Why to Avoid Empty Canonicals
If a canonical points to an empty link, search engines will disregard the canonical instruction.
That means any duplicate content issues that the canonical was meant to resolve will still be on your site.
How to Fix an Empty Canonical
To solve this problem, you’ll need to first delete the canonical tag, and then add it again — this time with the URL.
When you re-add the canonical, ensure that the canonicalized URL is populated so that it serves its intended purpose.
Replacing Empty Canonicals at Scale
How to Delete Canonical Tags
This 3-step workflow shows how to solve the problem with Clarity Automate: an execution-first SEO platform that lets you get more done.
To start, you’ll need to delete the canonical.
1. Select what you'd like to optimize
Since we’re dealing with a canonical tag issue, we start by selecting “Canonical Tag” in ClarityAutomate.
2. Choose how you'd like to optimize the canonical
You first need to delete the canonical tag before we add it again, so we select “Delete”.
3. Specify the XPath location
Set the XPath of the canonical that contains the empty URL.
With those three steps, you can delete the appropriate canonical tags from your site — no dev team required.
How to Add Canonical Tags
Now, it’s time to re-add the canonical, this time with the proper URL.
Again, we follow a 3-step process.
1. Select what you’d like to optimize
We’re still dealing with canonicals, so we repeat this step by selecting “Canonical Tag”.
2. Choose how you’d like to optimize it
Instead of deleting, this time you want to add a canonical tag.
3. New canonical URL
Enter the hyperlink of the new canonical URL to add it to the applicable pages.
Before and After
Just like that, you’ve deleted an improper canonical tag and replaced it with a valid one.
The best part? The process outlined above can be accomplished in a few minutes with next-gen SEO technology, not days or weeks.
