How can I set the correct canonical URL on my Webflow site to point to the original domain where my site is hosted?
TL;DR
- Set your preferred domain as default in Project Settings > Hosting.
- Use the Canonical URL field in each page's SEO Settings to customize canonical URLs if needed.
- Ensure SSL is enabled so non-preferred domains redirect to the default.
- Avoid adding duplicate canonical tags in custom code.
To ensure your Webflow site points search engines to the original domain as the canonical source, you need to configure canonical URLs correctly using Webflow’s built-in tools.
1. Choose Your Primary Domain
- Go to Project Settings > Hosting.
- Under Custom Domains, identify your preferred domain (e.g.,
www.mysite.com). - Click “Make default” next to that domain. This tells Webflow which version to serve content from and default all URLs to that domain.
2. Enable Canonical Tag in Page Settings
- Webflow automatically inserts a canonical tag pointing to the current live page URL.
- To customize the canonical URL manually for each page:
- Open the Pages panel in the Webflow Designer.
- Select a static page, click the gear icon for Page Settings.
- In the SEO Settings section, locate the Canonical URL field.
- Enter your desired full URL, such as
https://www.mysite.com/about.
3. Ensure Non-Preferred Domains Redirect
- Webflow will auto-redirect root domains (e.g.,
mysite.com) to your default domain (e.g.,www.mysite.com) if: - You've enabled SSL.
- You've set the default domain in Hosting settings.
- Test by visiting the non-preferred version and confirming it redirects to the chosen domain.
4. Avoid Duplicate Canonical Tags
- If you're using custom code in the
<head>section via Project Settings > Custom Code, make sure you're not outputting another<link rel="canonical">tag. That would override or conflict with Webflow's default.
5. Use Webflow's Automatic Canonicals Only if You Don’t Need Custom Logic
- Webflow automatically outputs canonical tags matching the live page’s URL (on the default domain).
- If you're fine with this, and don’t need programmatic changes based on language, query strings, or user context, there's no need to overwrite them manually.
Summary
To set the correct canonical URL on your Webflow site, make the original domain your default, and use the canonical URL field in Page Settings if you need to override it. Ensure Webflow redirects non-preferred domains, and avoid inserting conflicting canonical tags manually.