How to Fix Missing Canonical Tag on Your Homepage

If SureRank shows a warning like: “Canonical tag is not present on the home page.”

This guide explains what it means, why it matters for SEO, and how to fix it even if you’re not a technical person.

What’s the Problem

A canonical tag tells search engines which version of a URL is the “main” one. Without it, Google may:

• Treat multiple versions of your homepage (with or without www, HTTP vs HTTPS) as separate pages.
• Split link authority between duplicates.
• Risk duplicate content issues, which can hurt rankings.

Example of what can go wrong:

• https://example.com and https://www.example.com may be indexed separately.
• Social shares, backlinks, and page authority may get divided.
• Rich results and metadata may not apply correctly.

Why This Matters

• Prevents duplicate content: Search engines know which URL to index.
• Consolidates SEO value: All backlinks and ranking signals point to a single URL.
• Improves indexing efficiency: Helps search engines crawl your site accurately.
• Ensures proper schema and metadata application: Enhances rich results appearance.

How to Fix

SureRank automatically sets the homepage URL as canonical by default once the SureRank plugin is activated. If not, follow the steps below.

Step 1 – Check if your homepage URL is correct

• Open your homepage in a browser.
• Copy the URL exactly as it appears (with or without www, HTTPS, etc.).

Step 2 – Manually set the canonical URL

• Edit the home page.
• Click SureRank → Settings → Advanced Settings.
• Look for the Canonical URL  option.
• And paste the URL.

If you use a custom homepage, enter your preferred URL in the canonical field.

Step 3 – Verify the canonical tag

• Open your homepage in a browser.
• Right-click → View Page Source. Look for a line like:<link rel=”canonical” href=”https://www.example.com/” />
• Alternatively, use Google’s URL Inspection Tool to confirm indexing.

Step 4 – Re-run Site SEO Analysis

• After making changes, Re-run Checks in SureRank.
• The warning should disappear. Canonical tag is present on the homepage.