Alternate page with proper canonical tag

SEO
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1

Hey Community!
Am new here running https://weststyle.pk I am seeing an issue in my Google Search Console this canonical tag issue it is affecting my 642 pages. I have did validate fix some of my pages get verified but remain 642 are still unverified. Can anyone tell me how can I fix it ?

3

Technically, this is not an error.
It’s just Google telling you that some pages on your site can be reached via several URLs.

Example

(not exactly your case, but to get an idea
Say, you have a t-shirt product “tee” which belong to collection “tees” and collection “tops”. Then, it will be possible to reach this product page via 3 links:

  • /products/tee
  • /collections/tees/products/tee
  • /collection/tops/products/tee

So Google initially sees them as 3 pages, but upon further processing it sees the canonical and learns that these, in fact, point to the same product page – /products/tee

Can’t be 100% sure, but, in your case, say
weststyle.pk/products/women-plain-tee-maroon-m090?variant=47693684506848 and
weststyle.pk/products/women-plain-tee-maroon-m090?variant=47693684244704

are two URLs which lead to the same page (this is canonical):
weststyle.pk/products/women-plain-tee-maroon-m090

This is normal, not an error and does not require fixing.
The only drawback is that these extra URLs initially consume crawl budget.

4

Hi @WestStyle-HQ

Your canonical tag issue usually happens when pages point to the wrong canonical URL or duplicate pages exist. To fix it:

  1. Check canonical tags on affected pages — make sure each page points to its own URL (self-referencing) unless it’s a true duplicate.

  2. Remove duplicates or fix redirects so Google sees one version of each page.

  3. Update your sitemap with only correct URLs.

  4. Resubmit in Google Search Console → “Validate Fix” after corrections.

  5. Use Shopify’s SEO settings:

    • Online Store → Preferences → check “Search engine listing preview”

    • Ensure canonical URLs match the live page URL.

5

Hi @WestStyle-HQ

Canonical tag issues on Shopify are frequently caused by how the platform handles product links within collections. By default, Shopify often creates two versions of a product URL: a direct link and a version that includes the collection path. When Google crawls both, it identifies them as duplicate content, leading to the errors you see in Search Console.

To fix this, ensure your theme.liquid file contains the standard canonical tag: . More importantly, you should modify your collection template (often found in snippets like product-grid-item.liquid) to link directly to the product URL instead of the collection-aware one. This prevents your site from internally linking to duplicate pages and guides Google toward the correct canonical version.

Hope this helps!

6

Hi @WestStyle-HQ,
Sophia here from Tapita AI SEO & Speed Optimizer.

That canonical issue in GSC usually pops up from duplicate URLs (like product variants with ?variant= params or collection filters). If it’s showing “Alternate page with proper canonical tag,” it’s not a true error, Google’s just noting those pages point to the main one and won’t index them to avoid dupes. Some get verified after validation because Google re-crawls and confirms, but the rest might take time or need tweaks.

What’s likely happening

Shopify creates multiple URLs for the same page, for example:

  • /products/product-name

  • /collections/collection-name/products/product-name

  • URL parameters like ?variant= or ?sort_by=

Google then says: “Duplicate, Google chose different canonical than user”.

Why “Validate fix” stays unverified

  • Validation only works if the root cause is fixed

  • Google re-crawls slowly → can take 2–4 weeks

  • New duplicate URLs may still be generated automatically

How to actually fix it (Shopify-safe)

  1. Make sure canonical tags point to the main URL

    • Product canonical → /products/...

    • Collection canonical → /collections/...

  2. Don’t try to noindex everything
    That usually makes things worse.

  3. If you’re not editing theme code
    Use an app that handles canonicals properly.

    • Fixes canonical tags for products/collections

    • Prevents collection-path duplicates

    • Cleans SEO signals without breaking Shopify logic

  4. After fixing

    • Wait (don’t keep re-validating daily)

    • GSC will slowly move those pages from Unverified → Passed / Ignored

Hope this helps!