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htmlhttphttpsseocanonical-link

Can I use a "protocol free" URL with rel=canonical?

SEO wise, is it okay to use an protocol free URL like this?

<link rel="canonical" href="//example.com" />

I redirect all users to HTTPS anyway.

With protocol free I mean not using either http:// or https:// but // instead.

Solution

  • Yes

    href attribute on a canonical link is like all href attribute on <link>: it supports URIs. And URIs can be full URIs or relative URIs.

    Moreover The Canonical Link Relation spec confirms that.

    Then: of course you can use a relative URL like a protocol free one.

    But don't

    I will recommend anyway to always use full URLs : scheme, host, path...

    Why ? Because canonical URL is made to prevent from wrong URL to be used by robots.

    Then using a relative URL might let some wrong URLs used by bots contrary to a full URL which you can be certain it is the right one.