Hello,
Thank you for your query, and we are so sorry about the trouble this must have caused.
To address the issue of your paginated pages being served as ‘noindex’ and having duplicate canonical tags, it’s important to understand the correct use of canonical URLs.
Canonical tags are used to indicate to search engines the preferred version of a webpage, particularly useful in avoiding duplicate content issues.
For your specific query about changing the canonical URL for a paginated page (like https://mysite.com/page/28/?s) to the homepage (https://mysite.com), this approach is generally not recommended.
Canonical tags should point to the page that represents the main content you want search engines to index.
If you set the canonical URL of a paginated page to your homepage, you risk misleading search engines about the content of the page, which can impact your site’s SEO.
Instead, you should ensure that each page has a self-referential canonical tag (i.e., the canonical URL should be the same as the page’s URL) unless there’s a specific reason to indicate otherwise.
This practice is especially crucial for paginated content, where each page likely contains unique content that deserves its indexation.
Regarding Canonicalizing Paginated Pages, Google’s John Mueller stated that canonicalizing all paginated pages to the first page in the series is considered improper use of the rel=canonical tag.
Page 2 in the series cannot be considered to be equivalent to page 1 so making use of canonicalization in this situation would be incorrect.
For more detailed guidance, I recommend reviewing the articles on Rank Math’s knowledge base, particularly those on setting canonical URLs and handling duplicate content issues.
Setting Canonical URLs in Rank Math
https://rankmath.com/kb/how-to-change-canonical-url/
How to Fix ‘Duplicate, Submitted URL Not Selected as Canonical’ Issue in Google Search Console
https://rankmath.com/kb/duplicate-submitted-url-not-selected-as-canonical/
How to Fix ‘Duplicate Without User-Selected Canonical’ Status in Google Search Console
https://rankmath.com/kb/duplicate-without-user-selected-canonical/
How to Fix “Duplicate, Google Chose Different Canonical than User”
https://rankmath.com/kb/duplicate-google-chose-different-canonical-than-user/
Alternate Page with Proper Canonical Tag Status in Google Search Console
https://rankmath.com/kb/alternate-page-with-proper-canonical-tag/
Understanding Canonical URLs: The Definitive Guide
https://rankmath.com/blog/canonical-urls/
These resources provide comprehensive information on best practices for canonical tags and how to address common issues related to them.
We hope that helps, and please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any other questions.
Thank you.
