IP Canonicalization Test
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Check whether your raw IP address redirects to your canonical domain. We resolve your IP, request the site directly, and confirm whether the server consolidates to one address the way search engines prefer.
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How the Test Works
- Resolve the IP, your domain is looked up to its A record.
- Request by IP, our server fetches the site directly by the raw IP.
- Inspect the response, we check for a redirect to your domain.
- Report the result, you get a pass or a clear fix recommendation.
Why It Matters
- One canonical home, signals consolidate to your domain, not an IP.
- Avoid duplicate content, prevents the same site indexing twice.
- Cleaner analytics, traffic is attributed to the proper hostname.
- Better hygiene, a tidy redirect setup signals a well-run site.
Canonicalization is one of many signals search engines weigh. Our SEO services fix redirects, duplicate URLs, and crawl issues so engines see one clean version of every page.
IP Canonicalization Scenarios Reference
Canonicalization is about making sure each page is reachable at exactly one URL, with every other variant redirecting to it. These are the three scenarios that matter most, what the correct behavior is, and why it helps. The fix in every case is a server-side 301 permanent redirect to the canonical address.
| Scenario | Correct behavior | Why |
|---|---|---|
| IP-only access | A request to the raw IP (or a missing/invalid Host header) returns a 301 to the canonical domain. | Stops the same site answering at both an IP and a domain, which can cause duplicate indexing and exposes the origin. |
| www vs non-www | One host is canonical; the other 301 redirects to it, consistently across the whole site. | Serving content at both www and the bare domain splits signals between two URLs that look like separate pages. |
| HTTP to HTTPS | Every HTTP URL 301 redirects to its HTTPS equivalent. | Guarantees one secure canonical address and avoids insecure duplicates of every page. |
How to set the 301: on Nginx, add a catch-all default server block that issues return 301 https://your-domain.com$request_uri;. On Apache, use a catch-all VirtualHost or a RewriteRule that tests the %{HTTP_HOST} against your canonical domain. On most managed hosts and CDNs, set the canonical domain or a redirect rule in the dashboard. Use 301 (permanent), never 302, so ranking signals consolidate.
Next steps
IP Canonicalization Test related tools and articles
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IP Canonicalization Test: FAQ
What does this test do?
What counts as a passing result?
Why can a healthy CDN-hosted site fail?
Does the test check every server address?
Does the request preserve my domain in the Host header?
What should I change after a failure?
Why might the test return no result?
What data is sent during this test?
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