Google is reporting "Alternative page with proper canonical tag"

An "Alternative page with proper canonical tag" refers to a page on your store that has a canonical tag pointing to a different page.

The canonical tag helps search engines determine the preferred version of a webpage when multiple versions of the same content exist. It is used to consolidate the ranking signals and avoid duplicate content issues. The canonical tag specifies the canonical URL, which is the URL that you want search engines to consider as the primary or authoritative version of the page.

The use of canonical tags is beneficial in various scenarios, such as when you have multiple versions of a page with similar or identical content, such as URLs with different parameters. By specifying the canonical URL, you can consolidate the ranking signals and avoid splitting the page's authority across multiple versions.

Consider this example: https://example.com/products/product-name?pr_prod_strat=e5_desc&pr_rec_id=117dd7049&pr_rec_pid=7308203360290&pr_ref_pid=7307564318754&pr_seq=uniform.

The aforementioned URL is identical to https://example.com/products/product-name. Essentially, these are duplicate pages, and it's crucial to prevent the same content from appearing multiple times in search engine results to avoid potential penalties for duplicate content.

This is where canonical URLs become crucial. In this context, the first URL mentioned has a canonical URL pointing to the second one I provided. This signifies that search engines should index the canonical URL instead of the less aesthetically pleasing one.

In simpler terms, the presence of a canonical tag on the referred page indicates that another page on your website is the preferred version. This instructs search engines to consider the alternative page as the primary version for indexing and ranking purposes. Implementing canonical tags helps consolidate ranking signals and mitigates issues related to duplicate content.

Don't be alarmed if you see large numbers in this category, it is completely normal and nothing to be worried about.