If you manage a blog on Google's Blogger (Blogspot) platform, you might encounter "Redirect error" or "Alternate page with proper canonical tag" warnings in Google Search Console (GSC). These are common technical SEO issues.
While such warnings can be concerning, they often arise from how Blogger handles mobile redirection. However, issues such as misconfigured custom themes, incorrect canonical tags, or broken custom redirects can lead to genuine indexing problems.
Here's a comprehensive technical guide to understanding, diagnosing, and resolving mobile redirect errors on Blogger.
Why Blogger Uses Mobile Redirections (?m=1)
Blogger employs a separate mobile URL strategy instead of fully dynamic serving or responsive design at the server level. When a user or search engine crawler accesses your blog from a mobile device, Blogger issues a 302 temporary redirect, appending "?m=1" to the end of the URL.
For example, the desktop version of your blog will have a clean URL (e.g., [example.blogspot.com/page.html](https://example.blogspot.com/page.html)), while the mobile version will include the parameter (e.g., [example.blogspot.com/page.html?m=1](https://example.blogspot.com/page.html?m=1)).
To inform Googlebot that both versions represent the same content, standard Blogger templates include a rel=canonical tag on the mobile page that points back to the desktop version, like this:
<link rel="canonical" href="https://www.example.com/page.html" />
Since Googlebot for Smartphones crawls your site first due to Mobile-First Indexing, it often visits the desktop URL, gets redirected (302) to the mobile version with "?m=1", reads the canonical tag pointing back to the desktop URL, and may flag a "Redirect error" or "Page with redirect" in Search Console.
Important Note
If Google Search Console flags desktop URLs as "Page with redirect" or "Alternate page with proper canonical tag," this behavior is typically standard for the Blogger platform and may not require any fixes. As long as the desktop URL is indexed, your site's SEO remains intact.
Step-by-Step Solutions for Actual Mobile Redirect Errors
If your pages are dropping out of Google's index or if Googlebot Smartphone cannot crawl the live mobile page, follow these steps to resolve the underlying issues:
Step 1: Verify and Fix Missing Canonical Tags in Custom Themes
Many custom or third-party Blogger XML themes may omit critical head elements or mishandle canonical tags. If your theme does not dynamically generate canonical links for both mobile and desktop views, Googlebot can get caught in a redirect loop.
1. Go to your Blogger Dashboard and select Theme
2. Click the dropdown arrow next to Customize and select Edit HTML
3. Press Ctrl + F (or Cmd + F) and search for `rel='canonical'` or `rel="canonical"`
4. Make sure your theme includes the correct dynamic canonical tag within the `<head>` section:
xml: <link rel='canonical' expr:href='data:blog.canonicalUrl'/>
5. If this tag is missing or hardcoded to a static URL, replace it with the line above and save the template.
Step 2: Reset Custom Robots.txt and Header Tags to Default
Over-configuring crawling rules can lead to mobile indexing failures. If your custom robots.txt file blocks parameters like `?m=1`, Google cannot follow the redirects, resulting in strict redirect errors.
1. Navigate to the Blogger Dashboard and select Settings
2. Scroll down to the Crawlers and indexing section.
3. Disable Enable custom robots.txt (toggle should be grey/off).
4. Disable Enable custom robots header tags (toggle should be grey/off).
Allowing Blogger to manage its native robots.txt file ensures that both desktop and `?m=1` parameter URLs are accessible to web crawlers.
Step 3: Check for Custom Redirect Loops
If you have manually set up custom 301/302 redirects in Blogger, ensure that there are no circular loops.
1. Go to Settings > Errors and redirections > Custom Redirects
2. Review all active rule pairs (From and To)
3. Verify that:
- The destination page does not redirect back to the source page.
- You have not included query parameters like `?m=1` in your custom URL redirect definitions.
- Relative paths are formatted correctly, starting with `/` (for example, `/old-post` to `/new-post`).
Step 4: Validate HTTPS and Domain Redirection (Custom Domains)
If you use a custom domain (e.g., www.yourdomain.com), improper DNS or SSL configuration can disrupt mobile redirects across HTTP/HTTPS protocols.
1. In Blogger Settings, navigate to the HTTPS section
2. Set HTTPS availability to On
3. Set HTTPS redirect to On
4. Under Publishing, ensure that Redirect domain (naked domain domain.com → www.domain.com) is enabled.
Note: If the HTTPS status shows "Pending,” wait up to 1 hour for SSL certificate generation before testing redirects again.
Technical Mistakes to Avoid
When trying to fix mobile redirect warnings in Google Search Console, avoid these counterproductive actions:
- Do not block `?m=1` in robots.txt: Disallowing `Disallow: /*?m=1` prevents Googlebot Smartphone from locating canonical tags, leading to unindexed pages.
- Do not use JavaScript to remove `?m=1`: Stripping this query parameter through client-side JavaScript can create inconsistencies between server responses and browser displays, potentially triggering cloaking warnings or infinite script loops.
- Do not add a noindex directive to `?m=1` pages: Applying noindex directives to mobile parameter URLs can result in Google removing the primary desktop URL from indexing altogether.
Verifying the Fix in Google Search Console
- Open Google Search Console and select your property.
- Enter the URL experiencing issues into the URL Inspection Tool at the top bar.
- Click Test Live URL
If the live test succeeds and shows "URL is available to Google" with the correct canonical target listed under Page availability, your configuration is correct. You do not need to click "Validate Fix," as Googlebot will re-index pages automatically during its regular crawl schedule.
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