Does redirecting a duplicate page NOT in Google‘s index pass link juice? (External links not showing in search console)

[Lewald1]

Hello! We have a powerful page that has been selected by Google as a duplicate page of another page on the site. The duplicate is not indexed by Google, and the referring domains pointing towards that page aren’t recognized by Google in the search console (when looking at the links report).

My question is - if we 301 redirect the duplicate page towards the one that Google has selected as canonical, will the link juice be passed to the new page?

Thanks!

[Matthew_Edgar]

@lewald1 Hey. A few questions for you...

Does the other page on your website canonical to the page Google is saying is a duplicate? If there is a canonical in place, that may explain why you aren't seeing the duplicate page in the links report. Google groups those by the canonical URL. If that is the case, though, you should see backlinks pointing to the duplicate page under the other page in the links report.

As well, how well is the other page on the site performing? Is it performing better than you'd expect based on that page's specific backlinks? If so, that might be a sign that Google is already collapsing the page they've said is a duplicate into that other page. If that is what is happening, the redirect wouldn't be a problem to add but you may not see much impact by adding that redirect.

As for the redirect, I think that could make sense to add it and generally, redirects are the best solution for duplication. A redirect is a stronger signal than the canonical and, in this case, the redirect would reinforce the signals Google is already seeing about the duplication. Of course, is there any reason you can't redirect this page into the one Google has selected as the canonical? Do you need that page for something else on your site (like as a landing page for ads)? If not, then adding the redirect would be a good way to resolve the duplication.

I hope that helps!