Hreflang errors occur when the language or regional targeting information provided on your website does not align with how search engines perceive your content. These errors prevent search engines from delivering the correct version of a page to users in specific geographical areas. By addressing tag mismatches, broken links, or missing reciprocal tags, you ensure that your global audience finds the version of your site best suited to their language and location preferences.
What is the primary function of hreflang tags?
Hreflang tags serve as a signal to search engines that a page exists in multiple variations for different audiences. When you operate a site with international reach, you likely host content in different languages or for different regions. For example, a store might have an English version for the US and a French version for France. The hreflang attribute helps the search engine understand that these two pages are essentially the same content in different languages, preventing them from being seen as duplicate content.
Beyond preventing duplicate content issues, these tags help direct traffic to the most relevant page. If a user in Germany searches for your product, they should ideally land on your German-language page. Without proper tags, a user might accidentally land on a page that is not in their language, leading to higher bounce rates and a poor user experience. Google provides an International Targeting report to help webmasters identify hreflang issues, which serves as the starting point for any diagnostic work.
How can you identify common hreflang errors?
Finding errors often starts within the Google Search Console dashboard. Under the legacy tools or the dedicated international targeting sections, you can view reports that highlight specific issues found during the crawling process. These reports categorize errors, such as missing return tags or incorrect language codes. A common pattern is finding that page A points to page B, but page B does not point back to page A. This lack of reciprocity is a classic error that triggers a warning in the system.
Another issue is the use of incorrect language or region codes. You must follow the ISO 639-1 format for languages and the ISO 3166-1 Alpha 2 format for regions. If you use an unofficial code or a format that is not recognized, search engines will simply ignore the tag. Checking these codes against official lists is a standard part of the audit process for any international site. Once you have identified the source of these errors, you can plan a systematic fix to ensure all pages are cross-linked correctly.
Which errors are most frequent in international SEO?
- Missing return tags: If Page A links to Page B, Page B must also link back to Page A.
- Incorrect language codes: Using outdated or non-standard codes like ‘en-us-new’ instead of ‘en-us’.
- Self-referencing hreflang tags: Every page must have an hreflang tag that points to itself.
- Unreachable URLs: Including links to pages that return 404 errors or are blocked by robots.txt.
- Conflicting canonicals: When a canonical tag points to a different page than the hreflang tags.
Comparison of hreflang implementation methods
| Implementation Method | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| HTML Tags | Easy to implement for small sites | Can bloat the HTML code |
| HTTP Headers | Better for non-HTML files like PDFs | Requires server-side configuration |
| XML Sitemap | Cleanest method for large sites | Harder to manage manually |
How does Alien Road approach hreflang projects?
In a typical engagement, Alien Road starts by performing a full audit using the tools available in Google Search Console to map the current state of international tags. We then create a spreadsheet to track all language and regional versions of a client’s pages, ensuring that every page has a valid return link. For large e-commerce sites, we often recommend using an XML sitemap to manage these tags, as it prevents the HTML from becoming cluttered with too much metadata.
Once the map is complete, we perform a test on a small section of the site to verify that the implementation works as expected. We monitor the search performance for those specific URLs to confirm that the correct versions are being indexed by search engines. This method allows us to catch any issues before they affect the entire site. We also provide the client with a clear set of documentation so their technical team can maintain the structure after the initial setup is finished.
Why should you avoid relative URLs in tags?
Using relative URLs in your hreflang tags is a significant risk that often leads to indexing failures. A relative URL is an address that points to a path without the domain, such as /fr/home.html. Search engines require absolute URLs that include the protocol and the full domain name, such as https://example.com/fr/home.html. When you use relative paths, the crawler may not be able to resolve the link correctly, leading to broken hreflang signals across your site.
Always ensure that every single link inside your hreflang tags is fully qualified. This is especially important for sites that use complex URL structures or subdirectories. If you are working on a large platform, verify that your template system automatically prepends the domain and protocol to every URL it generates for the hreflang section. Checking this in your source code is a simple but effective way to prevent widespread errors that can be difficult to diagnose later.
How to verify that your hreflang tags work?
Verification requires a multi-step approach that combines automated reporting with manual checks. First, rely on the International Targeting report to see if Google detects any immediate issues. Second, perform a manual crawl of a sample of pages to inspect the source code. Look for the ‘link rel=alternate hreflang’ attributes to ensure they match the page structure you intended. A common pattern is to find that developers forgot to add the self-referencing tag, which is a requirement for all pages.
You can also use browser-based tools or command-line scripts to extract all hreflang tags from a page. By putting these URLs into a list, you can verify that each one exists, returns a 200 OK status code, and contains a return tag pointing back to the original page. This manual verification confirms that the automated system is functioning as intended. If you find any discrepancies, update the source code immediately and wait for the search engine crawlers to revisit the site.
Steps to resolve persistent indexing errors
- Audit the entire site structure using a dedicated crawler to find broken internal links.
- Clean up your XML sitemap by removing any URLs that redirect or return errors.
- Check that your canonical tags align with the hreflang structure to avoid conflicting signals.
- Update the language and region codes in your CMS to ensure they follow ISO standards.
- Request a re-crawl of the affected pages through your search provider’s console.
Where to start this week
Start by logging into your Google Search Console account and navigating to the international targeting section. Export any reported errors into a spreadsheet. Group these errors by page template to see if the issue is systemic, such as a missing tag in a site-wide footer, or page-specific. Once you have identified the scope, assign the task to your technical team to update the tags and verify the fix on a small set of pages before rolling it out to the entire domain.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to include an hreflang tag for every single language version on every page?
Yes, every page must include a set of hreflang tags that reference every version of that page, including the current one. If you have five language versions, every single one of those pages should contain a link to all five. This ensures that the search engine has a complete map of your international content, preventing it from missing any connections between your various site versions.
Can I use hreflang tags if I do not have a separate URL for each language?
Hreflang tags are designed specifically for scenarios where you have different URLs for different languages or regions. If you are using dynamic content on the same URL based on user settings or cookies, hreflang tags will not be effective. You must have unique, crawlable URLs for each version to use this feature correctly. This is a foundational requirement for international SEO success.
What happens if I forget the x-default tag?
The x-default tag is optional, but it is highly recommended for sites that have a global landing page. This tag tells the search engine which version of your site to display if no other language or region matches the user’s settings. Without it, the search engine will make its own choice, which may not always align with your business goals or your intended user experience.
How long does it take for hreflang changes to be indexed?
Search engines do not index hreflang changes instantly. After you update your tags and ensure they are correct, the crawler must visit those pages again to pick up the new information. Depending on the size of your site and the crawl frequency of the search engine, this process can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks to reflect in your international targeting reports.
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