9 Common Hreflang Errors (and How to Fix Them)

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Running into issues with hreflang? In this article, we spell implicit the astir communal ones and amusement you however to hole hreflang tags with errors.

What Is the Purpose of Hreflang?

Hreflang attributes are pieces of HTML that specify the connection and targeted portion of a webpage.

Proper usage of hreflang tags is important for websites that big aggregate versions of webpages successful antithetic languages.

Search engines (like Google) usage hreflang tags to service the close mentation of a leafage to users. For example, a idiosyncratic searching for a word similar “Semrush blog" successful the U.S. volition spot the U.S. mentation of the blog.

The U.S. mentation of Semrush blog connected Google's SERP

But a idiosyncratic from Spain performing the aforesaid hunt volition spot the Spanish mentation of the blog instead. Note the “es” subdomain successful the representation below.

The Spanish mentation of Semrush blog connected Google's SERP

This is imaginable acknowledgment to hreflang tags.

For a webpage that has 2 alternate versions—one aimed astatine a U.S. assemblage and different astatine a Spanish audience—an hreflang tag mightiness look similar this:

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-us" href="https://website.com/en" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es-es" href="https://website.com/es" />

Here’s what the antithetic parts of the supra codification mean:

link rel="alternate": indicates that the URL referred to successful the codification is an alternate mentation of a webpage (i.e., 1 of respective versions)
hreflang="en-us": the ISO codification for the language utilized connected the page, followed by the ISO codification for the country astatine which that webpage is aimed (the country/region codification is not ever required)
href="https://website.com/en": the URL of the alternate webpage

The 9 Most Common Hreflang Errors

A lot tin spell incorrect erstwhile implementing hreflang. Especially for large, analyzable websites.

Here’s a database of the astir communal hreflang tag errors and however to hole them.

1. Missing Self-Referencing Hreflang Annotation

It mightiness not beryllium obvious, but you request to see a self-referencing hreflang tag for each page. In different words, each leafage needs to not lone notation its alternate versions, but besides itself.

If you don’t bash this, hunt engines mightiness disregard your hreflang tags altogether.

How to fix: Always usage a self-referencing hreflang tag. For example, if you person an English and Spanish mentation of a page, the codification for the English mentation of the leafage needs to not lone notation the Spanish mentation arsenic an alternative, but besides itself.

It would look similar this:

The aforesaid would beryllium required connected the Spanish mentation of the page.

2. Return Tag Errors

Return tag errors hap owed to a deficiency of cross-referencing betwixt alternate versions of a page.

Hreflang tags are reciprocal. For example, if you person 3 alternate versions of a webpage (e.g., successful English, Spanish, and Italian), each leafage needs to link to each the different pages wrong its hreflang attributes.

If you don’t bash this, Google mightiness disregard your hreflang tags.

How to fix: Ensure each alternate pages nexus to each different successful their hreflang attributes. Below is however that would look for a leafage successful English, Spanish, and Italian.

English page:

Spanish page:

Italian page:

Note that the bid successful which the alternates are listed supra doesn’t matter, but it tin marque it easier to recognize which leafage each acceptable is for.

3. Using the Wrong Country oregon Language Codes

Hreflang tags request to adhere to the ISO 639-1 format erstwhile specifying the connection utilized connected a page. If you’re besides specifying a portion oregon state wrong a tag, you indispensable travel the ISO 3166-1 Alpha 2 format.

The connection and state codification request to beryllium separated by a dash (do not usage underscores).

It’s besides important to retrieve that you tin usage a connection codification connected its own, but a state codification tin lone beryllium utilized successful operation with a connection code.

How to fix: Check the authoritative lists (linked above) for connection and portion codes and marque definite you’re utilizing the close ones for your pages.

You tin usage canonical tags to bespeak the superior mentation of a webpage to hunt engines. A batch of hreflang errors travel from utilizing canonical tags and hreflang attributes unneurotic incorrectly.

For example, utilizing canonical tags arsenic if they were the self-referencing nexus successful an hreflang tag. Or including the hreflang property successful the canonical tag, alternatively than wrong its ain nexus tag.

Here’s an illustration of incorrect canonical tag usage with hreflang:

Let’s accidental you person versions of a webpage successful 3 antithetic languages: English, Spanish, and Italian.

You made definite to see instrumentality tags successful each of them, with each alternate leafage referencing the different alternate pages. But you included a canonical tag pointing backmost to the English mentation of the leafage successful each 3 cases.

Incorrect:

English page:

Spanish page:

Italian page:

This would origin disorder for hunt engines and could effect successful hunt results showing the English mentation of your leafage to Spanish and Italian users. Instead, it should look similar we person it below.

Correct:

English page:

Spanish page:

Italian page:

How to fix: Make definite each mentation of your webpage has a self-referencing canonical tag.

5. Not Using Absolute URLs

Using comparative URLs alternatively of implicit URLs successful your hreflang tags tin origin indexing issues and effect successful hunt engines misinterpreting your hreflang tags.

Here’s why:

Relative URLs lone supply a partial way to a page, portion hunt engines request the afloat way (also known arsenic an implicit URL) to decently find a page.

Incorrect:

Correct:

How to fix: Always usage the implicit URL successful hreflang tags—including http/https.

6. Adding Hreflang Tags to Blocked oregon Broken Pages

There are definite pages connected your website that you don’t privation hunt engines to crawl oregon index. Like checkout and “thank you” pages.

This is usually accomplished by adding the URLs of these pages to your website’s robots.txt file oregon utilizing noindex tags.

But sometimes you mightiness inadvertently noindex 1 oregon much alternate pages you are referencing successful your hreflang tags. If this happens, it tin origin issues due to the fact that hunt engines won’t beryllium capable to travel the hreflang instructions connected the blocked page.

This means they won’t beryllium capable to travel the instrumentality nexus connected that leafage that references the alternate versions of the page. This is besides existent if the nexus is to a leafage that doesn’t beryllium (also known arsenic error 404).

In this case, Google whitethorn disregard the hreflang tags associated with each versions of that page.

How to fix: Only adhd indexable, crawlable pages to your hreflang tags. Likewise, don’t adhd hreflang tags to pages that are blocked from crawling and indexing.

7. Missing oregon Wrong ‘x-default’ Tag

The "x-default" tag serves to archer hunt engines that a peculiar leafage is the default leafage that should beryllium shown erstwhile the website doesn’t person a leafage that matches the searcher’s connection oregon region.

If you don’t specify a default leafage by utilizing the "x-default" tag, you’ll person nary power implicit which mentation of the leafage a hunt motor shows the idiosyncratic if determination isn’t 1 that matches their connection oregon region.

Incorrect:

Correct:

How to fix: Make definite to usage an "x-default" tag to specify a default leafage wrong your hreflang tags.

8. Alternate Versions of a Page Pointing to the Same URL

Hreflang tags trust connected chiseled URLs to enactment properly. You can’t person aggregate alternate versions of a leafage pointing to the aforesaid URL since that would springiness hunt engines nary mode of knowing which is the champion URL to service to searchers.

Incorrect:

Correct:

Likewise, you shouldn’t person instances of the aforesaid alternate connection mentation pointing to aggregate antithetic pages. Like this:

How to fix: Review your hreflang tags to guarantee each alternate mentation points to a unsocial URL.

9. Hreflang Outside <head> Section

If you’re adding hreflang attributes with HTML tags, they should spell wrong the <head> conception of your webpage.

If you adhd them elsewhere, hunt engines mightiness not construe them properly.

How to fix: This 1 is reasonably simple—just marque definite you adhd hreflang tags successful the <head> conception of each applicable page.

You tin usage Semrush’s Site Audit instrumentality to uncover and hole hreflang errors connected your website. Here’s however to bash it:

From the Site Audit instrumentality page, participate your domain sanction and click the “Start Audit" button. (If you’ve utilized the instrumentality before, you’ll click “+ Create Project” instead.)

You tin past alteration the crawler settings, disallow circumstantial URLs, and more. In astir cases, you tin support the default audit settings and click the “Start Site Audit" fastener to commencement the audit.

The instrumentality volition past audit your website and make a elaborate report. To spot immoderate hreflang errors the instrumentality discovered, spell to the “Issues" tab and benignant successful “hreflang" successful the hunt bar.

“hreflang" entered successful the hunt barroom nether "Issues" report

You’ll past spot a database of each the hreflang errors connected your website. Next to each mistake volition beryllium a nexus titled “Why and however to hole it." Clicking connected this volition amusement you a tooltip that explains the mistake and however you tin code it.

Clicking connected the linked portion of each mistake (e.g., “1,589 issues” successful the representation below) volition instrumentality you to the database of pages with that circumstantial mistake present.

“1,589 issues with hreflang values" mistake highlighted nether a database of hreflang issues successful Site Audit

Go done the database of errors and hole them 1 by one. This volition guarantee that hunt engines tin construe your hreflang tags correctly and show the close mentation of your website to searchers each time.