Hreflang Issues

Diagnose and fix international SEO and hreflang tag implementation issues that cause wrong language or regional pages to appear in search results

Hreflang Issues

What This Means

Hreflang is an HTML attribute that tells search engines which language and regional version of a page to show users based on their location and language preferences. When implemented incorrectly or not at all, users see the wrong language version in search results, leading to poor user experience, high bounce rates, and lost international traffic.

What Hreflang Does

Language and Regional Targeting:

Tells Google which language a page is in
Specifies regional variations (en-US vs en-GB)
Prevents duplicate content issues between versions
Helps serve correct version to users

Common Use Cases:

Multiple language versions of same content
Regional variations (US vs UK English)
Country-specific content with same language
E-commerce sites with regional pricing
Multinational businesses with localized sites

Hreflang Format

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-us" href="https://example.com/us/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="https://example.com/uk/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="https://example.com/es/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/">

Components:

hreflang="en-us" - Language code (ISO 639-1) + optional country code (ISO 3166-1)
href - Full URL of alternate version
x-default - Default/fallback version

Impact on Your Business

Search Visibility:

Users see wrong language in search results
High bounce rates when language doesn't match
Google may not index all language versions
Duplicate content issues between regions

User Experience:

Spanish speakers see English pages
UK users see US pricing in dollars
German users land on French pages
Frustration leads to site abandonment

International Traffic:

Lost opportunities in target markets
Reduced conversions from international users
Wasted translation and localization investment
Competitors capture your international audience

Technical Issues:

Conflicting signals confuse search engines
Pages compete against each other
Incorrect canonical tags
Regional pages not indexed

How to Diagnose

Method 1: Google Search Console

Log into Google Search Console
Navigate to "Settings" → "International Targeting"
Check for hreflang errors:
- "No return tags"
- "Incorrect hreflang values"
- "Multiple pages for same language"
Review "Coverage" report for indexing issues
Check each language version separately (if using separate properties)

What to Look For:

Hreflang errors in International Targeting
Return tag errors (page A links to B, but B doesn't link to A)
Incorrect language codes
Missing x-default

Method 2: Hreflang Checker Tools

Use specialized validation tools:

Ahrefs Hreflang Tags Testing Tool:
- Visit Ahrefs Hreflang Checker
- Enter your URL
- Check for errors and warnings
Merkle Hreflang Tag Testing Tool:
- Visit Merkle Tool
- Enter URL
- Review hreflang implementation
Screaming Frog Hreflang Validation:
- Crawl site with Screaming Frog
- Navigate to "Hreflang" tab
- Review errors and warnings

What to Look For:

Missing return tags
Incorrect language codes
Self-referencing errors
URL mismatches (HTTP vs HTTPS)

Method 3: Manual Page Source Check

Visit a page with hreflang tags
Right-click → "View Page Source"

Look in <head> section for:

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="..." href="...">

What to Look For:

Hreflang tags present
All language versions listed
Self-referential tag included
Correct URLs (absolute, not relative)
Valid language codes
x-default specified

Method 4: International Search Testing

Use VPN or Google Search with country parameter
Search for your brand/keywords

Check which version appears:

google.com → Should show en-US version
google.co.uk → Should show en-GB version
google.fr → Should show fr version
google.de → Should show de version

What to Look For:

Wrong language version appearing
Duplicate pages from different regions
Missing regional versions
Incorrect meta descriptions showing

Method 5: Sitemap Validation

If using XML sitemap method:

Review your sitemap XML
Check for xhtml:link elements

Validate structure:

<url>
  <loc>https://example.com/en-us/page/</loc>
  <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="https://example.com/en-gb/page/"/>
  <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="https://example.com/es/page/"/>
</url>

What to Look For:

All versions cross-referenced
Correct xmlns declaration
Matching URLs
Complete reciprocal links

General Fixes

Fix 1: Implement Hreflang Tags Correctly

Add hreflang in HTML <head>:

Basic implementation:

<head>
  <!-- On https://example.com/en-us/page/ -->
  <link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-us" href="https://example.com/en-us/page/">
  <link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="https://example.com/en-gb/page/">
  <link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr" href="https://example.com/fr/page/">
  <link rel="alternate" hreflang="de" href="https://example.com/de/page/">
  <link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/en-us/page/">
</head>

Self-referential requirement:

<!-- IMPORTANT: Page must reference itself -->
<!-- On en-US version: -->
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-us" href="https://example.com/en-us/page/">
<!-- Self-reference ^^^ -->

<!-- On en-GB version: -->
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="https://example.com/en-gb/page/">
<!-- Self-reference ^^^ -->

Bidirectional linking:

<!-- On Page A (en-US), must link to Page B (en-GB) -->
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="https://example.com/en-gb/page/">

<!-- On Page B (en-GB), must link back to Page A (en-US) -->
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-us" href="https://example.com/en-us/page/">

Fix 2: Use Correct Language and Country Codes

Follow ISO standards:

Language-only codes (ISO 639-1):

<!-- Just language, no country -->
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://example.com/en/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="https://example.com/es/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="fr" href="https://example.com/fr/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="de" href="https://example.com/de/">

Language + country codes (ISO 639-1 + ISO 3166-1):

<!-- Language-country combinations -->
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-us" href="https://example.com/us/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="https://example.com/uk/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-ca" href="https://example.com/ca/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-au" href="https://example.com/au/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es-es" href="https://example.com/es/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es-mx" href="https://example.com/mx/">

Common language codes:

en = English
es = Spanish
fr = French
de = German
it = Italian
pt = Portuguese
nl = Dutch
ja = Japanese
zh = Chinese
ko = Korean
ar = Arabic
ru = Russian

Common country codes:

us = United States
gb = United Kingdom (not 'uk')
ca = Canada
au = Australia
de = Germany
fr = France
es = Spain
mx = Mexico
br = Brazil
jp = Japan
cn = China

Fix 3: Implement x-default for Fallback

Add default version for unmatched languages:

<!-- x-default shows when no language/region match -->
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-us" href="https://example.com/en-us/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="https://example.com/en-gb/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="https://example.com/es/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/">

<!-- x-default typically points to:
     - Homepage with language selector
     - Most common language version
     - International/global version
-->

When to use x-default:

User's language not available
No regional match
Showing language selection page
Fallback for crawler

Fix 4: Use Absolute URLs

Always use full URLs, not relative:

<!-- Bad - relative URLs -->
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-us" href="/en-us/page/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="/en-gb/page/">

<!-- Good - absolute URLs -->
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-us" href="https://example.com/en-us/page/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="https://example.com/en-gb/page/">

<!-- Good - different domains -->
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-us" href="https://example.com/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="https://example.co.uk/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="de" href="https://example.de/">

Fix 5: Implement via HTTP Headers (Alternative Method)

For non-HTML content (PDFs, etc.):

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: application/pdf
Link: <https://example.com/en-us/document.pdf>; rel="alternate"; hreflang="en-us",
      <https://example.com/en-gb/document.pdf>; rel="alternate"; hreflang="en-gb",
      <https://example.com/de/document.pdf>; rel="alternate"; hreflang="de",
      <https://example.com/document.pdf>; rel="alternate"; hreflang="x-default"

Server configuration:

# Nginx
location /document.pdf {
    add_header Link '<https://example.com/en-us/document.pdf>; rel="alternate"; hreflang="en-us"';
    add_header Link '<https://example.com/en-gb/document.pdf>; rel="alternate"; hreflang="en-gb"';
}

Fix 6: Implement via XML Sitemap (Alternative Method)

For sites with many pages:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"
        xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

  <!-- English US version -->
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/en-us/page/</loc>
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-us" href="https://example.com/en-us/page/"/>
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="https://example.com/en-gb/page/"/>
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de" href="https://example.com/de/page/"/>
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/en-us/page/"/>
  </url>

  <!-- English GB version -->
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/en-gb/page/</loc>
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-us" href="https://example.com/en-us/page/"/>
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="https://example.com/en-gb/page/"/>
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de" href="https://example.com/de/page/"/>
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/en-us/page/"/>
  </url>

  <!-- German version -->
  <url>
    <loc>https://example.com/de/page/</loc>
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-us" href="https://example.com/en-us/page/"/>
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="https://example.com/en-gb/page/"/>
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="de" href="https://example.com/de/page/"/>
    <xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/en-us/page/"/>
  </url>

</urlset>

Important notes:

All versions must list all versions
Include xmlns:xhtml declaration
Must be bidirectional
Same rules as HTML implementation

Fix 7: Fix Common Hreflang Errors

Resolve typical implementation mistakes:

Missing return tags:

<!-- Page A links to Page B -->
<!-- On example.com/en-us/ -->
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="https://example.com/en-gb/">

<!-- Page B MUST link back to Page A -->
<!-- On example.com/en-gb/ -->
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-us" href="https://example.com/en-us/">

Missing self-referential tag:

<!-- Page must reference itself -->
<!-- On example.com/en-us/ -->
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-us" href="https://example.com/en-us/">
<!-- This self-reference is REQUIRED -->

URL mismatch (HTTP vs HTTPS):

<!-- Bad - mixed protocols -->
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-us" href="http://example.com/en-us/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="https://example.com/en-gb/">

<!-- Good - consistent HTTPS -->
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-us" href="https://example.com/en-us/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="https://example.com/en-gb/">

Wrong canonical tag:

<!-- Bad - canonical conflicts with hreflang -->
<!-- On en-GB page -->
<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/en-us/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="https://example.com/en-gb/">

<!-- Good - canonical matches self-referencing hreflang -->
<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/en-gb/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="https://example.com/en-gb/">

Invalid language codes:

<!-- Bad - invalid codes -->
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://example.com/english/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="uk" href="https://example.com/ukraine/">

<!-- Good - valid ISO codes -->
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://example.com/en/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="https://example.com/uk/">
<!-- Note: 'gb' for Great Britain, 'uk' is for Ukraine -->

Fix 8: Coordinate with Canonical Tags

Ensure canonical and hreflang work together:

<!-- Each language version should be canonical to itself -->

<!-- On en-US page -->
<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/en-us/page/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-us" href="https://example.com/en-us/page/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="https://example.com/en-gb/page/">

<!-- On en-GB page -->
<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/en-gb/page/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-us" href="https://example.com/en-us/page/">
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="https://example.com/en-gb/page/">

Never:

Point all language versions to one canonical
Conflict hreflang with canonical
Use canonical to consolidate languages

Platform-Specific Guides

Detailed implementation instructions for your specific platform:

Platform	Troubleshooting Guide
Shopify	Shopify Hreflang Guide
WordPress	WordPress Hreflang Guide
Wix	Wix Hreflang Guide
Squarespace	Squarespace Hreflang Guide
Webflow	Webflow Hreflang Guide

Verification

After implementing hreflang:

Hreflang validation tools:
- Test with Ahrefs Hreflang Checker
- Use Merkle Technical SEO Tool
- Validate with Screaming Frog
- Check for errors and warnings
Google Search Console:
- Wait 2-4 weeks for crawling
- Check "International Targeting"
- Verify errors resolved
- Monitor coverage reports
Manual testing:
- View page source
- Confirm tags present
- Verify all versions listed
- Check bidirectional links
International search testing:
- Use VPN to test different countries
- Search for your pages
- Verify correct version appears
- Check SERP snippets
Analytics monitoring:
- Track international traffic
- Monitor bounce rates by country
- Check language engagement
- Review conversion by region

Common Mistakes

Missing return tags - Not bidirectional
No self-referential tag - Page doesn't reference itself
Using relative URLs - Must be absolute
Wrong country code - Using 'uk' instead of 'gb'
Mixing with canonical incorrectly - Conflicting signals
Only on homepage - Need on all equivalent pages
Using for different content - Only for translations/regional equivalents
Missing x-default - No fallback specified
Using wrong language codes - Not following ISO standards
Forgetting to update - New languages not added

Hreflang Implementation Checklist

Setup:

Identified all language/region versions
Chosen implementation method (HTML, Sitemap, HTTP)
Verified all pages have equivalents
Decided on x-default version

Technical Implementation:

All versions reference all other versions
Self-referential tags included
Bidirectional linking implemented
Absolute URLs used
Valid language codes (ISO 639-1)
Valid country codes (ISO 3166-1)
x-default specified

Coordination:

Canonical tags not conflicting
Each version canonical to itself
No duplicate content issues
Consistent URL structure
HTTPS used consistently

Validation:

Tested with hreflang checkers
No errors in Search Console
Manual source code verification
International search tested
Analytics tracking setup

Additional Resources

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