Introduction: Hreflang tags are an essential aspect of international SEO, helping search engines understand which language and regional versions of a webpage to serve to users based on their location and language preferences. However, implementing hreflang tags correctly can be challenging, and even small mistakes can lead to significant SEO issues. In this blog post, we’ll delve into the 13 most common hreflang mistakes identified in a Semrush study, providing insights and recommendations to help you avoid these pitfalls and optimize your international SEO efforts effectively.
- Missing Hreflang Tags: Mistake: Failing to implement hreflang tags altogether. Recommendation: Ensure that hreflang tags are correctly implemented on all relevant pages to indicate language and regional variations.
- Incorrect Language Codes: Mistake: Using incorrect language codes in hreflang attributes. Recommendation: Use the appropriate ISO language codes (e.g., “en” for English, “fr” for French) to specify language variations accurately.
- Inconsistent Language Declarations: Mistake: Inconsistently declaring language variations across different pages. Recommendation: Maintain consistency in language declarations across all pages with hreflang tags to avoid confusion for search engines.
- Missing Canonical Tags: Mistake: Failing to use canonical tags alongside hreflang tags. Recommendation: Include canonical tags on all pages with hreflang tags to specify the preferred version of the page for indexing purposes.
- Incorrect Region Codes: Mistake: Using incorrect region codes in hreflang attributes. Recommendation: Use the appropriate ISO region codes (e.g., “US” for United States, “GB” for United Kingdom) to specify regional variations accurately.
- Misconfigured Redirects: Mistake: Implementing redirects that interfere with hreflang tags. Recommendation: Ensure that redirects are configured correctly to preserve hreflang annotations and maintain the integrity of language and regional variations.
- Case Sensitivity Issues: Mistake: Failing to account for case sensitivity in language and region codes. Recommendation: Use lowercase language and region codes consistently in hreflang attributes to avoid discrepancies.
- Non-Canonical URLs: Mistake: Using non-canonical URLs in hreflang attributes. Recommendation: Use canonical URLs (preferably HTTPS) in hreflang attributes to specify the canonical version of each page.
- Missing x-default Hreflang: Mistake: Omitting the “x-default” hreflang attribute. Recommendation: Include the “x-default” hreflang attribute to specify a default version of the page for users who don’t match any other language or region.
- Unreachable Hreflang URLs: Mistake: Specifying hreflang URLs that are unreachable or non-existent. Recommendation: Ensure that all hreflang URLs are accessible and correspond to valid language and regional variations of the content.
- Overlapping Hreflang Values: Mistake: Using overlapping hreflang values across different pages. Recommendation: Avoid overlapping hreflang values to prevent confusion and ensure accurate language and regional targeting.
- Missing Language Declarations: Mistake: Failing to declare the language of the content on the page. Recommendation: Include language declarations (e.g., “lang” attribute in HTML) in addition to hreflang tags to provide clear signals to search engines.
- Dynamic Hreflang Generation Errors: Mistake: Errors in dynamically generating hreflang tags based on user language or location. Recommendation: Ensure that dynamic hreflang generation is implemented correctly and tested thoroughly to avoid errors in serving the appropriate language and regional versions of the content.
Conclusion: Hreflang tags play a crucial role in international SEO, but implementing them correctly can be complex. By avoiding these 13 common hreflang mistakes identified in the Semrush study and following the recommendations provided, you can optimize your hreflang implementation, improve your website’s international search visibility, and provide a better user experience for global audiences.