International

Several languages, no hreflang

Add hreflang links between the language editions of each page, so search engines show each reader the edition in their language instead of whichever ranks.

The site has several language versions, but does not tell Google which is for whom. Hreflang is the label "this page in German is the counterpart of that one in Polish." Without it Google guesses which version to show a user in Berlin, and often shows the Polish one because it has more links. Or it treats the versions as duplicates. Hreflang is added once in the template: every page lists all its language versions, itself included. Most CMSs with a language plugin do it automatically once switched on.

Id

MISSING_HREFLANG

Fix estimate

60 min per page

Language set and canonical disagree

The page names itself in its language set under one address and canonicalises to another: make both use the same one.

Id

HREFLANG_CONFLICTS_CANONICAL

Fix estimate

20 min per page

Same language declared twice

Give each language one target: declared twice with different addresses, the whole set is discarded.

Id

HREFLANG_DUPLICATE_ENTRY

Fix estimate

20 min per page

Hreflang missing return tag

Page A says "my German version is B", but B says nothing about A. Hreflang works only when both pages confirm the relation; a one-sided declaration is ignored as if it were not there. Usually it is a page translated later whose template never got the full set of links, or a language version added by hand. Every page in the set should list all the others and itself.

Id

HREFLANG_MISSING_RETURN

Fix estimate

10 min per page

hreflang set lacks a self-reference

Add an hreflang entry pointing at the page itself — every page in the cluster must list itself.

Id

HREFLANG_MISSING_SELF

Fix estimate

4 min per page

Noindexed page still declares a language set

Either let the page be indexed or remove its hreflang links; a page kept out of the index never joins a language set, and the pages naming it lose their return link.

Id

HREFLANG_ON_NOINDEX_PAGE

Fix estimate

10 min per page

Paginated page names the front of another language

Point each paginated page at the same page number in the other language; the link currently lands on that language’s first page.

Id

HREFLANG_PAGINATION_MISMATCH

Fix estimate

15 min per page

One address declared as two languages

Give each language its own address in the set; one page cannot be both, and search engines drop the pair.

Id

HREFLANG_SAME_URL_TWO_LANGUAGES

Fix estimate

10 min per page

Sitemap names a language alternate it does not list

Give every alternate its own <url> entry in the sitemap; an address named only inside another entry is not part of the set.

Id

HREFLANG_SITEMAP_TARGET_UNLISTED

Fix estimate

10 min per page

Language link names the wrong language for its target

Match the hreflang value to the language the target page declares in its html lang attribute.

Id

HREFLANG_TARGET_LANG_MISMATCH

Fix estimate

10 min per page

hreflang points to a broken or noindex page

Point hreflang at live, indexable pages — remove entries for pages that are gone or noindexed.

Id

HREFLANG_TO_BROKEN

Fix estimate

6 min per page

A language alternate points at a page kept out of search

Point the alternate at a page that can be indexed, or drop it: the language it serves currently has nothing to be shown.

Id

HREFLANG_TO_NOINDEX

Fix estimate

10 min per page

Language link lands on a redirect

Point the language link at the address that answers directly; the current target forwards elsewhere.

Id

HREFLANG_TO_REDIRECT

Fix estimate

15 min per page

Language links disagree between places

The page head, the response header and the sitemap are read as one set: name the same target for a language in all of them.

Id

HREFLANG_TRANSPORT_CONFLICT

Fix estimate

20 min per page

Invalid hreflang language code

Id

HREFLANG_INVALID_LANG_CODE

Fix estimate

5 min per page

No x-default in the hreflang set

Add an x-default alternate naming the page to serve when no declared language matches the visitor.

Id

HREFLANG_MISSING_X_DEFAULT

Fix estimate

10 min per page

Language link uses a country code as the language

hreflang takes a language first: "uk" is Ukrainian, and the United Kingdom is "en-GB".

Id

HREFLANG_REGION_AS_LANGUAGE

Fix estimate

10 min per page

Language links written as paths without scheme and host

Write every hreflang href as a full URL with its scheme and host; the spec requires it, and a CDN serving the page under another host will otherwise point the whole set at the wrong site.

Id

HREFLANG_RELATIVE_URL

Fix estimate

10 min per page

hreflang points to a canonicalized URL

Point hreflang at the canonical URL of each language version.

Id

HREFLANG_TO_NONCANONICAL

Fix estimate

5 min per page

Page language disagrees with its own language link

Make the html lang attribute and the page's own hreflang entry agree; both are claims about this page.

Id

LANG_ATTRIBUTE_MISMATCH

Fix estimate

10 min per page

og:locale contradicts the page language

Make og:locale agree with the lang attribute, so a shared link is not previewed in the wrong language.

Id

OG_LOCALE_MISMATCH

Fix estimate

5 min per page