Hreflang validator for multilingual websites
The language tags, and the four mistakes that silence them
Everything is computed in your browser. Nothing is stored.
A site in several languages tells Google which version to show whom, through one hreflang tag per language. The mechanism is simple and breaks for silly reasons: an invented code, a relative address, a page that does not reference itself. In that last case Google often discards the whole group, and your translated versions end up competing instead of complementing each other.
How to use it
How it works
Paste an address
The tool reads the page and collects every hreflang tag, with its language code and its address.
Read the checks
Self-reference, presence of x-default, validity of the codes, duplicates, absolute addresses.
Check reciprocity elsewhere
Every page named must name this one back. That cannot be seen from a single page, you have to open the others.
Worth knowing
Four things to keep in mind
The page must reference itself
It is the most frequent and the most expensive mistake. Without its own tag, Google cannot verify the coherence of the group and often ignores the lot.
The code is a language, not a country
"fr" is a language, "fr-BE" a language and a region. Writing "be" on its own names Belarusian, not Belgium: a common and silent confusion.
x-default names the fallback
It designates the page served to visitors whose language no version covers. Without it Google chooses, and not always the one you would have picked.
Addresses must be absolute
A relative path in an hreflang is never resolved. The tag exists, it does nothing, and nothing points that out.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
If the French page names the English page, the English page must name the French one. Google treats a non-reciprocal group as an unverified claim and discards it. It is the first thing to check when correct tags produce no effect at all.
It is not mandatory, but it is strongly advised as soon as your audience goes beyond the languages you cover. It names the fallback page, often the English version or a language picker.
No, the two live together. Each version carries a canonical pointing at itself, plus the hreflang group. Pointing a translation canonical at the original version cancels the whole arrangement.
In the HTML head, in the XML sitemap, or in an HTTP header. One method is enough, and mixing them is the surest way to end up with contradictory declarations.
Also
Other tools in the same family
Also
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