Hreflang Checker — Validate International SEO Tags
Audit hreflang tags for errors, missing return links, wrong locale codes, and implementation issues. Free hreflang validator for international SEO.
What is a Hreflang Checker?
The Hreflang Checker fetches each URL you submit and validates its hreflang implementation — the set of link rel="alternate" hreflang tags that signal to Google which language and regional version of a page to serve in different countries. It checks for correct locale codes (en-GB not en_gb), the presence of a required x-default tag, and the reciprocal return links that every URL in a hreflang set must include.
When Should You Use Hreflang Checker?
Use this for any site targeting multiple languages or regions. Hreflang errors are among the most common causes of international SEO problems — the wrong version of a page ranking in the wrong country, or no version ranking at all because Google is confused by conflicting signals. Run it any time you add new locale versions, change URL structures, or migrate the site to a new domain or subdomain structure.
How to Read Hreflang Checker Results
The most critical error is a missing return link. If page A lists page B in its hreflang tags, page B must list page A — Google ignores hreflang sets where the reciprocal links are incomplete. Invalid locale codes are also flagged; Google silently ignores malformed codes without any warning in Search Console, so errors can go undetected for months. The tool also catches a missing x-default tag, which handles users whose region is not covered by any specific hreflang value.
What Should You Know Before Using Hreflang Checker?
Build your hreflang tags in a spreadsheet first — one row per URL, one column per locale — and use this tool to validate the live implementation against your planned values. For large international sites, generate hreflang programmatically from your URL structure and locale data rather than maintaining it by hand. Recheck after any structural change to the site, as hreflang sets are brittle and break easily during migrations.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is hreflang and when do I need it?
Hreflang is an HTML attribute that tells Google which language and regional version of a page to serve to users in different locations. You need it when your site has the same content in multiple languages (e.g., English and French) or regional variants (e.g., US English and UK English) to prevent the wrong version from ranking in the wrong country.
What is the x-default hreflang attribute?
The x-default hreflang attribute designates a fallback page to serve users whose language or region is not covered by any other hreflang value. For example, if you have pages for en-US and fr-FR, x-default points to the page that should appear for users in Germany, Japan, or any other uncovered location.
What are hreflang return links and why are they required?
Every URL in a hreflang set must include hreflang tags pointing to every other URL in the set, including itself. If page A lists page B in its hreflang tags, page B must list page A. Missing return links cause Google to ignore the entire hreflang implementation for the affected pages.
What locale codes does hreflang use?
Hreflang uses IETF language tags: a two-letter language code (ISO 639-1) optionally followed by a hyphen and a two-letter country code (ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2). Correct: en-GB, fr-FR, zh-TW. Common mistakes include using underscores (en_GB), full language names, or country codes alone. Google silently ignores malformed codes.
How do I implement hreflang for a large international site?
Generate hreflang tags programmatically from your URL structure and locale data rather than maintaining them manually. Build the full set in a spreadsheet — one row per URL, one column per locale — then validate the live implementation with the Hreflang Checker. For very large sites, consider a sitemap-based hreflang implementation as an alternative to HTML head tags.
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