hreflang tags tell search engines which language and regional version of a page to show to which searcher, and getting them wrong — a missing return tag, an incorrect language code, a mismatch between the tag and the page’s actual content — can mean the wrong version surfaces for a given visitor, or your translated versions get treated as unintentional duplicate content instead of a deliberate, connected set.
Check your hreflang tags directly in the page source
View the source of a page with a translated version and search for “hreflang”. Confirm each linked version correctly points back to this page in return — a missing return link, an incorrect language or region code, or a URL that doesn’t actually resolve all confirm a genuine error worth fixing.
hreflang implementation & error correction
hreflang tags corrected — missing return links, wrong codes, all made properly reciprocal.
- Full backup taken before we start
- If we can’t fix it, you get your money back
- We never ask for your own password
This or something else?
| Your hreflang tags are missing, incorrect, or not properly reciprocal | This fix covers it |
| You want the underlying content itself translated, not just the technical tags corrected | Outside this fix’s scope — translation is client-supplied, we implement and configure the technical signals |
| You want a multilingual sitemap configured specifically, a related but distinct fix | Multilingual sitemap & indexation config |
| You want broader international targeting configuration, not just hreflang specifically | International targeting configuration, in the Technical SEO Implementation category, the broader version |
What you are seeing
- hreflang tags missing entirely on pages with translated versions
- A missing return tag, where one version links to another but not vice versa
- Incorrect language or region codes not matching the actual content
- Search Console reporting hreflang-related errors in its International Targeting section
Common causes
- A translation plugin not automatically generating hreflang tags, or generating them incompletely
- Manual implementation missing the required reciprocal link between versions
- An incorrect language or region code used, not matching ISO standards
- A URL structure change that broke previously correct hreflang references
- Two different subdomains or paths accidentally serving the same language, splitting what should be one hreflang cluster into two competing ones
What we do
- Audit existing hreflang implementation across all language and regional versions
- Identify missing tags, incorrect codes, and missing reciprocal links
- Correct the implementation to be complete and properly reciprocal
- Verify each corrected tag using Google’s own validation approach
- Check Search Console’s International Targeting report for remaining errors
- Confirm the fix holds across a representative sample of translated page pairs
What is included
- hreflang implementation corrected across your language and regional versions
- Verified reciprocal linking between every version
- Testing and validation of corrected tags
- The pre-fix backup, kept for 30 days
Not included
- Translating the content itself — that’s supplied by you, we implement and correct the technical signals
- Setting up a multilingual sitemap, a separate, related fix
- Broader international targeting configuration beyond hreflang specifically
- Ongoing correction as new language versions are added
Questions about this fix
Does this include translating my content into the languages I need?
No — this corrects the technical hreflang signals telling search engines about the relationship between language versions that already exist; translating the actual content is a separate, client-supplied task.
Why does a missing return tag actually matter?
hreflang relationships need to be reciprocal to be considered valid by search engines — a page pointing to its Spanish version without that version pointing back isn't treated as a confirmed, valid pair, undermining the whole point of the signal.
Could this be why my translated content isn't ranking well in its target market?
It's a plausible contributing factor, since incorrect hreflang can cause search engines to misattribute or under-trust translated versions — though ranking also depends on many other factors specific to that market.
How do I know which language codes are actually correct?
We verify against the ISO standard codes required by hreflang's specification, rather than assuming a commonly used but potentially incorrect variant is fine.
Will this happen again if I add a new language version later?
It's worth a check specifically when adding a new version, since a new addition needs correct, reciprocal hreflang tags connecting it to every existing version, not just its own new tag in isolation.
Related fixes
If this is the second time this year
A bad update breaking the site is a symptom of updates not being tested first. Care plans run every update on a staging clone before it reaches your live site, which is the actual fix for this happening again.
Your access, your rules
Create a separate admin account for us and delete it when we are done. For anything else, we get in touch and agree a method — never a form field on this site, never by reply to an email.
We back up first, always
Before anything is touched we take a full backup and keep it for 30 days. If a fix goes wrong, we put the site back exactly as it was.
If it is not what you bought
If the problem turns out smaller than what you ordered, we refund the difference. If it is bigger, we stop and send a quote before doing any extra work.
If we cannot fix it
You get back what we received. Diagnosis is on us — you only pay when the problem is actually solved. The payment processor takes its fee before the money reaches us, so we never hold it and it is not ours to return. That is true here as everywhere else.
If it comes back
Reply within seven days of delivery and we put it back on the bench at no cost. The fix is not finished until it holds.
What we are responsible for
If something goes wrong with a fix, our responsibility is limited to what you paid for it. We take a full backup first so mistakes can be undone, and we tell you before doing anything outside what you bought.