Hreflang tag implentation
-
Hi,
We've had hreflang tags implemented on our site for a few weeks now, and while we are seeing some improvements for the regional subfolders I wanted to double check I had the tags implemented correctly (a couple of examples are below). However while the regional subfolder sites are now ranking instead of the US site for some keywords, some key search terms are still returning the US site. Could this be due to incorrect implementation for that specific page?
Due to complications with using Magento we're implementing the tags in the site maps. Also magento appears to be inserting a rel canonical tag automatically for each page and self referencing e.g. On www.example.com/uk/security-cameras (one of the pages we're having issues with) the canonical tag is http://www.example.com/uk/security-cameras" />. Is this an issue?
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
<url><loc>http://www.example.com/uk/dvrs-kits</loc>
<lastmod>2014-07-23</lastmod>
<changefreq>daily</changefreq>
<priority>0.5</priority></url>
<url><loc>http://www.example.com/uk/dvrs-kits/1080p</loc>
<lastmod>2014-07-23</lastmod>
<changefreq>daily</changefreq>
<priority>0.5</priority></url> -
Thanks.. it took me a while but I did realise that one eventually.
-
Thanks Thomas. That is how our sitemap now reads. It just seems odd that when you access map via a browser the hreflang tags don't appear...
-
The answers you received here in the thread are correct:
your sitemap implementation is wrong, because it commits a classic mistake: self-referencing hreflang annotations are missing.
In other words, you must declare that the URL http://www.example.com/uk/dvrs-kits is the one Google must show to English speaking users in the UK.
So you must add this:
Seeing the changes taking place in the SERPs is not immediate.
-
So I will test the site map agin after you made the XML sitemap did you tell Google about language and country targeting? Use tell Google Webmaster tools to Geo target the subfolders? http://www.google.com/webmasters/ Check your listing all over the world http://www.isearchfrom.com/ https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/2620865?hl=en&ref_topic=2370587 You need the site map to look like this. <url><loc>http://www.example.com/english/</loc> **This is the URL we want to be indexed** <xhtml:link rel="alternate" <strong="">This tells Google there is an alternate version of the URL hreflang="de" **This tells Google the language we’re targeting with the alternate version (German)** href="http://www.example.com/deutsch/" **This tells Google the URL of the alternate version** /> <xhtml:link rel="alternate" <strong="">This tells Google that there is an alternate version of the URL hreflang="de-ch" **This tells Google the language and country we’re targeting with the alternate version (German and Switzerland)** href="http://www.example.com/schweiz-deutsch/" **This tells Google the URL of the alternate version** /> <xhtml:link rel="alternate" <strong="">This tells Google that there is an alternate version of the URL hreflang="en" **This tells Google the language we’re targeting with the alternate version (English)** href="http://www.example.com/english/" **This tells Google the URL of the alternate version** /></xhtml:link></xhtml:link></xhtml:link></url>
Important note - the example above is only for one URL which has three alternate versions. The following code is an example of a full XML sitemap which includes three URLs, each with three alternate versions.
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9" xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><url> <loc>http://www.example.com/english/</loc> </url> <url> <loc>http://www.example.com/deutsch/</loc> </url> <url> <loc>http://www.example.com/schweiz-deutsch/</loc> </url></urlset> I will use Deep Crawl to look for hreflang it site maps. You might want to use the header way if it is not working. Thomas
-
I've updated the site maps but the hreflang tags still aren't showing when you view the site map...
-
I think I might see the problem. I'm only referencing the alternative pages with the hreflang tag, I've not included the site itself. it should be:
<url><loc>http://www.swann.com/uk/dvrs-kits</loc>
<lastmod>2014-07-23</lastmod>
<changefreq>daily</changefreq>
<priority>0.5</priority></url> -
This is the beginning of my sitemap for the UK subfolder, as far as I can see we're following both the case studies you posted and the Google advice on the structure. But as you point out when you view the sitemap online it's not showing the hreflang tags.
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9" xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><url><loc>http://www.swann.com/uk/dvrs-kits</loc>
<lastmod>2014-07-23</lastmod>
<changefreq>daily</changefreq>
<priority>0.5</priority></url>
<url><loc>http://www.swann.com/uk/dvrs-kits/1080p</loc>
<lastmod>2014-07-23</lastmod>
<changefreq>daily</changefreq>
<priority>0.5</priority></url>
<url><loc>http://www.swann.com/uk/dvrs-kits/960h</loc>
<lastmod>2014-07-23</lastmod>
<changefreq>daily</changefreq>
<priority>0.5</priority></url></urlset> -
-
- Here is the next test
- Use this link to see in the the site
- http://crawl.blueprintmarketing.com/projects/reports/69930?ro=991e4a1c6d5086bd0bd4d0965e3b6037ed69b692
- http://cl.ly/3G2h3u464400
- Files
- http://cl.ly/3G2h3u464400
- http://searchengineland.com/how-to-implement-the-hreflang-element-using-xml-sitemaps-123030
- https://search.nerdydata.com/search/#!/searchTerm=http://www.swann.com//searchPage=1/sort=pop
- sitemap
- http://cl.ly/text/1d2E2h3P022J
- http://cl.ly/text/0t0T3T2p210h
- https://cl.ly/Xjb3
-
Thanks for running this.
The deeptrawl says that there are no hreflang tags in place. If you view the sitemap.xml files on the site you can't see any there either. However they're definitely in the files I'm giving to my colleague to upload.
I matched the structure of the tag to the two case studies you put in your first post...
-
Here is crawl 1
- http://cl.ly/3u0Z3N0S3m1B
- Interactive URL
- http://crawl.blueprintmarketing.com/projects/reports/69929?ro=0de594f6c4b262001d6d234c282d8ade7e42c020
- http://crawl.blueprintmarketing.com/report_grid/trend/69929/pages_without_hreflang
- &
- http://crawl.blueprintmarketing.com/report_grid/69929?repname=pages_without_hreflang
- I am still running a 2ed full crawl it will post in the AM
Tom
-
You could use the site map however I've had better luck with other methods. If you would like me to I am more than happy to run deep crawl on your site and figure out the problem with your current setup via site map
I have Deepcrawl & will use it to check.
I am referencing this from
http://moz.com/blog/hreflang-behaviour-insights
"Section 4: Tools for the serious International SEO
Essentials:
- Reliable rank tracker that can localize: Advanced Web Ranking, Moz, etc...
- Crawler that can validate hreflang annotations in XML sitemaps or within : The only tool on the market that can do this, and does it very well, is Deepcrawl.
Other nice-to-haves:
- Your own method of "gathering" international search results on scale. You should probably go with proxies.
- Your own method of parsing XML sitemaps and cross checking (even if you use something like Deepcrawl, you'll need to double check).
- Obvious, but worth a reminder: Google webmaster tools, Analytics, access to server logs so you can understand Google's crawl behaviour."
Please look for the report it in the AM,
Tom
-
Hi,
I did have a read through those two case studies previously. My understanding was that we could implement the code purely on the on the sitemap, and that nothing on the site was needed. Are you saying we also need some code on the site as well?
The verification tool doesn't say we have it implemented, but I wasn't sure that it would check the sitemaps or just the sites HTML.
-
Run the site through the tools below
it appears that your only running the site map and not the code itself a good look at the code need it is found in URL below
- http://moz.com/blog/using-the-correct-hreflang-tag-a-new-generator-tool
- http://www.seerinteractive.com/blog/case-study-the-impact-of-hreflang-tag
1 validator
- Validator http://flang.dejanseo.com.au/
- 2 site map tool
- site map tool http://www.themediaflow.com/tool_hreflang.php
- http://www.stateofdigital.com/hreflang-sitemap-tool/
- hreflang
- Generator http://www.internationalseomap.com/hreflang-tags-generator/
- From Google
- https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/189077?hl=en
For language/country selectors or auto-redirecting homepages, you should add an annotation for the hreflang value "x-default" as well:
Thomas
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Rank regional homepages using canonicals and hreflangs
Here’s a situation I’ve been puzzling with for some time: The situation
Technical SEO | | dmduco
Please consider an international website targeting 3 regions. The real site has more regions, but I simplified the case for this question. screenshot1.png There is no default language. The content for each regional version is meant for that region only. The website.eu page is dynamic. When there is no region cookie, the page is identical to website.eu/nl/ (because Netherlands is the most important region) When there is a region cookie (set by a modal), there is a 302 redirect to the corresponding regional homepage What we want
We want regional Google to index the correct regional homepages (eg. website.eu/nl/ on google.nl), instead of website.eu.
Why? Because visitors surfing to website.eu sometimes tend to ignore the region modal and therefor browse the wrong version.
For this, I set up canonicals and hreflangs as described below: screenshot2.png The problem
It’s 40 days now since the above hreflangs and canonicals have been setup, but Google is still ranking website.eu instead of the regional homepages.
Search console’s report for website.eu: screenshot3.png Any ideas why Google doesn’t respect our canonical? Maybe I’m overlooking something in this setup (combination of hreflangs and canonicals might be confusing)? Should I remove the hreflangs on the dynamic page, because there is no self-referencing hreflang? Or maybe it’s because website.eu has gathered a lot of backlinks over the years, whereas the regional homepages have much less, which might be why Google chooses to ig nore the canonical signals? Or maybe it’s a matter of time and I just need to wait longer? Note: I’m aware the language subfolders (eg. /be_nl) are not according to Google’s recommendations. But I’ve seen similar setups (like adobe.com and apple.com) where the regional homepage is showing ok. Any help appreciated!0 -
HREFLANG: language and geography without general language
Some developers always implement the hreflang for German (which should be "de") as "de-de", so language German and country Germany. There is usually no other German version targeting the other German-speaking countries (mostly ch, at). So obviously the recommendation is to make it "de" and that's the end. But I kept wondering and not finding anything: IF there is a more specialised hreflang, will google take that if there is no default? Example: Search in: de-at (or de-ch) Search result has the following hreflang versions: de-de; x-default (==en), en => Will Google give the result for x-default or de-de?
Technical SEO | | netzkern_AG0 -
Please take a look at my canonical tag - is it written right?
Hi there! I just changed the preferred domain settings from http://example.com to http://www.example.com and received a recommended action from Google: "Ensure that you specify the new host as canonical in all page links or sitemaps." Could you please let me know if "the new host" is equal to "canonical" and if I have to include this tag into every page of my website ? Thank you!
Technical SEO | | kirupa0 -
International Targeting - Google Search Console not recognizing the tags
Hi, We are facing a problem with international targeting not being recognized by the Google Search Console. This is the URL to which we added the following tags: URL: http://kilgray.com/memoq/2015-100/help-en/index.html TAGS: Flang tool Result: http://screencast.com/t/rrBgcr1X Search Console result: http://screencast.com/t/fP45ZR2c I am a bit lost here, as the tags were validated also from different members of the community. Is this because of the frames? (Yes, the site is built in frames). Thanks for your help!
Technical SEO | | Kilgray0 -
Multiple H1 Tags on Page
Can having multiple H1 tags on a webpage be detrimental to its rankings?
Technical SEO | | AubbiefromAubenRealty0 -
Meta Title Tags - Quick question!
Hi all, Our category Meta Title Tags are a little woeful and so I'm in the process of rewriting them. Let's say you have a product for sale.... some inkjet cartridges for a Canon BJ10V printer for example. In an effort to keep things concise I was thinking that for this category I should have the meta title set simply as: 'Canon BJ10V Inkjet Cartridges' and perhaps our company name after this text (and a pipe delimiter) This takes us just under 50 characters which is ideal but doesn't include any real keyword variation and will result in the company name being duplicated at the tail of the title tag on 6,000 odd pages. A large number of my competitors have title tags along the lines of: 'Canon BJ10V Cheap Inkjet Cartridges for Canon BJ-10V Ink Printers' I understand the reasoning behind this but does the variation of keywords compensate for the fact that the title looks spammy (to both humans and Search Engines). What would you do? Keep it clean and concise or stuff the title full of keywords. In the event of the former would you include the company name in each title in the knowledge they would be well under 50 characters without? Thanks for your help.
Technical SEO | | ChrisHolgate1 -
Optimal / Best Practice Title tag
Hi Guys, Am I write in saying google will take / create many variable from your title tag? Graphic, Web Design and Online Marketing in Ireland | Company Name results: Graphic Design, Web design, Web design in Ireland, Online Marketing in Ireland, Online Marketing, Graphic and Web Design, etc etc. (plus lots of long tail there as well). Would this be considered the optimal way as 'Design' is the common denominator for Graphic & Web. Then Ireland can be common to every other keyword such as Graphic design, Web design, Online Marketing. (in ireland) The reason why I ask is: lately I've notice title tags being stuffed with keywords and don't actually read correctly in the SERP My suggested way could have more benefits plus it reads well. Your thoughts, thanks.
Technical SEO | | Socialdude0 -
Meta tags question - imagetoolbar
We inherited some sites from another vendor & they have these tags in the head of all pages. Are they of any value at all? Thanks for the help! Wick Smith
Technical SEO | | wcksmith0