Hreflang in country specific XML Sitemaps?
-
Hello!
I'm rolling out hreflang tags in my client's "main" XML Sitemap.
My question is: do we need to implement these tags in the country level XML Sitemaps also?
Thanks!
-
Hey SimpleSearch–yes, you'll need to indicate these alternate URLs in your sitemap. Google claims that you can use hreflang or sitemaps to indicate international content, but I typically find that being thorough is best (you can always test whether your updated sitemap has made a difference through log file analysis before and after you execute this change).
Here is Google's writeup on indicating alternate pages via sitemap: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/189077?hl=en
-
If you have different content/pages oriented for different regions, yes you need to implement
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
-
Google Search console says 'sitemap is blocked by robots?
Google Search console is telling me "Sitemap contains URLs which are blocked by robots.txt." I don't understand why my sitemap is being blocked? My robots.txt look like this: User-Agent: *
Technical SEO | | Extima-Christian
Disallow: Sitemap: http://www.website.com/sitemap_index.xml It's a WordPress site, with Yoast SEO installed. Is anyone else having this issue with Google Search console? Does anyone know how I can fix this issue?1 -
Google Search Console - Sitemap
Hi all, Quick question. I'm trying to update my sitemap via Google Search Console using a sitemap.xml file that I've created with ScreamingFrog. However, when trying to submit it, it seems that Google only allows sitemaps that are located at a path within your domain (i.e. www.example.com/sitemap.xml) as opposed to being able to directly upload a sitemap.xml file.Is there any way that I can easily upload my sitemap.xml file? Or is there any easy way that I can upload the file to a path on my domain so I can upload via the URL?Any insight would be much appreciated!Best,Sung
Technical SEO | | hdeg0 -
Submitting a new sitemap index file. Only one file is getting read. What is the error?
Hi community, I am working to submit a new a new sitemap index files, where about 5 50,000 sku files will be uploaded. Webmasters is reporting that only 50k skus have been submitted. Google Webmasters is accepting the index, however only the first file is getting read. I have 2 errors and need to know if this is the reason that the multiple files are not getting uploaded. Errors: | 1 | | Warnings | Invalid XML: too many tags | Too many tags describing this tag. Please fix it and resubmi | | 2 | | Warnings | Incorrect namespace | Your Sitemap or Sitemap index file doesn't properly declare the namespace. | 1 | Here is the url I am submitting: http://www.westmarine.com/sitemap/wm-sitemap-index.xml | 1 | | | | |
Technical SEO | | mm9161570 -
Google News Sitemap
Currently for our website Thinkdigit, we are using a rss sitemap (http://www.thinkdigit.com/google_sitemap/news_rss.php) for news. Please let me know is this the right format or we should use xml format only. Also we have lost a huge chunk of traffic from news search, Previously it used to be around 10,000 visit from google news, now it is just 300 visit per day.
Technical SEO | | 9dot90 -
What may be the reason a sitemap is not indexed in Webmaster Tools?
Hi,
Technical SEO | | SorinaDascalu
I have a problem with a client's website. I searched many related questions here about the same problem but couldn't figure out a solution. Their website is in 2 languages and they submitted 2 sitemaps to Webmaster Tools. One got 100% indexed. From the second one, from over 800 URLs only 32 are indexed. I checked the following hypothesis why the second sitemap may not get indexed: sitemap is wrongly formatted - False sitemap contains URLs that don't return 200 status - False, there are no URLs that return 404, 301 or 302 status codes sitemap contains URLs that are blocked by robots.txt - False internal duplicate content problems - False issues with meta canonical tags - False For clarification, URLs from the sitemap that is not indexed completely also don't show up in Google index. Can someone tell me what can I also check to fix this issue?0 -
Can I put the tag in the MasterPage of my ASP.NET website or does this need to be specific to each page?
Hi Moz Community, I am a designer/junior SEO'er and have been working with our web developer to setup SEO oriented redirects and the rel canonical tag on our ASP.NET page running MasterPages - www.tisbest.org. I know setting up an incorrect canonical tag can be devastating so I'm hoping for some guidance. Can we put the <title> </span>Charity Gift Cards | Donation Gift Ideas | TisBest Philanthropy</p> <p style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #5e5e5e;"> </span></p> <p style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"><span style="color: #5e5e5e;"></title> Thanks! Chad
Technical SEO | | TisBest0 -
Do I need an XML sitemap?
I have an established website that ranks well in Google. However, I have just noticed that no xml sitemap has been registered in Google webmaster tools, so the likelihood is that it hasn't been registered with the other search engines. However, there is an html sitemap listed on the website. Seeing as the website is already ranking well, do I still need to generate and submit an XML sitemap? Could there be any detriment to current rankings in doing so?
Technical SEO | | pugh0 -
Sitmap Page - HTML and XML
Hi there I have a domain which has a sitemap in html for regular users and a sitemap in xml for the spiders. I have a warning via seomoz saying that i have too many links on the html version. What do i do here? regards Stef
Technical SEO | | stefanok0