Orienting content to languages and regions through the Hreflang tag is sensible, but complex. The SISTRIX Optimizer can now help with implementing the correct configuration.
The SISTRIX Optimizer includes an on-page crawler which is now able to perform extensive checks on the configuration of Hreflang tags. The following checks are now performed on every page with Hreflang tags.
Incorrect Hreflang link.
The Hreflang link leads to a invalid or non-existent destination. The configuration is therefore invalid.
Invalid Hreflang tag.
The Hreflang configuration is using an invalid tag for the language and / or region and is therefore invalid.
Hreflang back-link is missing.
The destination page for the Hreflang link does not contain the reverse links. The configuration is therefore invalid.
Hreflang X-Default is not set.
The Hreflang configuration does not include the X-Default attribute. It’s recommended that this attribute is used.
Hreflang link to the source is not implemented.
This implementation of Hreflang does not include a self-reference. In this case the configuration is invalid.
If checking the additional URLs causes the Optimizer to crawl beyond the set URL limit, the pages will still be scanned to ensure the successful completion of Hreflang checks.
