{"id":8904,"date":"2023-04-04T13:47:37","date_gmt":"2023-04-04T13:47:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/04\/study-31-of-international-websites-contain-hreflang-errors\/"},"modified":"2023-04-04T13:47:37","modified_gmt":"2023-04-04T13:47:37","slug":"study-31-of-international-websites-contain-hreflang-errors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/04\/study-31-of-international-websites-contain-hreflang-errors\/","title":{"rendered":"Study: 31% of international websites contain hreflang errors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Implementing hreflang can be a challenging task for many SEOs. The countless syntax variations across several languages can be difficult for those with <a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/international-seo-how-to-avoid-common-translation-and-localization-pitfalls-392510\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">little understanding of more than one language<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s also the added complexity of understanding specific language nuances and regional targeting which would only typically be understood by a native speaker or someone who had thoroughly studied the language.<\/p>\n<p>Incorrect hreflang implementation can cause many complications (i.e., duplicate content, erroneous indexing and poor SERP visibility) detrimental to SEO performance.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s imperative to implement hreflang with care. Thankfully, hreflang is well-documented and related issues can be identified through various SEO tools.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_81 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/04\/study-31-of-international-websites-contain-hreflang-errors\/#Hreflang_errors_study\" >Hreflang errors study<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/04\/study-31-of-international-websites-contain-hreflang-errors\/#3102_of_websites_contain_conflicting_hreflang_directives\" >31.02% of websites contain conflicting hreflang directives<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/04\/study-31-of-international-websites-contain-hreflang-errors\/#1604_of_hreflang_clusters_are_missing_self-referencing_tags\" >16.04% of hreflang clusters are missing self-referencing tags<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/04\/study-31-of-international-websites-contain-hreflang-errors\/#4795_of_websites_dont_utilize_x-default\" >47.95% of websites don\u2019t utilize x-default<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/04\/study-31-of-international-websites-contain-hreflang-errors\/#891_of_hreflang_clusters_contain_at_least_one_instance_of_invalid_language_codes\" >8.91% of hreflang clusters contain at least one instance of invalid language codes<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/04\/study-31-of-international-websites-contain-hreflang-errors\/#16_of_hreflang_clusters_contain_at_least_one_instance_of_invalid_region_codes\" >1.6% of hreflang clusters contain at least one instance of invalid region codes<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/04\/study-31-of-international-websites-contain-hreflang-errors\/#2246_of_hreflang_clusters_contain_irregularunusual_language-region_combinations\" >22.46% of hreflang clusters contain irregular\/unusual language-region combinations<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Hreflang_errors_study\"><\/span>Hreflang errors study<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>To determine how widespread hreflang issues are and which ones are more common, I partnered with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nerdydata.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NerdyData<\/a>, which gave me access to their database of websites that contain hreflang code.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>NerdyData provided a list of 18,786 websites that contain at least one instance of hreflang declaring an alternate within the source code. Thus, this study only accounts for hreflang implemented in the &lt;head&gt;, not through XML sitemaps or the HTTP header.<\/p>\n<p>I carried out the study by:<\/p>\n<p>Running crawls in Screaming Frog to validate the presence of hreflang on the homepages.<\/p>\n<p>Removing GEO-IP redirects so the complete list of URLs resolves in 200s.<\/p>\n<p>Utilizing HreflangChecker.com and Visual SEO Studio to process the URLs in batches to identify common issues identified by the tools.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3102_of_websites_contain_conflicting_hreflang_directives\"><\/span>31.02% of websites contain conflicting hreflang directives<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>My findings show 31.02% of websites serving multiple languages have conflicting hreflang directives. Conflicting hreflang can happen when a webpage has various hreflang tags for different languages and geographical targeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Put simply, more than one URL has been assigned to an individual language or region, sending confusing signals to search engines. For example:<\/p>\n<p>&lt;link rel=\u201dalternate\u201d href=\u201dhttps:\/\/example.com\/\u201d hreflang=\u201den\u201d \/&gt;<\/p>\n<p>&lt;link rel=\u201dalternate\u201d href=\u201dhttps:\/\/example.com\/en-uk\/\u201d hreflang=\u201den-gb\u201d \/&gt;<\/p>\n<p>&lt;link rel=\u201dalternate\u201d href=\u201dhttps:\/\/example.com\/en-us\/\u201d hreflang=\u201den-gb\u201d \/&gt;<\/p>\n<p>&lt;link rel=\u201dalternate\u201d href=\u201dhttps:\/\/example.com\/en-au\/\u201d hreflang=\u201den-au\u201d \/&gt;<\/p>\n<p>Such confusion potentially leads to complications around duplicate content and incorrect ranking and indexing, making it difficult to place well in the SERP. <\/p>\n<p>Even if users find your webpage among those performing well, they will suffer poor user experience if they are served the incorrect version of the page.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1604_of_hreflang_clusters_are_missing_self-referencing_tags\"><\/span>16.04% of hreflang clusters are missing self-referencing tags<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Self-referencing hreflang happens when a page includes a hreflang tag pointing to its URL. <\/p>\n<p>In essence, the page indicates it is available in various languages, including the original language of the page.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Despite initially appearing as a redundant tactic, it\u2019s good practice for international SEO. Unfortunately, 16.04% of sites with multiple languages have no self-referencing hreflang tags.<\/p>\n<p>Search engines can better understand the relationship between different versions of the same page when self-referencing hreflang tags are used, including pages available in different languages.<\/p>\n<p>Given that hreflang contributes as one of approximately 20 canonicalization signals, it\u2019s an important signal to include.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4795_of_websites_dont_utilize_x-default\"><\/span>47.95% of websites don\u2019t utilize x-default<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The x-default attribute signals to search engines that a page doesn\u2019t target a specific language or location, defining it as a default language version of the page. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s especially useful when a page is available in multiple languages but doesn\u2019t deliver content in the user\u2019s preferred language.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The x-default attribute isn\u2019t necessarily needed in hreflang. Up to 47.95% of multilanguage sites are currently not using it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>However, it can be beneficial to use in cases where a user searches for a page in a specific language that isn\u2019t available, as it helps search engines find the most appropriate version of the page to display.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s important to note that the x-default attribute should only be used if another language isn\u2019t available. Where other available languages exist, each should be specified with a hreflang tag.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, x-default should not be used on pages specific to a particular language or location.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"891_of_hreflang_clusters_contain_at_least_one_instance_of_invalid_language_codes\"><\/span>8.91% of hreflang clusters contain at least one instance of invalid language codes<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>It is essential to use the two-letter ISO-639-1 format within hreflang attributes.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, it\u2019s common for language codes to go wrong, causing multiple issues that can affect the international targeting of a website.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>My research found that 8.91% of sites targeting more than one language currently contain unknown language codes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It could simply be a confused approach to combining language and location codes, but many common issues might be the cause.<\/p>\n<p>Some language codes don\u2019t quite match the spelling of a country.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For example, you might expect the language code for Croatian to be \u201ccr,\u201d but it\u2019s actually \u201chr.\u201d Because the code isn\u2019t obvious, it\u2019s easy to make mistakes when implementing language codes.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"16_of_hreflang_clusters_contain_at_least_one_instance_of_invalid_region_codes\"><\/span>1.6% of hreflang clusters contain at least one instance of invalid region codes<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Contrary to the previous statistic, relatively few hreflang clusters contain invalid region codes.<\/p>\n<p>While using the two-letter ISO-3166-1 region codes isn\u2019t required, it does help when targeting the same language between two or more countries with different spelling rules. Doing so provides more context to search engines, looking into user location and language.<\/p>\n<p>To return to my previous example, you must use the code \u201cen-US\u201d to target users in the United States. If it is set to \u201cen-GB,\u201d you will only target British-based users, missing your intended audience entirely.<\/p>\n<p>Common errors here include:<\/p>\n<p>&lt;link rel=\u201dalternate\u201d href=\u201dhttps:\/\/example.com\/en-gb\/\u201d hreflang=\u201den-uk\u201d \/&gt;<\/p>\n<p>&lt;link rel=\u201dalternate\u201d href=\u201dhttps:\/\/example.com\/en-eu\/\u201d hreflang=\u201den-eu\u201d \/&gt;<\/p>\n<p>Here, the entries all target English but also intend to target the UK and Europe. Both UK and EU are invalid codes as it\u2019s GB (Great Britain), and you can\u2019t target Europe as a continent.<\/p>\n<p>Spanish targeting can also be problematic in Latin America, with cluster trying to target es-la, es-lx and es-419 in an attempt to target the region as a whole when you should be targeting individual countries \u2013 or leaving Spanish as a general language.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2246_of_hreflang_clusters_contain_irregularunusual_language-region_combinations\"><\/span>22.46% of hreflang clusters contain irregular\/unusual language-region combinations<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>There is a range of benefits to targeting countries without native languages with hreflang, with a major one being to improve the user experience for non-native speakers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For example, Dutch is the native language of the Netherlands, but an <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.hz.nl\/en\/10-things-you-should-know-about-the-netherlands\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">estimated 95%<\/a> of the population also speaks English. There are also around <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/1285011\/british-nationals-population-netherlands\/#:~:text=Number%20of%20British%20nationals%20resident%20in%20the%20Netherlands%202010-2022&amp;text=In%202022%2C%20there%20were%2097%2C800,compared%20to%20the%20previous%20year%20.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">97,8000 British nationals<\/a> who live in the Netherlands.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With such high numbers of English speakers, targeting users in the Netherlands with your English website pages makes sense.<\/p>\n<p>However, not all combinations make sense. For example:<\/p>\n<p>&lt;link rel=\u201dalternate\u201d href=\u201dhttps:\/\/example.com\/en-vn\/\u201d hreflang=\u201den-vn\u201d \/&gt;<\/p>\n<p>&lt;link rel=\u201dalternate\u201d href=\u201dhttps:\/\/example.com\/es-ie\/\u201d hreflang=\u201des-ie\u201d \/&gt;<\/p>\n<p>&lt;link rel=\u201dalternate\u201d href=\u201dhttps:\/\/example.com\/zh-zm\/\u201d hreflang=\u201dzh-zm\u201d \/&gt;<\/p>\n<p>While the three examples above will pass a hreflang test and are technically accurate, Zambia\u2019s number of Chinese speakers will likely yield little to no results in having this alternate version.<\/p>\n<p>Creating alternate versions that make little sense creates additional and unnecessary crawl demand and versions that Google may likely deem to be duplicated, overriding the canonicals.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/study-31-of-international-websites-contain-hreflang-errors-395161\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Study: 31% of international websites contain hreflang errors<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Search Engine Land<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Implementing hreflang can be a challenging task for many SEOs. The countless syntax variations across several languages can be difficult for those with little understanding of more than one language. There\u2019s also the added complexity of understanding specific language nuances and regional targeting which would only typically be understood by a native speaker or someone who had thoroughly studied the language. Incorrect hreflang implementation can cause many complications (i.e., duplicate content, erroneous indexing and poor SERP visibility) detrimental to SEO performance. It\u2019s imperative to implement hreflang [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"h5ap_radio_sources":[],"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-best-seo-blogs"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":false,"author_link":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/author\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8904"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8904\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/craighordlow.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}