Hreflang Checker
Validate a page's hreflang tags: language and region codes, self-reference, x-default, relative URLs and canonical conflicts, and whether every alternate links back.
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About the Hreflang Checker
The Hreflang Checker validates the language and region annotations of a multilingual page. It checks every hreflang code against ISO 639-1 and ISO 3166-1 (catching en-UK, jp and en_US), duplicate codes, the required self-reference, x-default, relative URLs, links outside the head and conflicts with the canonical tag. It then opens up to 20 alternate URLs and confirms each one links back, because Google ignores hreflang pairs without return links.
Our server requests the URLs you enter, like a crawler: it reads the response without running the page's scripts, and the analysis runs in your browser. Up to 20 alternate URLs are read the same way to check return links. The URLs and results are not stored.
How to use the Hreflang Checker
- Enter the URL of one language version.
- Press Check hreflang; the alternates are fetched to test return links.
- Fix invalid codes and missing self-references first, then add return links on the alternates.
- Generate a consistent set of tags for every version with the Hreflang Generator.
Works well with the Hreflang Checker
- Hreflang Generator: build a correct set of tags.
- Canonical & Noindex Checker: make sure each version is its own canonical.
- Sitemap Validator: validate hreflang in sitemaps.
Frequently asked questions
What is hreflang?
An annotation that tells Google a page has versions in other languages or for other countries, so searchers get the right one: <link rel="alternate" hreflang="de" href="https://example.com/de/">. Every version lists all versions, including itself.
Is en-UK valid?
No. The region code for the United Kingdom is GB, so use en-GB. Other common mistakes are jp (Japanese is ja), a country alone (us), and underscores (en_US instead of en-US).
Do I need x-default?
It is recommended. hreflang="x-default" marks the page for users whose language or country is not listed, typically a language selector or the main English version.
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