Hreflang Checker

Reciprocal hreflang means each language URL points back to the others. A missing return tag is a common break in multilingual setups. This screen shows that kind of table without downloading the URL.

Reciprocal hreflang means each language URL points back to the others. A missing return tag is a common break. This screen shows that kind of column without opening the host. Confirm tags in the page source.

Language is one of the values Hreflang Checker puts on screen. hreflang carries a language or language-region code. The sample rows invent codes for the URL you typed. Those codes are not read from your link tags.

Read URL column on its own before you mix it with the other rows. Each alternate points at the URL of that version. The sample fills URLs locally. Do not redirect a locale because a sample URL looked wrong.

Reciprocal note answers a narrower question than the headline number. Each version should point back. The note is part of the sample table. A missing return tag has to be seen in the live HTML.

Treat x-default as a label with a specific job. x-default is the fallback when no language matches. The sample may or may not show it. Add x-default in the generator when you have a real fallback URL.

The Empty state line is worth a full stop. A checker should say when it found nothing. An empty message here is not a crawl result. Look at the live head anyway.

An empty state can say no rows were produced. That empty state is still not a crawl of your head. Generate real tags with the hreflang generator, then paste them into each language version.

If you remember one sequence from Hreflang Checker, remember the fields in the order they change a decision. Language matters because hreflang carries a language or language-region code. In practice, The sample rows invent codes for the URL you typed. The mistake to avoid is this: Those codes are not read from your link tags. URL column matters because Each alternate points at the URL of that version. In practice, The sample fills URLs locally. The mistake to avoid is this: Do not redirect a locale because a sample URL looked wrong. Reciprocal note matters because Each version should point back. In practice, The note is part of the sample table. The mistake to avoid is this: A missing return tag has to be seen in the live HTML. x-default matters because x-default is the fallback when no language matches. In practice, The sample may or may not show it. The mistake to avoid is this: Add x-default in the generator when you have a real fallback URL. Empty state matters because A checker should say when it found nothing. In practice, An empty message here is not a crawl result. The mistake to avoid is this: Look at the live head anyway. After that, the checks are simple. You did not edit locales from the sample rows. You did not trust the reciprocal note. You planned to view source. x-default will be checked on the live pages. The generator is the place to write tags, not this table.

The worked example for Hreflang Checker, read as one scene, is this. Type https://example.com/pricing. The table shows language rows and reciprocal notes that were not parsed from example.com. View source and search for hreflang. Those link tags are the ones to fix. Use the hreflang generator when you are ready to write new tags.

Final notes for Hreflang Checker, written as decisions rather than as a table. When Language is in front of you, decide using this: hreflang carries a language or language-region code. Those codes are not read from your link tags. When URL column is in front of you, decide using this: Each alternate points at the URL of that version. Do not redirect a locale because a sample URL looked wrong. When Reciprocal note is in front of you, decide using this: Each version should point back. A missing return tag has to be seen in the live HTML. When x-default is in front of you, decide using this: x-default is the fallback when no language matches. Add x-default in the generator when you have a real fallback URL. When Empty state is in front of you, decide using this: A checker should say when it found nothing. Look at the live head anyway. Then apply the checks without skipping one. You did not edit locales from the sample rows. You did not trust the reciprocal note. You planned to view source. x-default will be checked on the live pages. The generator is the place to write tags, not this table.

Keep Hreflang Checker as this step only. When the job moves on, the Hreflang Generator is the next page: Hreflang Generator builds alternate link tags from one row per language, each with a URL, a language, and an optional region. The Robots.txt Generator covers a different piece of the same work: Robots.txt Generator builds a robots.txt file from an allow or disallow default, optional paths, a crawl delay, and a sitemap URL.