Ever opened your site and realized Google is showing your French page to someone in Texas? Yeah, awkward. That’s what happens when your hreflang tags go rogue. These little pieces of code are supposed to help Google show the right language and regional page to the right user — but one small mistake, and it’s SEO chaos.
In this blog, we’re breaking down how to fix hreflang tags with errors in the simplest way possible — no tech degree needed, just straight-up clarity, clean tips, and zero jargon. Let’s fix it before your global audience hits the back button.on overload, no tech bro buzzwords. Just clear steps and tools that actually work.
In plain English: Hreflang tags tell Google which version of your page to show to people based on their language and region.
Example:
<link rel=”alternate” hreflang=”en-us” href=”https://yourwebsite.com/us-page/” />
<link rel=”alternate” hreflang=”fr-fr” href=”https://yourwebsite.com/fr-page/” />
If you’re serving users in the US, France, India, or Mars (just kidding…for now), hreflang keeps it all neat and tidy. But when done wrong, Google gets confused. And confused Google = bad SEO.
Before we fix things, here’s where most people mess up:
1. Missing return tags
→ If page A links to page B with hreflang, page B must link back to page A.
2. Wrong language or region codes
→ “en-uk”? That’s not a thing. It’s “en-gb”. Get it right.
3. Self-referencing tag missing
→ Every page should reference itself with hreflang.
4. Broken URLs in hreflang
→ Linking to pages that 404 or redirect = bad UX + bad SEO.
5. Using canonical + hreflang wrong
→ If you canonical everything to one version, you’re cancelling the hreflang.
Let’s get to the good stuff. Here’s how to clean it all up like a pro:
Tools like:
● Google Search Console (Check International Targeting)
● Screaming Frog
● Ahrefs Site Audit
● SEMrush
These tools will flag all hreflang errors. It’s like having receipts for all the drama.
Use the correct ISO 639-1 language codes and ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 region codes.
Examples:
● en-us ✅
● en-gb ✅
● fr-ca ✅
● en-uk ❌ (That’s not a valid region code!)
Each page should include an hreflang tag that points to itself.
Example for the US page:
<link rel=”alternate” hreflang=”en-us” href=”https://yourwebsite.com/us-page/” />
Make sure every hreflang link is two-way. If your US page links to your FR page, the FR page must link back to U.S. Think of it like a mutual follow on Instagram. No ghosting.
Ensure every hreflang tag points to a live, non-redirected, crawlable page. Use Screaming Frog to check status codes — anything other than 200 OK? Fix it.
Canonical tags should not contradict hreflang. If you’re using hreflang for multiple language versions, each version should have its own canonical, not all pointing to one master page.
If adding HTML tags on every page sounds messy, you can use XML sitemaps to handle hreflang. But be warned: it needs to be perfectly formatted. Google’s picky.
● Use lowercase language-region codes (e.g., en-us, not EN-US).
● Stick to consistent URL structure across languages.
● Don’t duplicate content across language pages — localize it.
● Test changes regularly with GSC or SEO audit tools.
Hreflang tags are the secret sauce for international SEO. When they break, your rankings and user experience take a hit. But fixing them? Totally doable — even with minimal coding skills.
Just remember: Audit → Fix Codes → Self-Tag → Return Tag → Clean URLs → Canonical Check → Optional XML Sitemap
That’s it. No more sending French users to your Japanese page.
At Infinutus, we speak SEO like it’s our native language (in every country). If your global site needs a glow-up, let’s chat — we’ll audit, fix, and future-proof your hreflang tags for good.
💌 Hit us up today and go global, the smart way.
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