Hreflang tag implentation
-
Hi,
We've had hreflang tags implemented on our site for a few weeks now, and while we are seeing some improvements for the regional subfolders I wanted to double check I had the tags implemented correctly (a couple of examples are below). However while the regional subfolder sites are now ranking instead of the US site for some keywords, some key search terms are still returning the US site. Could this be due to incorrect implementation for that specific page?
Due to complications with using Magento we're implementing the tags in the site maps. Also magento appears to be inserting a rel canonical tag automatically for each page and self referencing e.g. On www.example.com/uk/security-cameras (one of the pages we're having issues with) the canonical tag is http://www.example.com/uk/security-cameras" />. Is this an issue?
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
<url><loc>http://www.example.com/uk/dvrs-kits</loc>
<lastmod>2014-07-23</lastmod>
<changefreq>daily</changefreq>
<priority>0.5</priority></url>
<url><loc>http://www.example.com/uk/dvrs-kits/1080p</loc>
<lastmod>2014-07-23</lastmod>
<changefreq>daily</changefreq>
<priority>0.5</priority></url> -
Thanks.. it took me a while but I did realise that one eventually.
-
Thanks Thomas. That is how our sitemap now reads. It just seems odd that when you access map via a browser the hreflang tags don't appear...
-
The answers you received here in the thread are correct:
your sitemap implementation is wrong, because it commits a classic mistake: self-referencing hreflang annotations are missing.
In other words, you must declare that the URL http://www.example.com/uk/dvrs-kits is the one Google must show to English speaking users in the UK.
So you must add this:
Seeing the changes taking place in the SERPs is not immediate.
-
So I will test the site map agin after you made the XML sitemap did you tell Google about language and country targeting? Use tell Google Webmaster tools to Geo target the subfolders? http://www.google.com/webmasters/ Check your listing all over the world http://www.isearchfrom.com/ https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/2620865?hl=en&ref_topic=2370587 You need the site map to look like this. <url><loc>http://www.example.com/english/</loc> **This is the URL we want to be indexed** <xhtml:link rel="alternate" <strong="">This tells Google there is an alternate version of the URL hreflang="de" **This tells Google the language we’re targeting with the alternate version (German)** href="http://www.example.com/deutsch/" **This tells Google the URL of the alternate version** /> <xhtml:link rel="alternate" <strong="">This tells Google that there is an alternate version of the URL hreflang="de-ch" **This tells Google the language and country we’re targeting with the alternate version (German and Switzerland)** href="http://www.example.com/schweiz-deutsch/" **This tells Google the URL of the alternate version** /> <xhtml:link rel="alternate" <strong="">This tells Google that there is an alternate version of the URL hreflang="en" **This tells Google the language we’re targeting with the alternate version (English)** href="http://www.example.com/english/" **This tells Google the URL of the alternate version** /></xhtml:link></xhtml:link></xhtml:link></url>
Important note - the example above is only for one URL which has three alternate versions. The following code is an example of a full XML sitemap which includes three URLs, each with three alternate versions.
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9" xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><url> <loc>http://www.example.com/english/</loc> </url> <url> <loc>http://www.example.com/deutsch/</loc> </url> <url> <loc>http://www.example.com/schweiz-deutsch/</loc> </url></urlset> I will use Deep Crawl to look for hreflang it site maps. You might want to use the header way if it is not working. Thomas
-
I've updated the site maps but the hreflang tags still aren't showing when you view the site map...
-
I think I might see the problem. I'm only referencing the alternative pages with the hreflang tag, I've not included the site itself. it should be:
<url><loc>http://www.swann.com/uk/dvrs-kits</loc>
<lastmod>2014-07-23</lastmod>
<changefreq>daily</changefreq>
<priority>0.5</priority></url> -
This is the beginning of my sitemap for the UK subfolder, as far as I can see we're following both the case studies you posted and the Google advice on the structure. But as you point out when you view the sitemap online it's not showing the hreflang tags.
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9" xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><url><loc>http://www.swann.com/uk/dvrs-kits</loc>
<lastmod>2014-07-23</lastmod>
<changefreq>daily</changefreq>
<priority>0.5</priority></url>
<url><loc>http://www.swann.com/uk/dvrs-kits/1080p</loc>
<lastmod>2014-07-23</lastmod>
<changefreq>daily</changefreq>
<priority>0.5</priority></url>
<url><loc>http://www.swann.com/uk/dvrs-kits/960h</loc>
<lastmod>2014-07-23</lastmod>
<changefreq>daily</changefreq>
<priority>0.5</priority></url></urlset> -
-
- Here is the next test
- Use this link to see in the the site
- http://crawl.blueprintmarketing.com/projects/reports/69930?ro=991e4a1c6d5086bd0bd4d0965e3b6037ed69b692
- http://cl.ly/3G2h3u464400
- Files
- http://cl.ly/3G2h3u464400
- http://searchengineland.com/how-to-implement-the-hreflang-element-using-xml-sitemaps-123030
- https://search.nerdydata.com/search/#!/searchTerm=http://www.swann.com//searchPage=1/sort=pop
- sitemap
- http://cl.ly/text/1d2E2h3P022J
- http://cl.ly/text/0t0T3T2p210h
- https://cl.ly/Xjb3
-
Thanks for running this.
The deeptrawl says that there are no hreflang tags in place. If you view the sitemap.xml files on the site you can't see any there either. However they're definitely in the files I'm giving to my colleague to upload.
I matched the structure of the tag to the two case studies you put in your first post...
-
Here is crawl 1
- http://cl.ly/3u0Z3N0S3m1B
- Interactive URL
- http://crawl.blueprintmarketing.com/projects/reports/69929?ro=0de594f6c4b262001d6d234c282d8ade7e42c020
- http://crawl.blueprintmarketing.com/report_grid/trend/69929/pages_without_hreflang
- &
- http://crawl.blueprintmarketing.com/report_grid/69929?repname=pages_without_hreflang
- I am still running a 2ed full crawl it will post in the AM
Tom
-
You could use the site map however I've had better luck with other methods. If you would like me to I am more than happy to run deep crawl on your site and figure out the problem with your current setup via site map
I have Deepcrawl & will use it to check.
I am referencing this from
http://moz.com/blog/hreflang-behaviour-insights
"Section 4: Tools for the serious International SEO
Essentials:
- Reliable rank tracker that can localize: Advanced Web Ranking, Moz, etc...
- Crawler that can validate hreflang annotations in XML sitemaps or within : The only tool on the market that can do this, and does it very well, is Deepcrawl.
Other nice-to-haves:
- Your own method of "gathering" international search results on scale. You should probably go with proxies.
- Your own method of parsing XML sitemaps and cross checking (even if you use something like Deepcrawl, you'll need to double check).
- Obvious, but worth a reminder: Google webmaster tools, Analytics, access to server logs so you can understand Google's crawl behaviour."
Please look for the report it in the AM,
Tom
-
Hi,
I did have a read through those two case studies previously. My understanding was that we could implement the code purely on the on the sitemap, and that nothing on the site was needed. Are you saying we also need some code on the site as well?
The verification tool doesn't say we have it implemented, but I wasn't sure that it would check the sitemaps or just the sites HTML.
-
Run the site through the tools below
it appears that your only running the site map and not the code itself a good look at the code need it is found in URL below
- http://moz.com/blog/using-the-correct-hreflang-tag-a-new-generator-tool
- http://www.seerinteractive.com/blog/case-study-the-impact-of-hreflang-tag
1 validator
- Validator http://flang.dejanseo.com.au/
- 2 site map tool
- site map tool http://www.themediaflow.com/tool_hreflang.php
- http://www.stateofdigital.com/hreflang-sitemap-tool/
- hreflang
- Generator http://www.internationalseomap.com/hreflang-tags-generator/
- From Google
- https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/189077?hl=en
For language/country selectors or auto-redirecting homepages, you should add an annotation for the hreflang value "x-default" as well:
Thomas
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Meta descriptions for specific categories/tags not showing?
Hi -- I'm really confused as to why only certain blog categories are not able to be crawled for their descriptions when their source codes look identical to other, crawlable pages on the same site? Specifically, Moz/other tools are not able to pull a meta description from the page http://www.koonz.com/category/videos/premises-liability-videos (and a few others) - while the source code looks almost identical to http://www.koonz.com/category/videos/federal-torts-claims-act-videos ?? Can anyone shed some light into possible issues for me? Thanks in advance!
Technical SEO | | jessicamcdaniel0 -
Does Title Tag location in a page's source code matter?
Currently our meta description is on line 8 for our page - http://www.paintball-online.com/Paintball-Guns-And-Markers-0Y.aspx
Technical SEO | | IstoresincThe title tag, however sits below a bunch of code on line 237
Does the location of the title tag, meta tags, and any structured data have any influence with respect to SEO and search engines? Put another way, could we benefit from moving the title tag up to the top? I "surfed 'n surfed" and could not find any articles about this. I would really appreciate any help on this as our site got decimated organically last May and we are looking for any help with SEO. NIck
0 -
Canonical link tag for https - any disadvantages for SEO?
Hi Mozzers, We have a website that has both http as well as https indexed. I proposed the solution of implementing a canonical link tag on all pages (including the login/secure ones). Any disadvantages I could expect? Thanks!
Technical SEO | | DeptAgency0 -
Meta tags
Hello, Does anyone know how long it takes for the meta descriptions to show up in Google? This because I just updated my meta descriptions for the whole website, but while moz toolbar is showing it correctly, google is still showing the old ones, even if i used the see as googlebot tool from webmaster tools. Thanks for a reply
Technical SEO | | socialengaged
Eugenio | Social Engagement0 -
Rel Author Tag - Attributing Content to a Company
If the content is written by a corporation and cannot be attributed to a specific writer, yet we want to claim the authorship - can a logo be used instead of a headshot in the Google Profile? Researching the above, and found that its a NO, but it can be done somewhat through rel=publisher tag, which at present is not very useful. Any other thoughts?
Technical SEO | | yanaiguana1111 -
Duplicate title tags and meta description tags
According to GWT, it seems that some of the pages on my website have duplicate title and meta tags. The pages identified by Google are nothing but dynamic pages: http://www.mywebsite.com/page.php
Technical SEO | | sbrault74
http://www.mywebsite.com/page.php?param=1
http://www.mywebsite.com/page.php?param=2 The thing is that I do use the canonical link tag on all pages. Should I also use the "robots noindex" tag when the page is invoked using a GET parameter? Again sorry for my english. Thank you, Stephane1 -
Title and description tags
Hi everyone! What is the maximum length a title tag should be and what range should a seo description be for best practice?
Technical SEO | | PeterM220 -
Tags and Duplicate Content
Just wondering - for a lot of our sites we use tags as a way of re-grouping articles / news / blogs so all of the info on say 'government grants' can be found on one page. These /tag pages often come up with duplicate content errors, is it a big issue, how can we minimnise that?
Technical SEO | | salemtas0