Validate a page's hreflang annotations for correct language codes, absolute URLs, self-reference, x-default, and duplicates. Catch international SEO mistakes fast.
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Validate hreflang Annotations
For any website that serves multiple languages or regions, hreflang tags are what make sure the right version of a page shows up for the right audience in search results. They are also notoriously easy to get wrong — a mistyped language code, a relative URL, a missing x-default, or a duplicate entry can quietly break the whole set. This validator fetches any page, lists every hreflang annotation it finds, and checks each one against the rules search engines actually enforce.
Each entry is validated for a correct ISO 639-1 language code and ISO 3166-1 region code, an absolute URL, and uniqueness, with clear pass or fail feedback. It also confirms whether the page includes a self-referencing tag and an x-default — two of the most commonly missed requirements.
Catch International SEO Mistakes Early
International SEO problems are hard to diagnose because they rarely throw obvious errors — pages just quietly rank for the wrong region or get consolidated incorrectly. This tool turns hreflang from a black box into a clear checklist, so you can spot invalid codes, missing self-references, absent x-default fallbacks, and duplicate annotations before they cost you traffic.
Because a browser cannot read another site's HTML directly, the check runs through a secure server endpoint that fetches only the page head and stores nothing. Run it on each URL in your language set to confirm that every page declares the correct alternates. It is a fast, practical companion for any multilingual site audit.
How to use this hreflang Checker?
1
Enter a URL
Paste the page whose hreflang tags you want to validate.
2
Run the Check
The page is fetched and every hreflang annotation is extracted.
3
Review Issues
Each tag is validated for language code, absolute URL, and duplicates.
4
Confirm Coverage
See whether a self-reference and x-default are present.
Frequently Asked Questions
hreflang is an HTML annotation (<link rel="alternate" hreflang="...">) that tells search engines which language and region a page is intended for, and points to equivalent pages in other languages. It ensures users see the right version of your content in search results — for example, the French page for French speakers.
It fetches your page, lists every hreflang annotation, and validates each one: whether the language code is a valid ISO 639-1 code, whether the region is a valid ISO 3166-1 code, whether the URL is absolute, and whether there are duplicate hreflang values. It also checks for a self-referencing tag and an x-default.
The x-default value specifies the fallback page to show users whose language or region does not match any of your other hreflang entries — typically a language selector or your main international page. Google recommends including it, and this tool warns if it is missing.
Every page in an hreflang set should include a tag pointing to itself, in addition to tags for its alternates. Without the self-reference, search engines may not correctly recognise the page as part of the group. The validator flags whether the self-referencing tag is present.
hreflang must be reciprocal — if page A points to page B, page B must point back to A. Confirming this requires crawling every alternate URL. This tool validates the annotations on the page you enter; run it on each alternate URL to confirm the return tags across your set.