Hreflang & International SEO Validator
Validate hreflang alternate links, detect bidirectional reciprocity errors, verify ISO language codes, and optimize international search rankings.
Overview & Why This Matters
Hreflang tags instruct search engines like Google which language and regional edition of a page to serve to international audiences. Syntax mistakes, missing return links, or non-standard ISO language codes cause Google to completely ignore your international directives, resulting in mismatched regional search traffic.
Why Hreflang Hygiene Protects Global Rankings
Enforce Return Links (Bidirectional Reciprocity)
If page A points to page B with hreflang, page B must point back to page A. Missing reciprocity is the #1 error that breaks hreflang in Google.
Validate ISO 639-1 & ISO 3166-1 Codes
Search engines strictly require 2-letter ISO language codes (e.g., pt, es, en) and country codes (e.g., BR, ES, US). Non-standard codes are ignored.
Route Unmatched Visitors (x-default)
The x-default tag provides a global fallback landing page or language selector for international users whose preferred locale is not explicitly mapped.
Standard Hreflang Configuration
Place reciprocal hreflang alternate links inside the document <head> across all localized page variants:
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://example.com/en/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="pt-BR" href="https://example.com/br/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="https://example.com/es/" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/" />