Quick Reference
Element Code: HR-003
Issue: Hreflang annotations use invalid language or region codes
Impact: Invalid annotations are ignored by search engines
Fix: Use valid ISO 639-1 language and ISO 3166-1 region codes
Detection: Hreflang validators, Screaming Frog
What Is This Issue?
Hreflang requires specific language codes (like "en", "es", "de") and optional region codes (like "US", "GB", "MX"). Invalid codes like "english" or made-up codes are ignored.
Why This Matters for Your Website
Search engines silently ignore invalid hreflang codes. Your international targeting fails without any error message.
How to Fix This Issue
- Use ISO codes: en, es, fr, de, etc.
- Regional variants: en-US, en-GB, es-MX
- Validate: Check all annotations against standards
Tools for Detection
- Hreflang validator: Checks code validity
- Screaming Frog: Reports invalid codes
TL;DR (The Simple Version)
Your hreflang uses invalid language codes. Use proper codes like "en" for English or "es-MX" for Mexican Spanish. Check ISO standards for valid codes.
Claude Vincent is a technical SEO consultant focused on crawlability, rendering, and AI-search visibility. He writes the field guides and case studies at SEO ProCheck, with a bias toward the durable, unglamorous work that decides whether search engines and AI answer engines can actually read and cite a site.
About SEO ProCheck
Technical SEO consulting and GEO strategy with 20 years of enterprise experience. Case studies, resources, and tools for search and AI visibility.
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