Hreflang tag implentation

ahyde

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>

BlueprintMarketing

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

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

MdL3vVQ.png CFLDe4f.png

ahyde

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.

BlueprintMarketing

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

g14fz0V.png 33Akp9p.png

BlueprintMarketing

Here is crawl 1

PDF
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

nOlovJ8.png

ahyde

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...

BlueprintMarketing

Here is the next test
Use this link to see in the the site
http://crawl.blueprintmarketing.com/projects/reports/69930?ro=991e4a1c6d5086bd0bd4d0965e3b6037ed69b692
PDF
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

BlueprintMarketing

Look at your site maps

See https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/2620865?hl=en

D5MUoY2.png

ahyde

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>

ahyde

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>

ahyde

I've updated the site maps but the hreflang tags still aren't showing when you view the site map...

BlueprintMarketing

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

gfiorelli1

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.

ahyde

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...

ahyde

Thanks.. it took me a while but I did realise that one eventually.

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