International Targeting - Google Search Console not recognizing the tags

[Kilgray]

Hi,

We are facing a problem with international targeting not being recognized by the Google Search Console.

This is the URL to which we added the following tags:

URL:

http://kilgray.com/memoq/2015-100/help-en/index.html

TAGS:

Flang tool Result: http://screencast.com/t/rrBgcr1X

Search Console result: http://screencast.com/t/fP45ZR2c

I am a bit lost here, as the tags were validated also from different members of the community. Is this because of the frames? (Yes, the site is built in frames).

Thanks for your help!

[paints-n-design]

1st - if you don't know - you've got a meta-robots noindex-tag, so the site couldn't be indexed.
2nd- The page with the content you try to add the the hreflang-tag is a frameset.
There is no text, not a single word, just two iframes.

For Google, the frameset is not the page wich it would show in search results, it takes the frame: memoq/current/help-de/memoq_help_title_page.html

(maybe you could ad the right hreflang-tags here to - google has indexed it)

https://www.google.de/search?q=%22Welcome+to+the+memoQ+Help,+your+complete+resource+of+information+needed+to+efficiently+and+reliably%22&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=jfTeVozHIMGmsAG-77DQDg

I have never used Framesets, and really never in more than one language. 
Maybe anybody has now an idea wich is the best practice for you - for me it's all I ca say about that case

[Kilgray]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

I do know about the noindex, but this is actually something new. We set up that up today as this specific version is old and we do not want to have it indexed anymore. The page which you suggest is actually the new version, and we will sure add hreflang-tag there. But what is the point if google can't just read it?

I added the hreflang-tag more two months ago (where there were no noidex-tags) and even so Google couldn't drill the page. I am not sure if it is worth doing.

[Aleyda]

Hi there,

The problem are the frames indeed. If you take a look at the cache version in Google of that page: http://kilgray.com/memoq/2015-100/help-en/index.html doesn't show where you are adding the hreflang annotations and none of the content of that page in fact: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:1jRFSsVC_MwJ:kilgray.com/memoq/2015-100/help-en/index.html%3Fproject_home&num=1&hl=en&gl=es&strip=0&vwsrc=0

The issue is that with the frames is not only the hreflang annotations that Google won't be able to identify, but the all the content you have in there is not visible and therefore won't be able to rank the pages that use it... which is much more critical than the hreflang annotations.

My recommendation would be to replace the usage of frames, make sure that all of the content is shown through one piece of HTML at a time... and if you include then the hreflang annotations in the head area of the HTML Google will be able to identify them... as well as your content.

Thanks,

Aleyda

[matt-14567]

Hi Aleyda. I just stumbled on this thread because I'm having the exact same problem as Kilgray Marketing was – Google Search Console isn't recognizing the hreflang tags on my client's site:

cbisonline.com/eu
https://cbisonline.com/eu

I realize this thread is closed since you've already answered the original question, but I was hoping you might be able to provide some insight on my situation. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance...