Hreflang or not, or something else?

[MickEdwards]

I'm working on a site that has 10 languages served from centrally located core files in Magento.  So each language has its own TLD with localised content served from SQL.  GWT has also had the preferred country set for each domain.

The problem is that each and every domain is indexed in each of the local Google indexes.  In DE Google the FR homepage is ranking higher for the brand keyword.  I kind of think I am wasting my time with hreflang but would like some advice whether this is an option or clues how I can handle this situation best.

[Alex-Harford]

I think you should add hreflang - you should do everything you can to indicate what country your content is targeted to. Do you have local addresses/phone numbers/currency on each website? These are all signals that can help.

How long has each domain been geotargeted in GWT? Are the sites all the same age? Do they have links from the relevant countries? Maybe Google is taking some time to catch up, or maybe there are reasons why it thinks the FR homepage is more relevant in Germany.

[FedeEinhorn]

Are you using the hreflang correctly? it contains both the language and location. If, for example, you french version is being served with the hreflang="fr" that means that users with a French browser should see that page, but not that users in France should see that page.

If you are running an German browser, searching in France, you will probably get the German version first, as the hreflang="de" it's doing it's job. If you'd like to have the french version even for German browsers, you will probably need to add an hreflang="de-FR" and point to the french version.

Even adding all the hreflang tags you may need, Google will ultimately serve what they think is better to the user. There's no way to "force" them, hreflang is just a "guidance"